It is Written

In the gospel reading for today we find Jesus out in the wilderness being tempted by the Devil. He is at a low point, isolated from other human contact, he is hungry, cold, lonely and uncomfortable. In this vulnerable state his accuser and tempter is hoping that he has softened him up enough and now he moves in for the kill like a prize champion fighter. The three temptations of Jesus represent the fundamental weaknesses of all of us as human beings. There is a desire for physical gratification, a desire for human power and adoration and finally a deep desire to be able to dare to be like God.

In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the basic needs of all humans are physical ones. The Devil starts off with an easy one. We all need air to breathe, food to eat, water to drink, somewhere to sleep, clothes to wear and other basic human desires. Jesus is famished, he needs something to eat. He is, after all, the Son of God, the second part of the Trinity, God made man existing in the world surely he has the power to make these rocks turn into the most delicious bread ever with just a word. Jesus stops his accuser with the power of the written word – ‘It is written…’ Written where? In Deuteronomy 8:3 we read ‘3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.’ Why doesn’t Jesus just give in and make the stones into bread? If he did, he would undermine the entire purpose of his earthly existence. If he was truly a 100% human being he would not have this kind of power. If he was not fully human then how could he save or rescue us from our sinful nature? The plan of salvation would have been ruined from the start. All of us sin. We sin every day, many times a day whether we are aware of it or not. In the world of science we have a theory, if the hypothesis for an experiment is proven to be true for even one example then by definition that premise is true. For example, if we set as a premise – all taxis in HK are red then this statement is proven to be true as long as no other colour taxi exists. However as soon as we see a blue or a green or a taxi of any other colour than red then our initial premise has been proven to be false. All taxis in HK are in fact not red. For the plan of salvation to work, Jesus must navigate this world as a human being and not succumb to the temptation to sin. 

Amen.