The Temptation of Power

Matthew 4:1-11

Lent 1

March 9, 2014

As I’ve said before,

When we say the word temptation

we’re usually thinking of two things:

either lust or really fattening dessert.

Temptation of Christ, J Kirk Richards, 1999

Either way, it’s one specific moment or action.

Some thing that we want to do but shouldn’t.

And sure that’s part of temptation.

But Jesus is tempted here

by more subtle and encompassing things:

Jesus is tempted by food, yes, but just bread.

And he’s tempted by possessions,

and also by protection, being saved by angels.

Those are not extravagant things by any means.

Not really the excesses that we think of.

And I think there is a special significance

in Jesus being tempted by these things.

In all accounts of this event,

Jesus has just come from his baptism.

The moment in front of everyone

where the heavens opened and the voice of

God pointed Jesus out and said that he was the one.

No one else.

He was the son of God.

Now, we don’t know much about Jesus

life previous to this, just one story in Luke

saying that he was a smart child.

And maybe Jesus and his parents knew,

but no one else knew that Jesus was who he was -- until this.

His baptism was the first real public

announcement of Jesus’ identity.

It was confirmation for Jesus and the people around him.

Kind of like the coronation of a king.

But more.

So at the moment of his baptism,

Jesus has suddenly been given a great

deal of power over other people.

Ultimate power, actually.

And I think that the temptation by the devil

shows us what Jesus intends to use that power for.

And the conclusion:

Jesus will not use that power for his personal

hungers, service, protection, or to save himself.

He will only use that power for others.

When people gain power, especially suddenly,

the temptation is there to use their power

primarily to get things they want.

We see it in our public officials:

it’s almost tough to come up with someone

who hasn’t used their position for personal gain,

And while it’s not impossible for leaders to do both -

serve their own wants and serve the public -

the temptation is always there to sacrifice the public.

The story of David killing Uriah the Hittite in order to hide that he

made Uriah’s wife Bathsheba pregnant, is a prime biblical example

And this also shows up early on in children,

I remember I started a club when I was about 8 years old,

and the kids in the neighborhood wanted to join

and with this new power, the first thing I did

was to start to craft rules about who would not

be allowed into the club to satisfy my need for control

or whatever was going around in my little 8 year old head.

So using power in this way is a very human thing,

But, in Jesus time, it was also a deity thing, a god thing.

Remember, the prevailing religion of the time in the world

were the Roman and Greek gods.

Even the Jewish people were living under the political rule

of the pagan system.

Zeus or Jupiter in the Roman system was the chief deity of the gods,

the divine witness to justice, good government, and sacred promises. Sounds like our God, right?

But remember the stories about him and the rest of the gods?

They are very human. And not in a good way.

Zeus would get bored and would mess around with human

lives seducing them, impregnating them, or causing fights.

Juno Discovering Jupiter with Io, Pieter Lastman 1618
(Juno and Jupiter are the Greek equivalent to Hera and Zeus)

 

One of the most famous
was about Zeus and Io

Zeus sees Io, a young nymph on
earth and he wants to be with her

so he brings her up to Mount Olympus,

But his wife Hera, the queen of the Gods,

who all married women prayed to,
and was very jealous

was coming, so Zeus turns Io into a cow.

But Hera isn’t fooled
and she takes Io the cow

from Zeus and sends her to Egypt,
next to the Nile

and then Hera sends flies to bite her until

she has to walk into Nile where there are crocodiles

after Hera thinks that Io has suffered enough,

Hera turns her back into a human but leaves her in

the Nile in Egypt.

Now I remember learning about these in school

and thinking these stories were delightful

and interesting kind of folk tales.

But we have to remember,

These weren’t just folk tales that told how rivers got their names-

this was people’s view of the universe

and all that was in charge of it.

There were whole systems of religion and government

that were based around these very vindictive, very selfish

very childish, very tempted gods and goddesses

who used their power to get what they wanted,

and please themselves.

And people’s lives were just toys that were manipulated

in that process.

And to some extent, that is still some people’s view

today in this world, even by faithful Christians.

Some still see the God as selfish, manipulative

and vindictive and we’re just pawns in a game.

But if you want to know what God is like,

just look at Jesus.

Look at Jesus in this story.

Jesus was coronated, given all power on heaven and on earth,

and he was tempted by Satan, but he didn’t use it for himself.
Like Paul said in the letter to the Philippians

“Though he was in the form of God,
he did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself

taking the form of a slave”

He was tempted by the same thing that all powerful

people are tempted by, Jesus could have gone that way.

But he served us instead.

If you want to know God, look at Jesus.

We are not just a pawn in God’s life,

we are not here just to placate God.

We have a God who’s whole heart is

invested in us, in the well being of the whole human race,

in the well being of the whole earth.

In bringing us justice and peace to everyone.

And we have a Messiah, who was not tempted

by the  privilege he was given.

He chose to empty himself out completely,

die to his own wants and needs - even to the point of death -  all for us.

That must have been quite a statement for both Jews and gentiles

living under Roman and Greek rule.

And, if we really consider it, it is quite a statement for us too.