Luke 4:1-13

"Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’ Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.”’

Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ Jesus answered him, “It is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God,

   and serve only him.”’

Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,

   to protect you,’

and

‘On their hands they will bear you up,

   so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”’

Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’ When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time" (Luke 4:1-13).

Comment:

I think the essence of this entire passage about the temptation of Jesus is the danger of misusing our spiritual powers, once we are awakened to their presence within us. Jesus has just realized, through his symbolic baptism at the hand of John the Baptist, the truth of his Christ identity, and the spiritual purpose for which he had assumed human form. The question is: What next? He undertakes a sort of vision quest, and the temptations are strong. Because he knows the spiritual truth, and others do not, he could easily use his awareness to achieve riches (symbolized by turning rocks into bread), fame (throw yourself off the Temple), and power ("all the kingdoms of the world"). The only requirement is that he makes these temporal purposes his God—that he worship 'the temptor' instead of worshipping God.

Charles Fillmore describes 'worship' as "the effort of man to sustain a right mental attitude toward God." We worship God when we see God clearly, see our own divinity clearly, and accept the spiritual purpose implicit in that divinity as the guiding purpose of our life. We worship the temptor when we accept those temptations as the guiding purpose of our life. It's not that we must forego riches, fame, and power—it's that we must not make them our primary purpose. As Jesus explains in his Sermon on the Mount—shortly after this experience of focus and temptation—"strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness (which means focus your worship on God), and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33). 

Blessings!

Rev. Ed