Luke 4:6

Luke 4:6
 And he said to him, “I will give you all their [the kingdom’s of the world’s] authority and splendour; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.

As we said yesterday, Jesus has overcome the first temptation and after 40 days in the wilderness is now being subjected to the second of three intense temptations directly from Satan. In this temptation Jesus has been shown all the kingdoms of the world, and this is where the imagination becomes temptations. It’s no longer just looking, there is a potential to disobey. If Jesus accepts this, then He will be more famous and powerful than anyone else in the whole 1^st century.

Firstly, this temptation shows just how valuable a threat Jesus is to Satan. Have you ever given in to temptation and felt a little cheated? You’re tempted, you sin and then it really wasn’t worth it. Mum used to say ‘a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips’ when she’d be dieting. That’s probably a bit harsh, but it covers the idea of being cheated. For the person trying to diet the chocolate brownie tastes lovely and is enjoyed for about 10 minutes, but then afterwards that person feels guilty which lasts with them. To top it all off, they were desperate to lose that extra pound, and know that the sugary that was once so good is now not so much. I was thinking about this in the morning. It seems that we’re tempted with something so little, accept it, and then there are massive consequences. Genesis 3 has the Adam and Eve cursed and chucked out of the garden for eating a fruit they weren’t meant to – they were cheated, and likewise the temptation to do a sin can seem like something so worth it, but then we realise we’ve been lied to and tricked. We’ve exchanged something so beautiful for something that temporarily seemed great but leaves us unfulfilled. That was the case for us, we get offered peanuts; but Jesus gets offered EVERY KINGDOM and ALL THEIR AUTHORITY. For Satan to be making these kinds of offers to stop Jesus, we can be sure that Jesus is an important guy. Satan doesn’t want Jesus dying on the cross, he does not want humanity to have free forgiveness for sins, he wants to cut Jesus’ ministry off before it has even began; and to do so, he is willing to trade everything on earth – but this is not enough. It is not enough because Jesus has a kingdom that is not earthly, but eternal, The Kingdom of God.

Finally I want to talk about power. Rock to bread was talking had an aspect of pride in it, “If you really are the Son of God”, but Jesus overcomes it by knowing His identity. This temptation has a bit of power in it – “all their authority and splendour” were on offer. I think power is something that tempts us all, but especially for us guys. We want authority, to be recognised, to be responsible, to be over others, to be remembered. Wars are fought over power and it becomes a battle so that one person can control another. Jesus is going to overcome the need to be powerful. He has become human (Philippians 2:1-11; John 1:14) when He was God, and he was here on earth to serve humans who should be worshipping Him (John13:1-10). Jesus is the most amazing example of humility, of being willing to throw away power and the pursuit of such. He is able to do so because again He is content in His identity (not needing to have physical examples of power to know who He is) and because He loves. 1 John 4:16 says that “God is love”, Jesus was the perfect example of love. He loved the people in the world, and saw them as more valuable than the world. He was not looking to become famous (though He is the most famous man in history), He was looking to save us. When we are prideful, when power and authority is our goal, when we are more concerned with our status then our friends – let’s ask ourselves why. It’s humbling to remember the example of Christ, to know that we are loved no matter how much we have, to value loving others, and to remember that old cliché that it is not what we have that buys us happiness but something distinctly other. I was shown a video today of some very happy children in Uganda. They have very little, but there smiles are what I think we all deep down long for; and it was not power that satisfied, but a love of each day.

Update:

Since starting this blog I became a Counsellor. You can read more on blog on subjects like Therapy at:

 www.simonslistening.co.uk 

Luke 4:5

Luke 4:5

“The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world”

The situation is still Jesus enduring the desert. He’s been there for 40 days and overcome that first temptation to turn a rock into bread. He’s going to be physically exhausted, and yet still He has overcome temptation. If we were in Jesus’ sandals we would hope that would be the end of the story. We have had our wilderness time, and had our temptation – a very real and legitimate one. One would hope that that would be it, but the devil does not stop. 1 Peter 5:8 says:

“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour”.

Prowling around like a lion means that the devil is looking for any weakness to take advantage of. He’s not going to see you triumph over a temptation and then give up. It is brilliant for him when Christians mess up, and in turn shame the Jesus they represent. For Satan that is triumph, and he succeeds time and time again because he is persistent. We need to keep alert, because we ALL let our guard down, and in those moments we’re vulnerable to the real damage that Lion can do.

Jesus is led up to a high place (quite a change from the desert He’s become accustomed to) and shown “all the kingdoms of the world” (must have been pretty high right). The point I want to take from this verse is imagination. The bible does not specify how exactly Jesus could see all the kingdoms in an instant (perhaps he was REALLY high, or it was the kingdoms in the known world, or a vision, or some kind of imparted knowledge – I don’t know?), but Jesus saw them. They did not belong to Him, but could do. Likewise, all temptation, and so sin starts in the mind. We imagine something, think life would be better with or without it, and then act on it, and doing so separates us from God. For Jesus it was being shown every ‘kingdom’; for us it could be imagining getting revenge on that person, or what it would be like to put them down in front of their friends. Imagination is an amazing gift, and being able to think ahead is what makes humans such a successful animal, but it likewise gives us opportunities to imagine things that are not good for us, and run away with those thoughts. Let’s pray for an awareness of where our negative thoughts often go, and how that can lead us into actions we regret and damage us. Let’s carry on being alert, so the enemy cannot take our thoughts and use them to our downfall.

Romans 12:2 “…be transformed by the renewal of your mind”

Update:

Since starting this blog I became a Counsellor. You can read more on blog on subjects like Therapy at:

 www.simonslistening.co.uk