“Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.”
Matthew 4:11 (RSV)
Jesus was tested and tempted in many ways while He was in the desert. He was tempted to change a stone into bread, in His extreme hunger. He was also tempted with a quest for power, and to use His divine authority for earthly gain and to just take sovereignty over all.
Scripture tells us that Jesus was tested in all the ways that we are, but He was also tested in some ways that we are not. We may not be tempted to turn stones into bread, because we are not able to. We can, however, be tempted by the hunger or thirst of our fleshly bodies, to over eat or over drink.
We may not be in a position to conquer the world but we could still have a desire to control people and circumstances. Jesus was tempted to take sovereignty over the world as Satan showed Him all the kingdoms He could have by His divine power.
I always wondered why that was even tempting to Jesus, since He was destined to have sovereignty over all kingdoms, in the end.
Then I realized that the greatest temptation for Jesus was to grab it all without completing His mission of salvation. Satan wanted to tempt Jesus to bypass the cross, forget the sacrifice and just use His power to take control of all the kingdoms of the world. The devil dreaded the sacrifice that Jesus was about to do, since His blood bought our redemption.
I think there is a message in this for all believers. It is a great temptation to bypass the hard work and the sacrifice, to find the power for a quick and easy way to get what we want. The devil hates sacrifice, and he also hates that we follow Christ with our own free will. He wanted to tempt Jesus to skip those steps, and use His divine authority to just force control over all. Satan always wants us to seek power and control more than obedience and sacrifice.
Even though Jesus had the power to do it that way, He emptied Himself of that potential, and chose to become obedient to His Father, by becoming the lamb of God and sacrifice for us.
We can see in all human beings how this is still a great temptation among people. Every crime committed is a result of desiring to skip the steps of sacrifice and hard work, and grab something without earning it. It is apparent from the petty thief on the street to the corporate giants of our society.
We were all meant to follow Jesus, to obey our Father, carry our cross and unite ourself with Jesus in His sacrifice.
Of course Christians who are walking with Jesus every day, are not involved in crimes of any kind, but we may still desire to bypass some sacrifices, by praying for God to remove all of our hardships. I know I do.
Paul tells us that our momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory. Our obedience to Christ during the present afflictions we suffer, brings an eternal reward one day. Peter also tells us to rejoice as we share in Christ’s sufferings, that we may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.
Therefore, we were meant to resist the temptation to skip the hardships and avoid all suffering in this life. We remind ourselves that this life is temporary and we are going to live forever with Jesus. Everything that happens now, prepares us for that eternal glory.
C.S. Lewis said, “If there is nothing in this world that can completely satisfy us, then it must mean that we were meant for another world.”
Lord, help us to resist the temptation to avoid all trials and keep our perspective centered in knowing that everything in our lives is working for our eternal good. Comfort us with your presence and console us with your angels, as Jesus was comforted in the desert. Amen