Temptation

“Then the devil left Him, and angels came and attended Him.” (Matthew 4:11).

Prayer (Anna Strakhova)

I have been considering the practical presentation of temptation.

When we consider the temptation of Christ in the Wilderness, I have often imagined a form of the Evil One standing next to Christ and whispering into His ear.  I have imagined a presence that can be seen and almost touched.

But the other day as I was pondering the suffering of Christ in submitting Himself to the temptation that He endured it occurred to me that perhaps it was not like that at all…

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.  The tempter came to Him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’  Jesus answered, ‘It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’’  Then the devil took Him to the holy city and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple.  ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’’  Jesus answered him, ‘It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’’  Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour.  ‘All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘if you will bow down and worship me.’  Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’’  Then the devil left Him, and angels came and attended Him.” (Matthew 4:1-11).

I read the passage again and it certainly looks like a conversation between two beings standing face to face, but I wonder if it really was…  After all, Christ submitted Himself to temptation so that I would never be alone in the temptations I endure.  And the temptations I endure are very often not conducted face to face with another being.  Instead, they are most often inside my own mind.  They are the decisions that run around inside my head from the ideas that I get – often from placing myself into occasions of sin – when I am around others who are making decisions that are NOT good for themselves, and I am tempted to copy them in their decision-making…

And most of the conversations that I have in those moments are inside my head.

And I have been thinking about that today.  Because it seems to me that it is quite possible that the temptations of Christ occurred inside His own mind.  And that Christ was forced to master His own mind with discipline as the Evil One attempted to manipulate the Holy Will of God.

And it occurs to me today that this is a terrible terrible thing that Christ endured for my sake.  A terrible terrible thing…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.