The Temptation in the Desert

It is written: “Then Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterward was hungry.” (Matthew 4: 1- 2) This brief interlude in the desert represented the forty-day pause between past and future. The past was Jesus’ thirty years of quiet, away-from-the-limelight, private life, ending with his baptism by John in the Jordan; the future was his three years of often-tumultuous, controversy-filled, hectic public life, culminating in Calvary. This Spirit led excursion in the desert, spent in sensory deprivation and communion with his Father, was the preamble to Jesus’ public ministry. Here was where the battle lines were drawn and defined, not on sand, “but on every utterance that comes from the mouth of God.” Long before this episode, Jesus had already faithfully retraced the journey of God’s chosen people from Egypt to the Jordan River. Egypt, that place of servitude of the Israelites, was the place where his parents fled from Herod, as written in Scripture. “The angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph with the command: ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you otherwise. Herod is searching for the child to destroy him.’ Joseph got up and took the child and his mother and left that night for Egypt.” (Matthew 2: 13- 14) Jordan, the river crossed-over by the Israelites to the Promised Land, forty years delayed, was the site of Jesus’ baptism. “Later Jesus, coming from Galilee, appeared before John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to refuse him with the protest, ‘I should be baptized by you, yet you come to me!’ Jesus answered: ‘Give in for now. We must do this if we would fulfill all of God’s demands.’” (Matthew 3: 13- 15) Jesus had come full circle, from Egypt to the river Jordan. But before crossing over to where he would spend the next three years of his life, an intense communion with his Father in prayer had to happen, as the Father was the author of his vocation. After this intense episode of fasting and prayer for forty days, one day for each year that the rebellious tribe of Israel wandered through the wasteland, then all roads led to Jerusalem. Jesus said, “Go tell that fox, ‘Today and tomorrow I cast out devils and perform cures, and on the third day my purpose is accomplished. For all that, I must proceed on course today, tomorrow and the day after, since no prophet can be allowed to die anywhere except in Jerusalem.’” (Luke 13: 32- 33) Jerusalem, the city of David, was where he, the Paschal Lamb would fulfill what was written about him. “It is the Passover of the Lord. For on this same night I will go through Egypt, striking down every first-born of the land, both man and beast, and executing judgement on all the gods of Egypt—I, the Lord! But the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you; thus, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you.” (Exodus 11: 11- 13) Jesus’ forty-day stay in the desert, done in total obedience to the Father, was not just an atonement for the forty years of the Israelites’ grumbling against the Lord but also, the first step toward the unveiling of God’s plan, very much like a curtain rising, revealing the immensity of his stratagem to save man, as this was the most profound, the most sublime expression of his being, which is the meaning of Our Lord’s name-- God saves. This event was significant because of the parallelism between what had happened to the Israelites in the desert and what would happen with the coming of the Messiah. The former being the miracle of manna that had sustained for forty years the Israelites’ journey to the promise land. “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will now rain down bread from heaven for you.’” (Exodus 16: 4) The latter was the coming of the true bread from heaven that will sustain God’s people through their journey to the promise land, that place beyond time where life began. The first miracle was a mere preview of what was to come as Jesus said: “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate manna in the desert, but they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven for a man to eat and never die. I myself am the living bread come down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread he shall live forever; the bread I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world.” (John 6: 48- 51) The Israelites’ sufficiency was in stark contrast to Jesus’ deprivation. Forty days without food and water and the body was desperately craving a morsel, or anything it could put on its mouth to satisfy the hunger pangs. Some people, not well disposed to this kind of sensual poverty, can easily go mad, not only for lack of food and water for an extended period but for the absence of human interaction, as both are happening at the same time. It is harder to bear personal suffering when one is carrying it alone. Misery loves company especially in times of genuine poverty where life itself is on the line. Misery too needs an outlet or a scapegoat that total solitude does not provide. The Israelites bent their frustrations on their leaders, as they grumbled against Moses and his sidekick, Aaron. “Would that we had died at the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread! But you had to lead us into this desert to make the whole community die of famine!” [Exodus 16: 3] Jesus greatly weakened had a different response to the suffering that he freely undertook, which was made evident by his response to the tempter who saw an opportunity in his weakened physical state. “The tempter approached and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to turn into bread.’ Jesus replied, ‘Scripture has it: ‘Not on bread alone is man to live but on every utterance that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4: 3- 4) 

This temptation appeared benign on the surface but had a deadly bite to it, the same lethal offering that Adam and Eve succumbed to by eating the forbidden fruit.

There was a thin veneer of righteousness and acceptability to the devilish proposition, but with Satan’s signature written all over it, for he had done this trick in Eden. The version in the desert was a rehash of the temptation in the garden as both lures had the same end. “What can be wrong in eating the forbidden fruit when it will confer on you the knowledge of good and bad? Even better because of a most advantageous outcome—you will be like gods. What can be wrong in wanting to be better?” The same bait in the desert. “What can be so wrong in turning stone into bread especially in this time of great need? You had faithfully endured the forty-day fasting regiment and it was time to relieve your hunger. How can that be an infraction, more so when you have the power to do it? Show me your power. Prove to me that you are God’s Son.” And this was precisely the devil’s trap for in its core was the enticement to act in accord with one’s interest and in so doing uphold the truth about your personhood as one who possessed the power to turn stone to bread. The same trap set by Satan in the garden—to act in accord with one’s interest as one who has the power to do it, which is the gift of free will and the accessibility of the fruit and in so doing, achieve what is in your nature. Self-actualization is a dangerous thing especially when the offer comes from the devil. In Eden, Satan removed the one hindrance to his false call to greatness—"It is God who is lying because you will not die. He is just preventing you from achieving your true potential. Reach out and eat!” Adam and Eve set aside the utterance of God and so died a spiritual death. It must be pointed out that the version in the desert was not for regular mortals but was especially crafted for Jesus because he is God and has the power to alter matter, from inedible to edible. But at the core, both were the same because they went against the will of God. The ‘stone to bread’ miracle would have undermined the mystery of the Incarnation because at the heart of this mystery was the poverty of man, which Jesus assumed in toto, except sin. Jesus triumphed his oneness with man by rejecting Satan’s offer to use his divine power to assuage bodily need. In doing so, he exhorted man to live according to the utterance of God and not to allow material needs like food to be the driver of action especially when it goes against God’s will; as doing so results in the type of poverty that kills, which is spiritual deprivation like the one experienced by our first parents. It is written: “You keep saying, ‘I am so rich and secure that I want for nothing.’ Little do you realize how wretched you are, how pitiable and poor, how blind and naked! Take my advice: Buy from me gold refined by fire if you would be truly rich. Buy white garments in which to be clothed, if the shame of your nakedness is to be covered. Buy ointment to smear on your eyes, if you would see once more.” (Revelation 3: 17- 18) The centrality of man’s poverty, which is the state of one created lower than the angels, was brought to the fore when the Son of God took the lowest echelon in the socio-economic ladder of the Jewish society. Jesus came from the rank of the anawim, as nothing could be lower than a manger as the starting point of life, even underscoring this status the night before his death when he washed the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper. (John 13: 1- 11) Thus, the extreme punishments meted to him, from the flagging/scourging and ending with his crucifixion were in keeping with his low state. Had he been born to privilege he would have been immune from the barbaric cruelty of the Romans. Had he been a member of the ruling class, there would only be two crosses in Calvary and neither one was redemptive. Poor thief for missing the opportunity to meet Jesus in person and so gained redemption! Poor humanity for missing the gospel of the cross, which is the evilness of sin and God’s infinite unconditional love for man, as these are central to man’s salvation, as the latter is gained by the man’s acceptance of his need for God’s sanctifying love despite his unworthiness. The two-prong poverty of the creature from dust, the first being inherent as one created lower than the angels and the second, his inability to free himself from the yoke of slavery, which he had brought upon himself, was integral to God’s rescue plan, as only his state of powerlessness against the forces at work in his being could cure man of his primal sin which is pride. The God-Man had to meet man at his level of want in order to raise him up to his state of fullness. Such is the wisdom of God! Jesus must fully embrace the life of a slave, as only then could he claim the sublime title, the Son of Man, who came to serve. He must live out through suffering and death the infinite love of the Father, so as to claim the glorious title, the Son of God, not as an entitlement but rightly earned through obedience to God. Jesus said:

“What little sense you have! How slow you are to believe all that the prophets have announced! Did not the Messiah have to undergo all this so as to enter into his glory?” (Luke 24: 25- 26)

There can never be an exception even in the remoteness of the desert where hunger was his chosen lot, which was in oneness with the state of want common with life on the planet. Paul wrote: “Though he was in the form of God, he did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at. Rather, he emptied and took the form of the slave, being born in the likeness of men.” (Philippians 2: 6- 7) But there was water he turned to wine in Cana or the multiplication of bread and dried fish for the multitude. Were they not the same miracle as the stone-to-bread temptation? Or was Jesus just being scrupulous? There was only one answer and that was the answer he gave to Satan, the one red line that Jesus would never cross. His answer translates to-- nature and its needs are not drivers of life but every utterance that comes from the mouth of God, as to do otherwise is to transgress divine will. On the other hand, Jesus’ public miracles were necessarily done to give evidence of his divinity and so fulfill God’s will. At his baptism, “a voice from heaven said,

‘This is my beloved Son. My favor rests on him.’” [Matthew 3: 17] 

It was not hard for men to accept Jesus as a prophet, a rabbi, a holy man or as Judas testified, an innocent man but that changed nothing in the story of man. For man to experience redemption and renewal, man must take the giant leap of faith, crossing over from death to life, and accept Jesus as his God. For this to happen, Jesus must show proof that he is indeed, the Son of God, thus the imperative need for miracles. It is significant to point out that Satan had no need of evidential proof from the Messiah because he was beyond redemption, as lying is his native tongue, as evil is his state of being, unchanging from the moment he left the heavenly realm. “When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we have been hard at it all night long and have caught nothing; but if you say so, I will lower the nets.’ Upon doing this they caught such a great number of fish that their nets were at the breaking point. At the sight of this, Simon Peter fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me Lord, I am a sinful man.’ Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid. From now on you will be catching men.’ With that they brought their boats to land, left everything, and became his followers.’” (Luke 5: 4- 6, 8, 10- 11) The miracle of the catch was Jesus’ calling card to Peter, revealing his lordship over nature, which brought Peter to his knees. The sight of the immense catch humbled the apostle to the point that he immediately admitted his inadequacy as a sinful man in the presence of his Lord. This first act, the confession of his sinfulness, was the necessary step for him to hear the radical call of discipleship, which demanded self-denial in order to do God’s will. Jesus, who was the fulfillment of the law and prophets, was inviting Peter to live the life that he was meant to live, as this was his birthright, as one set apart by God for a particular purpose and that was to be the fisher of men. Jesus in this scene was revealing the meaning of human life as God had intended it to be when he created man, and this is nothing else than his full actualization by doing God’s will. This power was inherent in his being, which Adam and Eve failed to grasp, thinking albeit wrongly that it lay outside of them and thus the temptation to reach out for the forbidden fruit. Man can only be God’s handiwork and so achieve his fullest potentials or the best version of his being when he lives according to every utterance that comes from the mouth of God, which entails trials and difficulties, as these purify his resolve. On the other hand, the ‘stone to bread’ was antithetical to the meaning of life because it primarily went against God’s will and secondly, it was in direct opposition to human nature as the Creator had made it to be. Mankind is not a race of magicians, born with magic wands. He cannot turn stone into bread, no matter how desperate the need is, as his power over nature resides in his great capacity for work, powered by the gift of intelligence and imagination. Thus, by negating the temptation, Jesus affirmed his oneness with man and his nature with its limitations, being the creature lower than the angels, for it is written: “By the sweat of your face shall you get bread to eat, Until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; For you are dirt, and to dirt you shall return.” (Genesis 3: 19) The other reason is that this miracle was nothing more than self-serving act, merely to quiet the murmuring of the tummy, like the murmurings of the Israelites for food in their desert wandering. 

Third and worst of all, it would open Jesus to the accusation that he was not really

like one of us, and that the Incarnation was a sham from the start, as he could suspend the laws of nature if his personal needs demanded it.

This line of thinking would ultimately lead to the denial of the cross of Jesus-- that it was a show and rigged in his favor. If Jesus turned stone to bread to alleviate hunger, then he could very well have turned pain and sufferings into sweet nothing. But no, Jesus upheld the mystery of the Incarnation, embraced human nature, professed obedience to the Father and thought man one valuable lesson and that is the preeminence of the Word of God over man’s natural needs. Jesus faced this temptation again, albeit another version, as it played out later between his friends, the two women, sisters in fact from Bethany.

“On their journey Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him to her home. She had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet and listened to his words. Martha, who was busy with all the details of hospitality, came to him and said, ‘Lord, are you not concerned that my sister has left me to do the household tasks all alone? Tell her to help me.’ The Lord in reply said to her: ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and upset about many things; one thing only is required. Mary has chosen the better portion and she shall not be deprived of it.’” [Luke 10: 38- 42] Jesus came for a visit, most probably a short one, and the two sisters had opposite responses to his arrival. Martha was the elder and naturally the responsibility of providing for the needs of their esteemed guests, foremost was Our Lord fell on her lap, which overwhelmed her. It might even be the eleventh hour and she cried for help in her aloneness.

She felt slighted by Mary’s seeming indifference to her flight, so much so that she gave voice to it. 

Logically, Martha had every right to complain, and Mary was justifiably asking for a reprimand.

But our Lord had a different take on the scene in front of him, so much so that the verdict he handed down was the opposite of what was normally expected.

Martha was reprimanded and Mary was affirmed and the one immovable stone in the middle of the conflict is the truth about man—that he is a hybrid creature with mortality and immortality coexisting in his being, with each entity being nourished differently. The body from dust is sustained by natural food and the soul by the Word of God, with latter taking preeminence over the former. Jesus brought to the fore the seeming conflict between the two and resolved it by highlighting the righteousness of Mary’s choice and in so doing, he instructed his disciples on the essential of true discipleship, which is to live in accord with the utterance from God. Mary took this to heart like a child. She sat at the feet of Jesus, feeding on his every utterance, unmindful of the tummy’s need. In fact, it was the most natural thing to do for it was not that often that Jesus came to their home and Mary gave him her full undivided attention as one who had a spiritual hunger for the Word of God. She understood, by the grace of God, the singular opportunity right before her—to be fed with the truth in her own home, food or no food from the kitchen was unimportant. This was the same response by the people to Jesus when they stayed with him despite the lack of food.

“Jesus called his disciples to him and said: ‘My heart is moved with pity for the crowd. By now they would have been with me three days, and have nothing to eat. I do not wish to send them away hungry, for fear they may collapse on the way.’” [Matthew 15: 32] 

Come to think of it, Mary was more fortunate than the crowd. She was missing one meal, but the crowd had nothing to eat for three days. No parity at all! Without question, Mary made the right choice, which was affirmed by Jesus. And Martha? Her role was to provide for a natural need. Can anything be wrong with that? No, because even Jesus provided food for the crowd. Man is body and soul, and both must be nourished in order to live but the need of the immortal soul comes first than the needs of the physical body. It is noteworthy that Jesus fed the crowd with his words for three days and only after, did he feed them with natural food. Jesus said to tempter: “Not on bread alone is man to live but on every utterance that comes from the mouth of God.” [Matthew 4: 4]

So clearly, Mary had taken the better portion than Martha and she would not be deprived. Is this all to Martha’s story? No, because she stood for the natural tendency of men when faced with the responsibility as hosts. Hospitality is one of man’s preoccupations especially in Jesus’ time. The problem is when hospitality takes a life of its own, and the host becomes a slave to it like what happened to Martha. Oftentimes, the scheme is grandiose with lots of moving parts, for after all, how guests are received reflects on the status not only of the guests but more importantly, the socio-economic standing of the host. Martha’s scheme might not have been that elaborate but still, it was more than she could physically do. In the end, the psychological burden became too much when she became anxious and upset. Her whole plan was unraveling and there was no one to help her. Poor Martha, not because she failed to meet her goal since Jesus would not deprive Mary of her choice, but poor because she missed the present moment. The ‘here and now’ is always an opportunity to encounter the Word. Jesus was there, but instead, Martha got caught in her own scheme, got ‘unplugged’ from Jesus and was miserable in the end. If only Martha knew that in the not-so-distant future, Jesus would be dead. Oh, what a truly missed opportunity! In the same way, as prefigured by Martha, people missed too the countless ways that Jesus comes in every moment of their lives. It is written: “Here I stand, knocking at the door. If anyone hears me calling and opens the door, I will enter his house and have supper with him, he with me.” (Revelation 3: 20) But men have been busy turning stones to bread by the sweat of their brows to thwart the insecurities of life and the worrisome nature of the unknown tomorrows. Martha’s state of anxiety over physical need was a sad reminder of what can prevent us from meeting Jesus in the here and now. How easily can it happen when we get caught in our schemes and become oblivious to his knocking at the doors of our hearts. Jesus said, “I warn you, then: do not worry about your livelihood, what are you to eat or drink or use for clothing. Is not life more that food? Is not the body more valuable than clothes? Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more important than they? Which of you by worrying can add a moment to your lifespan? As for clothes, why be concerned? Learn a lesson from the way wild flowers grow. They do not work; they do not spin. Yet I assure you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was arrayed like one of these. If God can clothe in such splendor the grass the field, which blooms today and is thrown on the fire tomorrow, will he not provide much more for you, O weak in faith! Stop worrying, then, over questions like, ‘What are we to eat, or what are we to drink, or what are we to wear?’ The unbelievers are always running after these things. Your heavenly Father knows all that you need. Seek first his kingship over you, his way of holiness, and all these things will be given you besides. Enough, then, of worrying about tomorrow. Let tomorrow take care of itself. Today has troubles enough of its own.” (Matthew 6: 25- 34)

The Second temptation: “Next the devil took him to the holy city, set him on the parapet of the temple, and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, thrown yourself down. Scripture has it: He will bid his angels take care of you; with their hands they will support you that you may never stumble on a stone.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Scripture also has it: You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Matthew 4: 5- 7) Hurray, Satan is well-versed in Scriptures and quoted Psalm 91. But knowledge is different from wisdom and in this instance, he showed the distinction, as his interpretation was a perversion of the real meaning of these scriptural verses. Perverse as it was, was Satan taunting Jesus to commit suicide? Certainly not! 

Again, this temptation was specifically crafted for Jesus, precisely because he is the Son of God, as the voice from heaven attested when he came up in the river Jordan after his baptism, which without doubt Satan witnessed. Through him nature was created and thus, he was above nature as he had shown a number of times. There was the violent storm on the lake and the boat began to be swamped by the waves. Jesus “took the winds and sea to task. Complete calm ensued; the men were dumbfounded. ‘Whatsort of man is this,’ they said, ‘that even the winds and the sea obey him?’” (Matthew 8: 26- 27) There was Jesus walking on water. “At about three in the morning, he came walking towards them on

the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. ‘It is a ghost!’ they said, and in their fear they began to cry out. Jesus hastened to assure them: ‘It is I. Do not be afraid.’” (Matthew 14: 25- 27) There was Jesus cursing the fig tree. “At dawn, as Jesus was returning to the city, he felt hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the roadside, he went over to it but found nothing there except leaves. He said to it, ‘Never again shall you produce fruit!’; and it withered up instantly.” (Matthew 21: 18- 19) There was the issue of the temple tax to which Jesus responded with a miracle: “But for fear of disedifying them go to the lake, throw in a line, and take out the first fish you catch. Open its mouth  and you will discover there a coin worth twice the temple tax. Take it and give it to them for you and for me.” (Matthew 17: 27) If not suicide, then what was the temptation all about? This second lure went against the heart of Jesus’ mission, as the redeemer sent to save the world, which he would do according to the Father’s plan. He said: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that all who believe may have eternal life in him.” (John 3: 14: 15) Further on he said: “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3: 17) Satan was thwarting God’s will by suggesting that Jesus take the easier way out. Instead of being lifted up on the cross, he should show off his divine power by throwing himself down from a high point. Thus, reducing Jesus’ mission to nothing more than a circus stunt, the same way he tried to negate the mystery of the Incarnation into a mere magic trick. Not hard to imagine the master-showman, the purveyor of illusions, the perverter of truth, announcing: “Showtime folks! Here is your Messiah demonstrating his divinity by throwing himself from the parapet of the temple. And look at the angels, my generic relatives in heaven supporting him less he stumbles on a stone. What a marvelous feat! Come folks and see! Here is your God, coming in glory, no sweat and no blood spilt.” Jesus’ response was on point: “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” This temptation, in all its myriad versions, appeared throughout Jesus’ ministry. “The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with him. They were looking for some heavenly sign from him as a test.” (Mark 8: 11) Even up to the very end in Calvary, the unbelievers were taunting him for a sign. “Save yourself, why don’t you? Come down off that cross if you are God’s Son!’ The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders also joined in the jeering: ‘He saved others but he cannot save himself! So he is the king of Israel! Let see him come down from that cross and then we will believe in him. He relied on God; let God rescue him now if he wants to. After all, he claimed, ‘I am God’s Son.’” (Matthew 27: 40- 43) But were the countless miracles that Jesus had performed not enough? Were they not signs of his divinity? More significantly, why the emphasis on heavenly signs, which was an echo of Satan’s temptation? The answer is simple. The Jews were immune to Jesus’ miracles because they had happened before through the hands of the prophets of old. There were Moses’ ten wonders in Egypt (Exodus 7- 11), including the parting of the Red Sea. (Exodus 14: 15- 16) In the time of Elijah, there was the miracle of flour and oil in Zarephath: “The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.” (1 Kings 17: 14) There too was the healing of the leprous Naaman of Syria. “The prophet (Elijah) sent him the message: ‘Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will heal, you will be clean.’” (2 Kings 5: 10) There too was the story of Elijah restoring to life the son of the widow of Zarephath: “O Lord, my God, let the life breath return to the body of this child.” The Lord heard the prayer of Elijah; the life breath returned to the child’s body and he revived.” (1 King 17: 21- 22) So naturally, with a long history of miraculous occurrences, they upped the requirement for Jesus’ credentials. Jesus was claiming to be God’s Son, so nothing less than a heavenly sign would suffice. The other wonders that Jesus did were all passe’’and did not count because these had been done before. They were demanding extraordinary signs, something unheard of. True enough, Jesus gave an undisputed sign of his divinity—in his own time, in the manner of his choice and not for all to witness, but only those chosen by the Father. Jesus said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2: 19) “After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene came with the other Mary to inspect the tomb. Suddenly there was a mighty earthquake, as the angel of the Lord descended from heaven. He came to the stone, rolled it back, and sat on it. In appearance he resembled a flash of lightning while his garments were dazzling as snow. Then the angel spoke, addressing the women: ‘Do not be frightened, I know you are looking for Jesus the crucified, but he is not here. He has been raised, exactly as he promised. Come and see the place where he was laid. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has been raised from the dead and now goes ahead of you to Galilee, where you will see him.’ That is the message I have for you.” (Matthew 28: 1- 7) To his two disciples making their way to a village named Emmaus, Jesus said: “What little sense you have! How slow you are to believe all that the prophets have announced! 

Did not the Messiah have to undergo all this so as to enter into his glory?” [Luke 24: 25- 26] To the disciples in Jerusalem, Jesus said: “Peace be with you. Why are you disturbed? Why do such ideas cross your mind? Look at my hands and my feet; it is really I. Touch me, and see that a ghost does not have flesh and bones as I do.” (Luke 24: 36- 39) To the Apostle Thomas’ incredulous and unbelieving response to the news, Jesus said: “Take your finger and examine my hands. Put your hand into my side. Do not persist in your unbelief, but believe.” (John 20: 27) To the unbelievers, Jesus gave a sign too. 

“An evil and unfaithful age is eager for a sign! No sign will be given it but that of the prophet Jonah. Just as Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man spend three days and three nights in the bowels of the earth.” (Matthew 12: 39- 40) 

An empty tomb was all that was left for the unbelievers to see-- for theirs was a blindness that no sign could cure; theirs were hearts so hard that no seed of new life could take root and grow; theirs was a darkness so deep that no light of truth could penetrate; in the end, theirs was death that no miracle could bring to life. They made that choice when they rejected John’s baptism of repentance, thus, defeating God’s plan as announced by John in the desert of Judea: “Reform your lives! The reign of God is at hand.” (Matthew 3: 1-2) Jesus asked the chief priests and the elders: “What was the origin of John’s baptism? Was it divine or merely human?” They thought to themselves, “If we say ‘divine,’ he will ask us, ‘Then why did you not put faith in it?’; while if we say, ‘merely human,’ we shall have reason to fear the people, who all regard John as a prophet.” So their answer to Jesus was, ‘We do not know.’”[Matthew 21: 25- 27] Their well-thought, non-committal reply meant an unwillingness to open their minds to the possibility of change-- a change that demanded a thorough self-examination and repentance for sins committed; a change that would lead to the acceptance of Jesus as Lord and God, which would eventually lead to reformation of life and moral conversion. Jesus said: “I have come in my Father’s name, yet you do not accept me.” (John 5: 43) “How can people like you believe, when you accept praise from one another yet do not seek the glory that comes from the One God? (John 5: 44) Theirs was an obduracy worse than Pharaoh who allowed the Israelites to leave Egypt, after only ten miracles worked by God through Moses. (Exodus 7- 11)

Their blind stubbornness brought about by the need to maintain the status quo of power, of which they were at the pinnacle, continued as was reflected by their response to the miracle in the tomb of Jesus.

“As the women were returning, some of the guard went into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. They, in turn, convened with the elders and worked out their strategy, giving the soldiers a large bribe with the instructions: ‘You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him while we were asleep.’” (Matthew 28: 11- 13) Jesus was right—no sign for them but that of Jonah who disappeared for three days and three nights from the face of the earth, entombed in the belly of the whale. The death of Jesus was the last chapter that the unbelievers were willing to accept. The miracle of the resurrection was not for them to experience for it would serve no purpose. Jesus made this point in the story of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus. The rich man who ended in a place of torment after death begged Abraham to send Lazarus to his five brothers as a warning “so that they may not end in this place of torment.” Abraham said to him: “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if one should rise from the dead.” (Luke 16: 31) Jesus’ rise from the dead was the undeniable sign of his divinity and lordship over life, but only for those who are called to life eternal. He said: “I tell you truly: you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices; you will grieve for a time, but your grief will be turned into joy.” (John 16: 20) Three days and three nights in the bowels of the earth and in the early morning hours of the first day of the week when it was still dark, a named was called, breaking the stillness of night, “Mary” (John 20: 16). Mary Magdalene was filled with unfathomable grief from the double blow-- the death of her master and her inexplicable sense of lost at the discovery of his missing body. Her suffering was all the more gut-wrenching because it was beyond her understanding. She was there with his mother when they took his life, uniting them both in a grief that no word could capture. She was there when his body was brought down from the cross, anointed, wrapped in linen, and laid in a barrowed tomb, so hastily done because of the Sabbath restrictions. A life taken so soon in a most barbaric way and alas, there was no time even for a proper wake. Worst, they stole his body, and she was left with an empty tomb. This was where her great love for her teacher had brought her, in the precipice of incomprehensibility, in the abyss of a sorrow so great it knew no bounds, and where all hopes were dashed. What madness for a woman of great love and devotion! Then he heard a voice: “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for? (John 20: 15) He addressed her in an impersonal, generic title without a ring of familiarity. In abject supplication, Mary replied: “Sir, if you are the one who carried him off, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away.” (John 20: 15) In that dark early morning hours, Mary, most probably with eyes swollen from crying and held bound in a place of darkness because of the all-encompassing finality of her lost, failed to recognize Jesus and mistook him for a gardener. Then her name was called, “Mary,” Jesus said. Right at that very instant, the shackles were broken and Mary recognized the voice that spoke her name, which reminded us of what Jesus said in his discourse on the Good Shepherd: “The sheep hear his voice as he calls his own by name and leads them out.” (John 10: 3) Jesus led Mary out of darkness as “She turned to him and said in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni’. (John 20: 16) What joy it must have been for Mary, full to overflowing, surpassing what the human heart can hold. A woman, who walked in darkness had seen a great light, she who dwelt in the land of gloom, overshadowed by death, a light had arisen. “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting.” (1 Corinthians 15: 55) This is the sign that Jesus promised: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up,” (John 2: 19) that heavenly sign that the Jews demanded but did not witness; the sign that all believers will come to share, all according to God’s plan. Paul wrote: “If we have been united with him through likeness to his death, so shall we be though a like resurrection.

This we know: our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed and we might be slaves to sin no longer. A man who is dead has been freed from sin.

If we have died with Christ, we believe that we are also to live with him.” (Romans 6: 5-6, 8) 

“Death came through a man; hence the resurrection of the dead comes through a man also. Just as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will come to life again, (1 Corinthians 15: 21- 22) in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet. The trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. This corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, this mortal body with immortality.” (1 Corinthians 15: 52- 53) Oh, what joy, not only for Mary but for all the believers—unmerited, yet forever rejoicing; unattainable, yet forever abiding; underserved, yet eternally clothed in the white garments of salvation washed in the blood of the Lamb; inconceivable, yet forever dwelling in the Kingdom of Light, in a blissful wonder, in the loving arms of the merciful of God. “Alleluia. Praise the Lord, all you nations; glorify him, all you peoples! For steadfast is his kindness towards us, and the fidelity of the Lord endures forever.” (Psalm 117)

Is there any implication or significance of the second temptation to the believers? Was Satan’s defeat at the parapet of the temple, more than 2000 years ago, put an end to this particular type of temptation? True that the original was specially crafted for Jesus but is there a version for regular mortals? In the parapet of the temple, the Son of God was tempted to perform a never-before-seen miracle that would convince the people of his divine nature. This is the essentiality of this brand of temptation, as it is premised on the public display of work as the true measure of the person’s worth. Jesus got the version intended for God, but Satan is always crafting versions targeting the Christians, as this is the summation of his existence-- to thwart in every way possible the will of God and all believers are in his line of sight. How will Satan approach the faithful along the line of the second temptation with an equally deadly sting? There was a scene in Luke 18: 18- 19 that should give a clue to our query. “One of the ruling class asked him then, ‘Good teacher, what must I do to share in everlasting life?” Jesus said to him: “Why call me ‘good’? None is good but God alone.” In this scene, Jesus rejected the qualification, “Good.” But why? True that it could be a form of flattery with the end point of ingratiating the speaker to Jesus and the onlookers. Can we dismiss that Our Lord’s response as nothing more than a judgment on the man’s intent or was there more than meets the eye? Jesus’ response was the key that unlocked the seeming lack of clarity in this scene. First, he saw the trap and like in the parapet unequivocally rejected it. What was wrong in being considered “good”? In the parapet, Jesus could have quelled all questions regarding his personhood if he did what Satan had proposed. But his answer was “No” which was related to the word he used in the scene above-- “None.” His radical answer was not in response to the man’s interior motive but his declaration of the truth— “None is good but God alone.” Jesus used this commonly desired affirmation “good” to teach that only God deserves this lofty acclamation, as good is the essence of his being even without him doing anything to prove it. No human, even a wise teacher, merits such lofty consideration especially when appropriated by men with questionable intent. But was Jesus not God and so, was worthy to accept this qualification? The title “teacher” did not necessarily translate to God and thus, explained his rejection. In the same way, his followers should take heed this teaching and reject any praise or suggestion that packaged, like a tidy bow, his personhood, which is based on the estimation of worth that proceeds from work, calculable by the flawed senses, as these mortal scanners cannot see the heart which is the true gauge of worth, as only God has the power to appraise it. To be thought good, based on human standard, was the underlying lie in the second temptation that proposed action to merit the people’s acclamation, which was the falling from a high place with the angels breaking his fall. Based on Satan’s deprave logic, who does not want instant gratification even if it goes against God’s will? Likewise, the Christians will receive this temptation, though tone-down, as they will not be called to display supernatural power over nature which they do not possess, but as persons who are commanded to do good by Our Lord. Satan will approach them as sons of God and good Christians and consequently, the sting is: “If you are truly a good Christian and a devout follower of Jesus, then show the people your good works. If you have it, why not flaunt it? It makes even more sense because you will personally benefit from them. There is no reason to hide them when you can get the much-coveted recognition from your good works plus the freebies that go with it, you being the adopted son of God and a good-doer par excellence. You can even be like a god to your fellowmen, all good and loving, just like Jesus. Isn’t that what you like in the first place? Don’t tell me that it did not cross your mind to benefit from your good works? People will open their doors to you, receiving the prized invite to their exclusive feasts and banquets. You’ll be a huge celebrity, even with millions of internet followers. Imagine, it is a win-win situation, like hitting two birds with one stone. You’ll please God and yourself as well, by reaping the rewards both temporal and eternal. You’ll give glory to God by your works and to yourself as well, loudly proclaiming your faith by your good deeds. Show, Show, Show!” This has always been the devil’s tactics, for he is the showman par excellence and the seducer of men. Even more the need for believers to be ever vigilant, for this temptation is the slayer of Christians because it leads to spiritual pride. Jesus showed the believers how to deal with this temptation by stating the truth:

“None is good but God alone.” If Jesus, who is God rejected the idea of goodness, his disciples can do no less. 

This personal sense of goodness, maybe unspoken and hidden with a thin veneer of humility, is the entry point of the temptation of this kind. By living out the truth that God alone is good, the Christian is depriving Satan of the kindling to fan the flames of spiritual pride. Paul wrote: “I know that no good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; the desire to do right is there but not the power.” [Romans 7: 18] There was a scene in Paul’s ministry in Lystra where people thought him to be a god. “When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they cried out in Lycaonian, ‘Gods have come to us in the form of men!’ They named Barnabas Zeus; Paul they called Hermes, since he was the spokesman. Even the priest of the temple of Zeus, which stood outside the town, brought oxen and garlands to the gates because he wished to offer sacrifice to them with the crowds.

When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd. ‘Friends, why do you do this?’ they shouted frantically. ‘We are only men, human like you.’” (Acts 14: 11- 15) 

Jesus said: “Be on guard against performing religious acts for people to see. Otherwise expect no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, for example, do not blow a horn before you in synagogues and streets like hypocrites looking for applause. You can be sure of this much, they are already repaid. In giving alms you are not to let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Keep your deeds of mercy secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you. When you are praying, do not behave like the hypocrites who love to stand and pray in synagogues or on street corners, in order to be noticed. I give you my word, they are already repaid. Whenever you pray, go into your room, close your door, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees what no man sees, will repay you.” (Matthew 6: 1- 6) Jesus was giving his disciples life lessons on how to live lives worthy of the title Christian.

His true followers should not make any provisions for the self and all works must be raised to the heavenly Father as gifts-- hidden, offered in secret, left on the altar without fanfare and forgotten, never to be recalled again.

All movement of the heart should be toward God alone, the fountain of all goodness and the wellspring of all grace that empower men to do his will including the love of one’s neighbor. To the Good God, all-praise, all-thanksgiving, all-honor, all-glory! Jesus, to rightly put an end to this idea of personal goodness, said:

“When you have done all you have been commanded to do, say, ‘We are useless servants. We have done no more than our duty.” (Luke 17: 10)

The second temptation, which was nullified by Jesus’ teaching that no praise from fellow creatures, both in words and deeds, must be sought or expected, has another deadly lure to it, very much like a coin with two faces. It encourages the passing of judgement on others, based solely on the power of observation, for how can the description “good” be attached to a person without weighing his works. Paul wrote: “But you, how can you sit in judgement on your brother? Or you, how can you look down on your brother? We should all have to appear before the judgement seat of God.” (Romans 14: 10-) It is always a temptation to give the stamp of approval-- “good Christians” to person seen doing good works, and disapproval to those with seemingly empty hands. Such was the case of the poor widow in the temple treasury, hands almost empty except for two small cooper coins, worth few cents, who caught Jesus’ attention. Many of the wealthy put in sizeable amounts that drew an almost laughable contrast to the widow’s mite, making her offering more inconsequential. Jesus, fully aware of the sharp contrast, used this scene to teach his disciples and those who will come to believe in him valuable lesson in giving, designating the poor widow as his model. He said in judgement, “I assure you, this poor widow has put in more than all the rest. They make contributions out of their surplus, but she from her want has given what she could not afford —every penny she had to live on.” [Luke 21: 3-4] This is Jesus’ standard and the measure he will use as the ultimate judge at the consummation of time, as wealth is not might, as deeds are not measured by money that come with it but by the personal sacrifice that it entailed. Jesus said as a warning: “The slave who knew his master’s wishes but did not prepare to fulfill them will get a severe beating, whereas the one who did not know them, and who nonetheless, deserved to be flogged will get off with fewer stripes. When much has been given a man, much will be required of him. More will be asked of a man to whom more has been entrusted.” (Luke 12: 47- 48) In the time God chooses, he himself will give the undisputed, unopposed sign of Jesus divinity, silencing the unbelievers. Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels in heaven, he will sit upon his royal throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him.” [Matthew 25: 31- 32] It is written:

Turn to me and be safe, all you ends of the earth,

for I am God; there is no other!

By myself I swear, uttering my just decree and my unalterable word;

To me every knee shall bend; by me every tongue shall swear,

Saving “Only in the Lord

are the just deeds and power,

Before him in shame shall come all who vent their anger against him.

In the Lord shall be the vindication and the glory

of all the descendants of Israel.”

                                     Isaiah 45: 22- 25

The Third Temptation. “The devil then took him up to a high mountain and displayed before him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, promising, ‘All these I will bestow on you if you prostrate yourself in homage before me.’ At this, Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! Scripture has it: ‘You shall do homage to the Lord your God; him alone shall you adore.’ (Matthew 4: 8- 10) Having been rebuked in the first two, Satan ultimately threw everything on Jesus, all that his power could do. The prince of this world was desperate for a win and in his last and final bid, he tempted Jesus with the magnificence of finite wealth and the passing allurement of worldly power. Of course, with one deadly catch— a change of allegiance, unequivocally to be expressed by Jesus’ prostration and homage before him. This most foul, devilish creature, a mere handiwork of God the Almighty, was tempting God to an exchange of status. Unimaginable is the pride of Satan! No wonder, hell was especially designed for him and his legions of fallen angels. Jesus rebuked him and said, “‘Away with you, Satan! Scripture has it: ‘You shall do homage to the Lord your God; him alone shall you adore.’” Later on, in his discourse in Matthew 6: 19- 21], Our Lord would define the value of what had been offered to him by Satan, vis-à-vis, the meaning of true riches. He said: “Do not lay up for yourselves an earthly treasure. Moths and rust corrode; thieves break in and steal. Make it your practice instead to store up heavenly treasure, which neither moths and rust corrode nor thieves break in and steal. Remember where your treasure is, there your heart also.” Jesus, to further illustrate his point about the illusion of wealth and the fleeting security of worldly power, told a parable of a rich man who had a harvest-bonanza. “There was a rich man who had a good harvest. ‘What shall I do?’ he asked himself. ‘I have no place to store my harvest. I know!’ he said ‘I will pull down my grain bins and build larger ones. All my grains and goods will go there. Then I will say to myself: You have blessings in reserve for years to come. Relax! Eat heartily, drink well. Enjoy yourself.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life shall be required of you. To whom will all this piled-up wealth of yours go?’ This is the way it works with the man who grows rich for himself instead of growing rich in the sight of God.” [Luke 12: 16- 21] Too much wealth, so little time to enjoy them! What a waste! Such is the nature of temporal riches, for the whole of one’s lifetime is only borrowed, without knowledge as to when the lease will expire. Alas, checkmate for the rich man, as his opportunity to relax, eat heartily, and drink well, ended even before it started, as his borrowed life was demanded back that very night. Foolish man who put his hope on things that matters not in the afterlife, as he entered that life poor as a pauper! Satan will hit all men, without exception, with this same temptation, maybe not as humongous as the deal he offered Jesus but still enough to make the downsized version for regular mortals an alluring seduction. The devil does not offer the whole shebang at one go like he did with our Lord. Our version is toned-down, usually in the form of small incremental steps of misdemeanor, nothing earth-shaking and something that robs no one of sleep. They might even be dismissed as a prank or a mischievous escapade. One antic at a time, starting with brief excursions into the night but slowly growing in severity until one reached the slippery downward slope where it is difficult to climb out. In the end, the change of allegiance is complete, and Satan’s condition is met- “if you prostrate yourself in homage before me.” This was the case of Judas- petty thieving at first until that last inning when the stake was upped exponentially, trading Jesus for a bargain price of thirty silver pieces. His act brought him to the bottom of the slope where there was no foothold, alone with a crashing weight of guilt and an overwhelming sense of despair. He finally did the unthinkable-- that of selling his Master, which at first seemed so right and justifiable, so beguiling and profitable. He even did it with a kiss. His partner in crime, the liar for all seasons, was long gone and he was left alone to stew in his own fat, and wallow in the misery of the decision of his lifetime, which had gone horribly wrong. He was desperate to find a way to escape the predicament of someone “who was better not to have been born”, the same accursed fate of Cain. Having turned away from his companions, he found a friend in a piece of rope. The devil had no use for him anymore. He was a collateral damage, for Jesus was the main prize. Judas, bearing the indelible mark of a traitor on his whole person, hung himself, choosing instead, “reclusion perpetua” at the bowels of hell. His journey to hell, a step at a time, is warning to all men. Satan comes in many guises, a disciple, a friend, a shoulder to cry on, a sympathetic ear or a snake with forked tongue but always, the modus operandi is the same. “Take the easier way out. No one will find out. We’ll hide the skeletons in the closet. Why suffer when there are alternate roads to success? Don’t take the narrow road. Why play straight when the crooked way is so much fun and profitable? Why sweat blood and tears when it can be a walk in the park, hassle-free? Take my way, for mine is not burdensome and offers maximum return of investment. All you have to do is numb your conscience, reduce the volume to inaudible setting and we are good to go. Let us rule the world and claim what is yours. You deserve it, after all. Piece of cake, smooth as silk, painless and quick like a child’s play, why don’t you try?” There was a time when our Lord started giving the disciples glimpses of what awaited him in Jerusalem. “At this, Peter took him aside and began to remonstrate with him. ‘May you be spared, Master! God forbid that any such thing ever happened to you.’ Jesus turned on Peter and said, ‘Get out of my sight, you Satan! You are trying to make me trip and fall. You are not judging by God’s standard but by man’s.’” [Matthew 16: 22- 23] Good try, Peter, but you were dealing with One who can see the heart!