Temptation

What do the three temptations of Jesus during the forty day fast represent?

1. If you are hungry turn the stones into bread.

This could be a temptation for Jesus to prove his power, or to avoid an unnecessary, uncomfortable situation. What he in fact proved was that he could endure hardship as a man, and engage his willpower to do his father's will and not his own. I have heard some excellent employers say they never ask people to do a job that they won't do themselves. So this was a teaching moment since it must have been viewed by the person who recorded the story. It is proof enough that Jesus is love personified by his healing of the sick and preaching peace and compassion.

2. If you are God, jump from the spire and command the angels to catch you.

This is another temptation to prove power. This time it is asking someone to prove their love for us. No proof is needed if we see the fruits they bear. Love is not a competition and there is enough for everyone. Jesus did not need that proof, but as we find later in his ministry he did cry and even plead for the torture to be over. But, he never turned away from his destiny to show us that the ultimate love is to die in place of others.

3. If you worship the devil he will give you power over the earth.

This temptation could be the desire to have power to control all things. World domination has been attempted and depicted as something gained through evil, selfish, and destructive means. That power does not last. Jesus understands that love is more powerful. This is proven today by the enormous following that Jesus' way employs. It is proven every time we forgive instead of fight back. The healing power of love and serving God has accomplished the most miraculous things.

Tempted or tortured: love endures. We should all live with loving thoughts, words and deeds.

Doctrine and Denominations

Each apostle of Christ had a different focus in his ministry. Each follower of the apostles interpreted the words and stories with a different emphasis. And that is where the first church divisions and fighting began. Paul attempts in many letters to address these arguments. Even so, the followers of Jesus grew into such a throng (many being gentiles) that the message began to be buried under the typical manipulation of men seeking power. The popularity of Christianity grew even though followers were being persecuted and executed. It became clear that that joining forces would make a stronger contingency against current oppressive powers. Constantine, not a church leader but a conqueror, decides it is time to adopt Christianity as the dominant religion and orders a council to choose the writings that should go into a final document which became the Bible. They chose epistles that corroborated the stories of Jesus and included the Jewish historical accounts and prophesies. Other documents were ordered to be destroyed. Recently, the gnostic gospels were discovered in Egypt. Much research has since been done to substantiate the bible stories and additional writings. The writers were directly connected to the disciples of Jesus and Paul. The biggest difficulty has been translations into Latin and English from the Greek or Aramaic language. One fact remains: the lessons of the New Testament are beautiful and complete in relational instruction. No society has completely embraced and followed those lessons. The United States claims to be founded on Christian ideals, but that is only partially so. The Roman Empire did an incredible job spreading its ideals through force. And today, many people claim Christ as their Savior. How many do you know truly reflect the teachings?