Abstract
One of my abiding musical memories comes from my early years. It is of Harry Secombe singing. “If I ruled the world every day would be the first day of Spring.” I was not impressed. As a child I wanted every day to be Christmas Day, not the first day of Spring. In any case, I had no interest at that time in world domination, in ruling the world, though perhaps Jesus did have in his time.
I don’t think we can just put that down to the fact that Jesus was tired and hungry after forty days wandering in the wilderness, and therefore ‘not quite himself’. Specific temptations touch particularly upon particular individuals. I’m not tempted to gamble away the church funds on horse racing, but that doesn’t mean this is not a real temptation to a man or woman with a gambling addiction. As a preacher I do share in the temptation to bring a congregation round to my way of thinking with a well-argued sermon or to try to carry you all away with some well-placed rhetorical flourishes. Always listen with a discerning ear to any message presented to you from a pulpit.
For this Gospel passage to make sense, a trio of temptations has to carry force with Jesus, and it is clear that as far as world domination is concerned, someone thinks that this is on Jesus’ mind: “the devil led him to a height and showed him in a flash all the kingdoms of the world. ‘All this dominion will I give you,’ he said, ‘and the glory that goes with it … you have only to do homage to me and it will all be yours’.” Here is a temptation carefully crafted to appeal to someone who aspires to leadership and authority. It can all be yours, in a flash. You can do enormous good, make every day the first day of Spring, should you wish, though only by employing ethically diabolical short cuts.
This becomes sharper when combined with temptations to make bread from stones and to survive a public plunge from the top of the Jerusalem Temple. In fact, we are confronted with a combination of dilemmas and temptations that face today’s world leaders, as once they faced Jesus. What, after all, could better describe the struggle to be on top in today’s world than mastering the ability to provide (sometimes scarce) material goods – ‘bread’ - to a population, and, related to that, using religion as a vehicle to dominate your own group and others? Similar struggles may also go on in the workplace, the family and in churches but don’t let that distract you from today’s big picture, one that comprises “all the kingdoms of the world.”
In Jesus’ time there was no height, no mountain top from which you could literally view all of the kingdoms of the world at once, but with twenty-first century satellite technology our political leaders can do so. How great are the temptations that they face as a result. Now they can see and reach out to those other lands, as sources for bread, water and oil supplies to feed and fuel our lands and peoples. If your own land provides only stones then you can always use some other land to make bread, whatever form ‘bread’ takes, and keep everyone happy, or at least everyone you think matters, happy.
In Jesus’ situation, a demonstration of power, a fall from the temple top, triggering divine intervention, would gain him a Jewish following, though potentially bring conflict with gentile, Roman authorities. Today, our leaders operate in a complex international setting where religion has returned as a significant political factor. Are they going to identify Islam only as a threat? Will they seek to clothe themselves in the trappings of Christian religion, a nation’s Christian heritage, in order to stiffen national morale for the struggles ahead? Our leaders face great temptations and though none of them are Jesus at least they have Jesus’ response to temptation set before them as an example to ponder and follow.
Jesus responds by turning to scripture. Tempted to tell stones to become bread? No! Because “Scripture says, ‘man is not to live on bread alone’.” Receive power over the nations if you pay homage to the devil? No! Because “Scripture says, ‘You shall do homage to the Lord your God and worship him alone’.” Tempted to claim divine sanction for your cause? No! Because “It has been said [in scripture], ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test’.” It works for Jesus but will it work for today’s political leaders? What if Presidents Putin, Obama and Hollande don’t read scripture all that much? What if Chancellor Merkel is like Prime Minister Cameron, who says he goes to church much less often than he should?
See what they miss if they are not reading or listening to scripture (and what we miss if we do not). If you are tempted to make use of the land where other people live Deuteronomy reminds you that, like all land, it was given as a gift from God, for the good of all its inhabitants, and not as a venue for the oppression or enslavement of others. Are you tempted to take sides or attach religious labels to political and economic conflicts? Then consider how Saint Paul, both Jew and Jesus-follower, wrestles with the religious divisions of his day, uncertain of all the answers, but convinced that “the same Lord is Lord of all, and has riches enough for those who call on him.” Yet Christians cannot make Bible-reading compulsory for political leaders, tempting though that thought might be, any more than it would be acceptable for political leaders to dictate the content of religious practice, for us or for others.
Churches can, however, and churches must, support Bible-reading, Bible-using politicians (they do exist) with our prayers and with messages of encouragement. Churches can and churches must continue to comment publicly on contemporary political situations, with input that’s grounded in scriptural insights whilst also being awake to contemporary realities. How else, in a secularized, scripturally ignorant society, will this biblical resource be made available to those tempted to take ethical short-cuts that have international consequences?
Finally, churches can and churches must model what we commend. Churches need to practise what we preach, using scripture to inform our decisions and to ward off the temptations we face. Jesus was faced with particular temptations because he saw it as essential that he be a public figure. After all, the Hebrew scriptures Jesus read, used and quoted, proclaim God’s interest in and love for this public world. The scriptures generated by those who first followed Jesus include a wrestling with the public implications of the faith they proclaim. In other words, to take but one contemporary situation, if we are ever tempted to see church as a religious enclave, as simply a place of safety from the concerns of this world, we need to read the scriptures, to listen to Jesus, and to think again.