What is the disciple's answer for the
four temptations of Christ?
"And straightway the Spirit drove him forth into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days tempted of Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him. " -
Mark 1: 12 - 13Other accountings:
"Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and
forty nights, he afterward hungered. And the tempter came and said
unto him, 'If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become
bread....' " - Matthew 4: 1 - 4
"And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness during forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he did eat nothing in those days: and when they were completed, he hungered. And the devil said unto him, 'If thou art the Son of God, command this stone that it become bread.' " - Luke 4: 1 - 4
And the fourth Scripturally-recounted temptation usually overlooked:
"Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. but turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, 'Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.' " - Mark 8: 31 - 33
Why, in the scheme of things divine, would Jesus be tempted by Satan? Thus begins a most interesting contemplation and discussion for the Christian disciple; focusing on the actual mission of Satan, and not the mythological essence that's been conjured by sources ranging from Dante to Hollywood. What I am about to write most assuredly will be upsetting to many Christians, but I've got the Scriptures on my side to prove my claim. It is this - Heaven is the place of absolute perfection and sinless purity. Heaven cannot be soiled by the imperfectness of the sinful human soul; therefore, a regime of earthly temptation was instituted by God, beginning with Adam and Eve, through to the man Jesus and carried on to the present moment. The entity in charge of this institution is none other than the Grand Tempter himself, Satan.
In the beginning, it was Satan's task, sanctioned by God (and later specifically referenced in Job 1: 6 - 12) to tempt humans, and those who failed the temptations were not allowed to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And what were the 'temptations'? Anything that would distract the human's attention from God, along with disobedience to God's direct commands. Satan's job is to continually tempt and continually beguile humans so their spiritual and mental communication with God grows less and less over one's lifetime. Once the human subject is wearied and susceptible to material cravings and desires introduced by Satan, the Devil has proven successful in his mission. That is, he has made the one time perfect human soul imperfect by separating the human's thoughts from his or her God. One who has been tempted by Satan, and succumbed to the temptation, sinned, is no longer perfect in spirit and thus no longer acceptable in God's heaven. That was the situation until the advent of Christ and his salvific act on Calvary. However, when the Word of God took on the human coil in the form of Jesus the Nazarene, he also in order to be legitimate in his cause, had to undergo the rigors of mortal temptation. Likewise, the disciple of Christ, because of the Christ living within his or her mortal body, also must endure Satan's temptations. This may seem unjust, but these are God's rules of operation and we have to accept them.
Beyond being the Tempter, Satan is the Accuser. One might say, Satan is the prosecutor in the court of God's law... because it's true. As recounted in the Book of Job, Satan filled the role of Tempter and Tormentor. In the book of Zechariah, Satan was the Accuser: "Then he showed me the high priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him." - Zechariah 3:1. And in Mark, above, Satan assumed the role of Tempter - acting through Peter - in a move to dissuade Jesus from his grand mission. Satan never gives up his task. Never.
Why was Jesus tempted? Because Jesus was God in human form and God did not make an exception of himself from his own mandate that only the perfect soul - the spotless soul - could achieve Heaven. Even Jesus would have to be tempted by Satan. Jesus knew this and Satan, having succeeded before with Adam and Eve, was up for the game of tempting the Son of God. Again, why was it necessary for Jesus to be tempted? To be the legitimate savior of mankind. That is, to be truly human, Jesus would have to endure the temptations that mortals have to endure every waking moment of their lives; these include fear, doubt, depression, reluctance, physical pleasure, pain, and lust. Jesus could not be protected by a special power from his Father in order to be shielded from what you and I have to experience. If Jesus succumbed once to any of Satan's temptations, the mission of redemption would have been ruined. A book about just this point was authored by Nikos Kazantzakis called, The Last Temptation of Christ. The writing is meant to be read by the intelligent mind, as its message oftimes confuses and outrages the uneducated and unenlightened Christian; but the book serves as an outstanding and insightful
guide for the savvy Christian disciple.
Always remember this: When a person truly becomes a disciple of Christ, that person has a target on their soul. The Christian disciple becomes a person of special interest for Satan and will continually be tempted by him so that in a moment of weakness the disciple will lose sight of God and thus fall from grace. If that happens, Satan has won.
"And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness during forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he did eat nothing in those days: and when they were completed, he hungered. And the devil said unto him, 'If thou art the Son of God, command this stone that it become bread.' " - Luke 4: 1 - 4
And the fourth Scripturally-recounted temptation usually overlooked:
"Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. but turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, 'Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.' " - Mark 8: 31 - 33
Why, in the scheme of things divine, would Jesus be tempted by Satan? Thus begins a most interesting contemplation and discussion for the Christian disciple; focusing on the actual mission of Satan, and not the mythological essence that's been conjured by sources ranging from Dante to Hollywood. What I am about to write most assuredly will be upsetting to many Christians, but I've got the Scriptures on my side to prove my claim. It is this - Heaven is the place of absolute perfection and sinless purity. Heaven cannot be soiled by the imperfectness of the sinful human soul; therefore, a regime of earthly temptation was instituted by God, beginning with Adam and Eve, through to the man Jesus and carried on to the present moment. The entity in charge of this institution is none other than the Grand Tempter himself, Satan.
In the beginning, it was Satan's task, sanctioned by God (and later specifically referenced in Job 1: 6 - 12) to tempt humans, and those who failed the temptations were not allowed to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And what were the 'temptations'? Anything that would distract the human's attention from God, along with disobedience to God's direct commands. Satan's job is to continually tempt and continually beguile humans so their spiritual and mental communication with God grows less and less over one's lifetime. Once the human subject is wearied and susceptible to material cravings and desires introduced by Satan, the Devil has proven successful in his mission. That is, he has made the one time perfect human soul imperfect by separating the human's thoughts from his or her God. One who has been tempted by Satan, and succumbed to the temptation, sinned, is no longer perfect in spirit and thus no longer acceptable in God's heaven. That was the situation until the advent of Christ and his salvific act on Calvary. However, when the Word of God took on the human coil in the form of Jesus the Nazarene, he also in order to be legitimate in his cause, had to undergo the rigors of mortal temptation. Likewise, the disciple of Christ, because of the Christ living within his or her mortal body, also must endure Satan's temptations. This may seem unjust, but these are God's rules of operation and we have to accept them.
Beyond being the Tempter, Satan is the Accuser. One might say, Satan is the prosecutor in the court of God's law... because it's true. As recounted in the Book of Job, Satan filled the role of Tempter and Tormentor. In the book of Zechariah, Satan was the Accuser: "Then he showed me the high priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him." - Zechariah 3:1. And in Mark, above, Satan assumed the role of Tempter - acting through Peter - in a move to dissuade Jesus from his grand mission. Satan never gives up his task. Never.
Why was Jesus tempted? Because Jesus was God in human form and God did not make an exception of himself from his own mandate that only the perfect soul - the spotless soul - could achieve Heaven. Even Jesus would have to be tempted by Satan. Jesus knew this and Satan, having succeeded before with Adam and Eve, was up for the game of tempting the Son of God. Again, why was it necessary for Jesus to be tempted? To be the legitimate savior of mankind. That is, to be truly human, Jesus would have to endure the temptations that mortals have to endure every waking moment of their lives; these include fear, doubt, depression, reluctance, physical pleasure, pain, and lust. Jesus could not be protected by a special power from his Father in order to be shielded from what you and I have to experience. If Jesus succumbed once to any of Satan's temptations, the mission of redemption would have been ruined. A book about just this point was authored by Nikos Kazantzakis called, The Last Temptation of Christ. The writing is meant to be read by the intelligent mind, as its message oftimes confuses and outrages the uneducated and unenlightened Christian; but the book serves as an outstanding and insightful
guide for the savvy Christian disciple.
Always remember this: When a person truly becomes a disciple of Christ, that person has a target on their soul. The Christian disciple becomes a person of special interest for Satan and will continually be tempted by him so that in a moment of weakness the disciple will lose sight of God and thus fall from grace. If that happens, Satan has won.
Take good cheer and hope if you are, in fact, continually tempted by Old Diabolos. It means that you must be doing the right thing as a disciple of Christ; for if you weren’t, you would be a person of no interest to Satan. And if you are of no interest to the Devil, then the odds are good that he already owns your soul.
©
Copyright 2009 - Donald Neal McKay - The MISSION
DISCIPLESHIP