Don't settle for less than Jesus.
Lent 1
February 26, 2023
Fr. Tim Nunez
I took a drama class in high school where we learned about writing, set design and eventually production. We got to pick a short play to do, just for us, no audience. There were only about 10 or 12 of us in the class so everyone had a part except Mel Coffee, who was the director.
I remember almost nothing about that little play. I can’t tell you what it was about, my character’s name or anything else except there was one scene – one line, really – where Mel really pushed me. Ironically, the line was, “What do you want from me?” I tried it. Mel said no, say it like this, “What do you WANT from me?” So I said it just like he said it. He said no, say it like, “What do you WANT from me?” I apologize because I’m probably still not saying it right, except we went back and forth like that for a long time until I eventually got exasperated with Mel and I screamed at him, “WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?” And he said, “That’s it!”
That is the sum total of my acting career, but “What do you want from me?” is the question behind this encounter between Jesus and Satan, except it’s not Jesus asking Satan, but rather he is asking us, challenging everyone who hears this story, about what we want from Jesus, what we want from God as opposed to receiving who Jesus is and God’s will and purpose in sending him.
Matthew’s Gospel appears to be directed toward Jewish Christians, as most of the first Christians were, so they would have automatically picked up that each of these three temptations has a very strong echo or parallel to the Exodus, the formational story of how God delivered the 12 tribes of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. Eventually God leads them to the Promised Land, but not immediately. First they have to wander in the wilderness and learn some very hard lessons.
(The parallels are clear. They wandered 40 years in the wilderness, Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights. Each of Jesus’ responses are direct quotes from Exodus and/or Deuteronomy and/or Numbers, which also have to do with the Exodus.)
And these parallels apply to us, too. Are we any different? Isn’t that life? Teenagers, listen up! Typically, historically, teenagers feel their parents’ rules are too restrictive and they can’t wait to break out of them. I call that 18-itis, “You can’t tell me what to do anymore.” So you jump out of the nest and you find out things are tough. It’s hard to make any money, you suffer through some bad bosses and whatnot, but in time, if all goes well, you battle through it, you learn and you grow and you figure it out. And then you go on Medicare.
The first temptation is to change the stones to loaves of bread. The parallel to Exodus is the way Israel cried out for food and water in the wilderness. God provided for their needs, water, manna and quail, but that did not lead to them becoming faithful.
It’s not just that Jesus is famished after 40 days and nights of fasting, so he’s showing great resolve. If Jesus turned the stones to bread, he would immediately end world hunger. Our temptation would be:
JESUS, WE WANT YOU TO PROVIDE FOR ALL PEOPLE!
Jesus does demonstrate abundance. He feeds the 5,000, the disciples’ catch of fish nearly bursts the nets. And he provides for people in other ways, especially healing them. But he doesn’t just waive his hand and do it. He calls us to feed and clothe people in his name because “we are living by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 there, so Satan quotes some scripture right back at him for the second temptation, Psalm 91 verses 11 and 12, “throw yourself down” from the pinnacle of the Temple so the angels would catch him. That would be quite a demonstration! Do you suppose that might have convinced some people?
In the Exodus, despite all the plagues in Egypt, the Passover, the parting of the Red Sea, the pillar of cloud and fire, the water from the rock, the manna and quail and so on, the people kept demanding signs.
Are we any different? So many people struggle to believe because they have not or cannot see tangible, physical evidence. Our temptation would be:
JESUS, WE WANT TO SEE YOU DO SOME STUFF!
Jesus did lots of stuff, a lot of his miracles were upon request, but he cautions us against falling into signs being the basis of our faith. Do not put the Lord your God to the test. He doesn’t work for you. You are supposed to obey him.
In the third temptation, Satan offers Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world.” That would give him control over everyone and he could thereby impose the Kingdom of God by force, a climactic, apocalyptic victory.
But relationships aren’t authentic if they are compulsory. I cannot force you to be my friend and actually have you as a friend. When God had Israel in the wilderness, he gave them the commandments. He gave them the Law. That was a gift to help them live faithfully in community, setting standards and drawing boundaries and a means for settling disputes.
If it were a matter of compulsory obedience, God is perfectly capable of forcing that. But he didn’t. Sure, there are consequences for breaking the Law. When Moses came down with the Law, he found they were worshipping a golden calf. God had them melt it down, turn it to dust and made them drink it. There are other consequences as well. But just like Adam and Eve, the people always have the freedom to choose God, to choose to follow his will, or not. Our temptation might be:
JESUS, PLEASE, JUST STRAIGHTEN EVERYBODY (ELSE) OUT!
Jesus spent a lot of time trying to straighten everyone out, not by forcing them but by calling them into relationship with him. We are saved by grace through faith in him, not because we are obedient to a new set of rules. Our obedience comes out of love.
And it is out of love that we should consider what we want from Jesus vs. what we need, and continuously ask Jesus, this Lent and beyond, “What do you want from me?”
AMEN