Wednesday, March 19

When I read the second temptation that the devil launched at Jesus, the temptation to give Him all the kingdoms of the world in exchange for worship, it almost seems like the only temptation Jesus had was to restrain Himself. I can’t imagine for a moment that at any point Jesus felt tempted to worship Satan. What I can imagine is Jesus feeling tempted to simply take the kingdom away from Satan, to become the Messiah that the people were looking for. Let’s think about it for a moment, isn’t that exactly the kind of Messiah people are looking for: A Messiah who feeds the poor by turning stones into bread, a Messiah who dictates from his throne as king above all kings and a Messiah who removes all possibilities for danger in our lives? The devil was simply offering Jesus the opportunity to become the Messiah-king that people were looking for.

Had Jesus given in to the temptation, he would have eliminated what was most important to God, freedom and choice…the gift of freedom that from the very beginning God had given to mankind…the freedom to choose to love Him or reject Him. No one would have rejected a Messiah-King that feeds everyone and eliminates all dangers. But would they have truly loved Him? The answer is no. On one occasion Jesus looked at a multitude of people and said to them, you want to be with me because I feed you not because you understand the miraculous signs I’ve performed.

We too face the temptation, the temptation to build our own kingdoms, the temptation to seek out a King-Messiah who will grant us our own individual kingdoms. Jesus’ response to the devil’s temptation of exchanging the kingdoms of the world for worship was to say, I only worship and serve God. It was Jesus himself who also said that you can’t serve two masters, that you can’t serve both God and your (kingdom) stuff because you will end up hating one and loving the other. We too have to choose who we worship; we too have to choose who we serve. We too have to choose who we love.

Bible reading
Luke 4:5-8 NIV

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”

Heavenly Father, the temptation is real, the temptation to value and serve my own earthly kingdom above your Heavenly Kingdom. Help me to respond to the temptation the way Jesus did by declaring in words and actions that I only worship and serve the Lord my God.