Sunday, March 09, 2025
We find this in Luke 4:
1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2where 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. 3The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” 4Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’” 5Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And 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. 7If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” 9Then 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,10for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ 11and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” 12Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
There is so much going on here! A love of it, too, pulls against my own theology. I've always wondered about the "Devil" part-- and I have a LOT of questions:
-- First, that the devil just shows up, personified. It's so specific, too!
-- Second, that the devil has dominion over all of the kingdoms of the people. What?!? That's the starting point?
-- Third, the request to turn stone into bread seems odd. At any rate, Jesus had already turned water into wine, so it seems like he could have done this, too. And then the answer ("Man cannot live by bread alone") is kind of baffling, since even if men need more than bread, that doesn't mean Jesus can't do this miracle.
In the end, I've always taken this as a way to deal with a certain kind of bully, who wants you to do specific things. Jesus pretty much just ignores him, and refuses to do the tricks he requests. It's not a bad take.
