Sunday, February 22, 2026
Last week, Jesus went to a mountaintop and was praised by God. This week, he goes to the desert and encounters the devil:
1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” 7Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; 9and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” 11Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
I guess it shouldn't surprise us that Jesus doesn't do what the devil wants. But what intrigues me is that Jesus and the devil go to Jerusalem together! Then they are on the pinnacle of the Temple, looking down, as Jesus declines the invitation to cast himself from that high place. That temptation isn't like the others: the first offers food to a famished man, and the last offers riches. But the middle one... all that is offered there is the opportunity to prove himself, with no explicit pay-off.
Somehow, that seems like the deepest temptation of all: to prove ourselves to others, to try to impress them with our talents or knowledge-- to have people marvel at our abilities and accomplishments. Who doesn't want that? But the message here, a hard one, is that seeking adulation is not the way of Christ.
