Temptations Revisited

I’ve written previously about the three temptations Jesus faced in the desert. The devil approaches Jesus and prods him to turn stones into bread, jump off a high place in order to test God, and finally to submit to evil in order to attain glory and power. (Matthew Chapter 4)

I had interpreted these temptations as follows: provide for yourself (be useful), prove yourself (do something important), seek glory (self-fulfillment and control).

Recently, I was reading Henry Nouwen’s interpretation of the same scripture verses:

“(Jesus) was tempted with the three compulsions of the world: to be relevant (“turn stones into loaves”), to be spectacular (“throw yourself down”), and to be powerful (“I will give you all these kingdoms”). There he affirmed God as the only source of his identity (“You must worship the Lord your God and serve him alone”).”

Nouwen’s words really made an impression on me. First of all, it confirmed my own thoughts on this subject, but fine-tuned it just enough for me to better understand these compulsions. Over the next few days, I would like to delve into these three preoccupations: the temptations to be relevant, impressive, and powerful.