The Third Temptation

The tactics that the devil uses to tempt Jesus are  very subtle and looks very innocent. The first temptation is not so much to provide oneself with bread but placing a kind of doubt in the mind of Jesus. “If you are the Son God, command these stones to become bread.” Devil knows that Jesus is strong and will not jump in to satisfy his carnal desires by providing himself with bread. Even before he attempted, the devil knew that he would fail. So he had a second strategy ready.

This time, it is an invitation not to satisfy his carnal desires but to satisfy what every human being aspires for; the desire for recognition, status, glory, power, and money. “To you I will give glory... authority… power and splendour .... if you worship me.” The devil was sure he would succeed with one of these two temptations, as he often does with the majority of people. But not with Jesus; he has not come to seek glory and power and money. 

The devil has a third strategy ready up his sleeve. This time, he knows well, there is no use baiting Christ with physical or mental satisfactions. In the third temptation, there is no personal gain involved, there is no question of bread or glory or power. There is nothing gained by jumping down from the temple. In the process, he may lose his life, but then, if he has a Father, as he claims, he will not allow that to happen. The third temptation is a pure test of his sonship, whether he is the Son of a caring Father. If he has one, he will protect him and will not allow any harm to him. Death, destruction, pain and sorrow are incompatible with a loving father. So the devil suggests to test out whether he is truly the son of a Father.

The Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign. Jesus, too is tempted to ask for a sign. His third temptation is not to take things for granted but to test out the care and concern of his Father. Satan would come again with a similar proposal when Jesus would be on the Cross.  “Let the Messiah come down from the Cross” (Mk 15.32. )  Jesus did not jump down from the temple nor did he come down from the Cross. His love for his father was not on test.  He needed no sign, no guarantee for the love of this father. The devil tried his best to argue that pain and suffering, death and hunger, poverty and humility are contrary to his father’s love for him.  Jesus did not need a certificate from the devil about his Father’s love for him. He was not going to put his father to the test, and he told the devil in no uncertain terms to get of his way.

What are our temptations today? The devil in all probability, will not come to us proposing to us to eat more bread and drink more wine. He knows we avoid the ways of gluttony. If he fails, he will try and propose to us with many ways of making money, finding recognition,  glory, and power. This is one of the most successful strategies of the devil. Many fall victim to this temptation, including some of those who were successful in the first. In all probability, the devil will come to us the way he came to Jesus in the third temptation. He will very subtly tell us that perhaps we are in the wrong place, doing the wrong job; it is not the father’s will that we should be where we are, it is politics, manipulations that have brought us to where we are. With this background prepared he will tell us just to test and see if we have a caring father. He will invite us to ask for a sign. 

Don’t be too sure that we are not falling into the third temptation. This temptation comes at times neatly packed as even service to God, something that we must do, not just for ourselves but for the success of our God given mission. We can fall prey to this temptation as individuals and as groups. Options for the well to do, our fear that government may be hard on us, our argument that we make money to help the poor, our movement towards self-sufficiency, may well be camouflaged temptations from the devil. He will tell us that these measures are needed to be at the service of God’s people; it is a necessity and a prudent measure for the success of our mission. The tempter may quote even the Bible and give high moral arguments like ‘God helps those who help themselves.’

The third temptation is basically a temptation about our identity. Who are we?   Who has sent us? What is our mission? What are our priorities? Our pride, our show of strength, our overconfidence, our overconcern for providing for the future, our guarantee projects are all signs of our identity crisis. It is a lack of faith in the one who sent us. We will be saved by God, Faith, and Providence and not by our Babel towers, our guarantee projects, our godowns, and our showrooms. Let us pray to the Lord that we may not fall victim to this Third Temptation.                                                             - Fr T.V.George sdb