POLO: When Jesus was baptised, the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus, and everyone in the crowd heard a voice from heaven say.
GOD: You are my dearly loved son, and you bring me great joy.
MAURICE: Now, this was before Jesus had done any teaching or miracles, so he was unknown to the crowd.
POLO: At that point, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.
PRISCILLA: Oh, I remember. Jesus fasted for 40 days, and he ate nothing.
MAURICE: Yes, Priscilla. By which time, Jesus was very, very hungry. And I imagine he was getting light-headed in the hot desert.
POLO: Yes, Maurice. On the ground were large round stones, and the devil saw his chance to sabotage Jesus’ mission by getting him to disobey God.
MAURICE: Yes, Polo. So the devil said to Jesus:
DEVIL: If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become tasty, round loaves of bread.
PRISCILLA: Jesus must have focused on the round stones, which really did look like lovely bread rolls. But then Jesus said.
JESUS: No, the scriptures say people do not live by bread alone.
PRISCILLA: Oh, I can imagine the devil growling a bit at Jesus’ answer.
MAURICE: I guess you could be right, Priscilla. This first test was to try and make Jesus’s appetite be more important than what God wanted. For us and people today, that could mean being tempted by our hunger for things. Our hunger becomes a very strong longing or being greedy for more or lusting for certain things. Wanting to have things is not wrong. But when it seems to control us, and we find it hard to think about other things, then that is wrong. Jesus did not want his hunger to rule him. Jesus wanted to be in charge of his desires.
POLO: Then the devil did an amazing thing. He showed Jesus all the rich and powerful kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
DEVIL: Then he said, I will give you the glory of these kingdoms, and I will give you authority over them. because they are mine to give to anyone I please. I will give you all of this if you will worship me.
MAURICE: Jesus was not accepting any of this because he wanted to please God the Father.
JESUS: So, Jesus said, The scriptures say you must worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.
PRISCILLA: I can imagine the devil kicking the dirt and growling.
MAURICE: In this second test, the devil had tried to entice Jesus with money and power. There are people who desire to get very rich, or they push others aside so they can be the one in charge. These people often hurt and damage others in trying to get money or have power over others, and this is a bad desire. Jesus wanted to put others first, and he wanted to serve and help people.
POLO: Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the temple, and said:
DEVIL: If you are the Son of God, jump off, for the scriptures say he will order his angels to protect and guard you, and they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
MAURICE: Jesus could see that the devil was using scripture wrongly and in a deceptive way. So, he responded.
JESUS: The scriptures also say, you must not test the Lord your God.
POLO: In this third test, the devil had tried to lure Jesus into disobedience by tempting him with fame and a celebrity status.
MAURICE: In other words, just jump off the top of the temple and you will be miraculously saved. Then the people will be astounded and will follow you, and you will look great in their eyes.
POLO: But Jesus could see the deceit, and so the devil was outmanoeuvred. He stopped tempting Jesus and left him until the next opportunity came.
Link to Podbean podcast.