{"id":292,"date":"2019-03-07T15:11:08","date_gmt":"2019-03-07T15:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/?p=292"},"modified":"2019-03-07T15:11:08","modified_gmt":"2019-03-07T15:11:08","slug":"3-temptations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2019\/03\/3-temptations.html","title":{"rendered":"3 Temptations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Wilderness\"<\/p>\n

Reading the Gospel aloud<\/em><\/strong> invites the audience to experience human encounters with the divine as revealed in the Bible. Leave interpretation and meaning to members of the clergy and other scholars. What we\u2019re most interested in as lay readers is the human experience found in the narrative.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026for forty days he was tempted by the devil.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This excerpt from a passage from the Luke 4: 1-13 is included in the revised common lectionary provided by the Vanderbilt Divinity Library. The text is from the NRSV. You can hear a recording of this passage here.<\/a><\/u><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

First Impressions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

What is it that impresses you most as you read through this passage for the first time?<\/p>\n

This passage moves at rapid pace from one temptation to the next.<\/p>\n

It really seems more like perfunctory preparation for what\u2019s to come: Jesus in training and this is the regimen. He will face much greater crisis in the time to come.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s led into the wilderness where everything is stark and threatening\u2026.\u00a0 Even the language is spare.<\/p>\n

Jesus is left famished<\/strong>. He\u2019s vexed and tempted by the Devil with things of this world. Things that vanquish mortal hunger, pain and powerlessness. But things that pale in comparison to the real food and water of life.<\/p>\n

Jesus is full of the holy spirit\u2026and that is what is sustaining and carries him through this ordeal. He dispatches each temptation quickly and surely. He is centered, focused, and resolute.<\/p>\n

The devil by comparison seems lazy. Is the best he can do? This is school yard level bullying \u201cIf you\u2019re so great, do this!\u201d\u00a0 The snake in the Garden of Eden is a much more beguiling, sophisticated and seductive character.<\/p>\n

The devil gives up easily, almost as if each response is expected.\u00a0 When did the devil realize that tempting Jesus was hopeless?\u00a0 Finishing the testing is more humiliating for the devil \u2013 the devil can\u2019t win.<\/p>\n

The devil seems to have no regard for the person, Jesus, and is really only looking for a way to wound God.<\/p>\n

But the devil never goes away entirely.\u00a0 Temptation is always there waiting for a more opportune moment. Waiting and looking for weakness.<\/p>\n

Text Analysis<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Here we are looking for words and phrases that make vivid the experience described in the reading.\u00a0 We are also looking for keys to the subtext.<\/p>\n

The contrast is between physically famished<\/strong> and spiritually full<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Devil deals in uncertainty and equivocation.\u00a0 The word \u201cIf\u201d<\/strong> comes up again and again.\u00a0 \u201cIf you are the son of God\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The text uses repetition.\u00a0 Three<\/strong> tests.\u00a0 Three<\/strong> times \u201cit is written<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The progression becomes predictable.<\/p>\n

The word \u201copportune<\/strong>\u201d at the end is important.\u00a0 That\u2019s the way the devil works. \u00a0Waiting for the right moment to strike.\u00a0 The implication is, this is not over.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Reading this passage aloud<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The passage can be read swiftly. Jesus is stress tested and given a clean bill of health.<\/p>\n

The devil is cynical and mocking. His voice betrays contempt. His voice may show frustration as each of his lies and \u201coffers\u201d are rejected.<\/p>\n

The voice of Jesus is calm and unwavering.<\/p>\n

But there is some suspense in the reading of the last sentence.\u00a0 This is not over.\u00a0 The foreboding and ambiguous \u201copportune time\u201d hangs out there.<\/p>\n

What do you hear in this passage?<\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading the Gospel aloud invites the audience to experience human encounters with the divine as revealed in the Bible. Leave interpretation and meaning to members of the clergy and other scholars. 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