“If you are the Son of God turn these stones into bread.” (Matthew 4.3) “Yes, I am the Son of God and I can turn those stones into bread if I choose, but I do not choose to do so, and instead I will resist doing what you want Satan.” Once we are in the debate, we are trying to convince ourselves of what is true. As we see from Jesus’ answer, he needed no proof!
But if I was honest, this would probably be closer to my response than what Jesus had actually said to Satan during his temptation in the wilderness. This response is also closer to Eve’s response in the Garden. She engaged Satan and started a dialogue trying to convince herself that what God had said was true. She was trying to use logic to make herself trust and believe it was true. Jesus does NOT use his logic, he simply defers to his relationship with his Father. He relies on his what he knows of God, that God is trustworthy. That God will fulfill his word. That even if God does not seem to be at work, God’s heart is to redeem. God’s heart is kind. God’s heart is generous. And God’s heart does not doubt itself. God does not doubt himself. Doubt is human condition, not a God condition. The devil appealed to Eve’s logic and her powers of analysis, which are God-given, because obviously she had this ability. Eve turned her powers against God, not against the one asking her to doubt, Satan. God had given humanity the power of analysis because this allows us to understand who we are in relationship to God, it is a wonderful gift from our Father and it says that we are unique creatures and we can analyze the world to have dominion within creation. But we have dominion ONLY in relationship to our Father (you know, the one who created the world). When our powers of analysis turn against us, we are capable of all forms of evil, against each other and against God’s creation.
Jesus did not engage with analysis what the devil had said. Jesus did exactly what Adam and Eve were called to do, trust in God even in what seems to be the most difficult circumstance. Jesus’ circumstance was far more difficult than Adam and Eve’s and God would have it no other way. God would redeem creation not in the lap of luxury, but in the pain, mire, and dirt of difficulty and God would have it no other way. God would prove how good he actually is by Jesus’ faithfulness in the midst of absolute and complete despair. Jesus’ life was hard! No doubt about that. Jesus was not born in a palace, but in a stable. Jesus did not grow up in a powerful family but in a family of laborers, and Jesus labored. Jesus actually worked for a living. Jesus toiled and sweat and bleed and grew tired and worked with people who were difficult to get along with and God would have it no other way. Adam and Eve lived in a Paradise and sinned against God. Jesus lived in a desert wilderness and obeyed God even unto death. God would have it no other way. Jesus did not claim his God status, but emptied himself of it and became nothing more than a slave (Philippians 2), a mere mortal, or an outcast, and God would have it no other way.
Jesus says, “Even if I have nothing to eat, nothing to drink, no sleep, no friends, no community, no Son of God status, no privilege, nothing that I can rely on in this world, I will believe my Father!” “And every word that proceeds from the mouth of God is my food, my drink, my VERY SOURCE OF LIFE!!” Jesus was redeeming Adam and Eve as firstborn sons and daughters of God and as Israel, whom God called my firstborn son. God is suffering the affliction of what is most valuable to humanity, their status as sons and daughters. Jesus is suffering the affliction to remain faithful as the Son of God. So, when the devil questions Jesus status, Jesus is doing what a firstborn son is supposed to do, trust his Father and never doubt his promises. And all of this was made possible by Jesus remaining faithful as the Spirit led him to do so. Jesus did not enter into the purposes of God without being lead by the Holy Spirit.
I have always said that once a human being has to get into logic or their power of analysis to believe something in order to do it, they will probably never believe it. This means that once we start to analyze whether something is true or not, we will use our powers of reason to even convince ourselves that it is true even when it is clearly not. This is exactly what Eve did. She convinced herself because she allowed doubt to enter. Eve was done as soon as she engaged Satan in a debate. Once again our ability to reason is supposed to be for dominion over creation not against God. Jesus is the tree of life and as the tree of life, Jesus is destroying the other tree in the Garden. It’s almost as if the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is controlled by the devil and Jesus is simply watching that tree shrivel up and die every time he refused to eat from it. Every time someone followed Jesus and becomes his disciple, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil loses some of its luster. Eventually this tree will be no more. And if there was any doubt,
1 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; 4 they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 22.1-5)
The tree of life will bear fruit and the leaves will be for the healing of the nations. The tree of life will one day finally and completely heal the world.
Allow the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to die, it’s going to one day anyway. Why not help it along?
church politics 