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On this first Sunday of Lent, Christians remember the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness:
Luke 4:1-13
After his baptism, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"
Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered him, "It is written,
'Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.'"
Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,
'He will command his angels concerning you,
to protect you,'
and
'On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'"
Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
I sometimes think of the temptations — bread, power, and safety — as one of those set problems from grade school math class. Which one of these three doesn’t belong? Bread and safety don’t seem quite the same as power. We all need to eat and we need protection against harm. Unless you are a megalomaniac like Putin, however, few of us feel the need to rule the world.
With Lent as the liturgical background of this story, we may be tempted (yes, I just did that) to see this as a story about overcoming sinful personal desires that erode our trust in God’s faithfulness. While this kind of allegorical reading has a long history in Christianity and can be spiritually helpful, I’d like to offer a slightly different possibility.
Bread, power, and protection were not three separate things in Jesus’ world. Indeed, they were all connected and they weren’t theoretical inducements. This was a single temptation.
Caesar was the ruler of the world, the Emperor of Rome. All of the kingdoms and realms of the Mediterranean were under his sway, and all its inhabitants were required to worship him as their Lord and Savior.
Caesar maintained control of this diverse and extensive empire in two ways — by providing bread and protection. From roughly 20 C.E. to the sixth century, the empire supported a bread dole to hundreds of thousands of people. The distribution of grain to the poor guaranteed the stability of the state. It is hard to rebel against the power that feeds you. The Roman military was a fearsome force that both conquered territories and protected the lands under imperial authority. If Caesar ruled over you, you were at least secure from foreign threats. Bread and safety.
And part of the web of Roman power.
Was Jesus being tempted to be like Caesar? Being enticed to replace the evil of Rome with a good political system, one headed by a decent Jew like him, a man inspired by love to liberate his people? He’d be a better Caesar than Caesar — called by God to announce the Kingdom on earth. Wasn’t that his job?
But Jesus says no. He wasn’t seduced into replacing Caesar in just one more pyramid-structured Kingdom with a strongman at the top. Instead, he’ll go forth from the wilderness breaking bread with the poor and healing outcasts. He offered bread and safety, but did so knowing that such are gifts of God’s grace and not instruments to control others. “My kingdom,” he said to the Roman governor Pilate, “is not of this world.” His will be the power of love, service, gratitude, and humility. A “kingdom” with a table instead of a throne.
Maybe our temptation is to make Jesus a new Caesar, to turn him into the kind of King he forcefully rejected. The original temptation may have been his, but it seems to have become a never-ending seduction of the church.
INSPIRATION
God of the wilderness,
your Spirit leads us
to face the truth, unprotected and exposed:
in our times of trial,
help us to resist
the worship of empty power
and the illusion of invulnerability
that we might find our true food
in Jesus Christ, the Broken Bread. Amen.
— Steven Shakespeare
The Fountain thirsts, the Bread is hungry here
The Light is dark, the Word without a voice.
When darkness speaks it seems so light and clear.
Now He must dare, with us, to make a choice.
— Malcolm Guite, from “Stones Into Bread”
Take two small pieces of paper.
On one, write: the world was created for me. On the other: I am only dust and ashes.
Put one in each pocket.
Never leave the house without them.
— Alicia Jo Rabins, “How To Assess Your Net Worth” from Divinity School
FREEING JESUS PAPERBACK: THIS TUESDAY!
The Freeing Jesus paperback releases on Tuesday, March 8. I know many of you have been waiting for this edition — PRE-ORDER now from Amazon for launch day arrival or call your favorite local bookseller and they will get it for you!
Great reading for Lent!
A GROUNDED LENT
You can still sign up for A Grounded Lent — forty days of reflections as Christians move toward Easter, the spring awakening of the earth (in the northern hemisphere), and the sacred season of renewal and rebirth — delivered each day to your inbox.
If you’d like to receive the DAILY Lenten reflections you can sign-up for a monthly paid subscription for March and April, at $5 per month for a total of $10 to receive all of the devotions — and you can cancel at the end of April if you choose (I won’t be offended!).
Loving God,
We pray for the people of Ukraine,
for all those suffering or afraid,
that you will be close to them and protect them.
We pray for world leaders,
for compassion, strength and wisdom to guide their choices.
We pray for the world
that in this moment of crisis,
we may reach out in solidarity
to our brothers and sisters in need.
May we walk in your ways
so that peace and justice
become a reality for the people of Ukraine
and for all the world. Amen.
(from the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development)
Thank you for the historical connection of bread, power, & safety with regards to Rome. It’s so important to know and understand the cultural & historical backdrop to what we’re reading in scripture.
I've got a feeling that many of your readers will be saving this post for next year. It's GREAT sermon fodder!