OUR THREE TEMPTATIONS
We are all made in God’s image and likeness, blessed, and our private secret that we are special is, in fact, the deepest truth. However, that isn’t always easy to believe. Life and circumstance often tire us in ways that tempt us to believe its opposite. It happened to Jesus.
During his baptism, Jesus heard his Father say: “You are my blessed son, in whom I take delight.”
But throughout his life Jesus struggled to always believe that. For instance, immediately after his baptism, we are told, the spirit drove him into the desert where he fasted for forty days and forty nights – and afterwards “he was hungry”. Obviously what scripture is describing here is not simply physical hunger. Jesus was empty in ways that made him vulnerable to believe that he was not God’s blessed child.
Jesus was first tempted by the devil in the desert, to this effect: “If you are God’s specially blessed one, turn these stones into bread.” In essence, the devil’s taunt was this: “If you believe that you are God’s specially blessed creature, why is your life so empty?” Jesus’ reply, “One doesn’t live on bread alone!” might be rendered: “I can be empty and still be God’s blessed one! Being blessed and special is not dependent upon how full or empty my life is at a given moment!”
It is good to remember, namely, that we are God’s special, blessed sons and daughters, even when we lives seem empty, anonymous, and devoid of any special privileges because then we won’t forever be putting God and our restless hearts to the test, demanding more than ordinary life can give us.
To read about Jesus’ other two temptations in the desert click here or copy this address into your browser http://ronrolheiser.com/our-
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