The devil asked Jesus to do three things:
- Tell the stone to become bread.
- I will give you all the kingdoms of the world if you worship me.
- Throw yourself from the top of the temple and show a miracle to the masses when an angel rescues you.
Well, certainly, bowing down and worshiping the devil is evil. But isn't the goal of recovering the world that God loves a good thing? Isn't making bread from stone good to feed a hungry person? Isn't performing miracles something Jesus would eventually do anyway?
At one level, of course, temptation is about doing bad things.
But at another level, perhaps, temptation might be about doing good things but not at the time of God's appointment?
Jesus would feed 5000 thousand by multiplying loaves and fishes not altogether different than turning stone into bread. Jesus would perform many miracles and thus make a "better show" than a publicity stunt like taking a leap off the top of the Temple. And of course, in due time, every knee will bow to Jesus!
Thus, in a sense, the devil's temptation is going to Jesus at the beginning of his public life and telling and tempting Jesus to skip to the end of the story without going through all the hard chapters.
How often in life we want to "rush" things. Sometimes, things simply have to unfold in God's timing. Now having the wisdom to know God's timing is a challenge! But nonetheless, we need to think about what is the right thing to do and whether it is timely to do so at the moment.
Lord help me to respond to your mysterious leading to do what is good at the moment it is most needed whether it is a dreadful interruption to my plans or waiting when I want to hurry! Amen.
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