In the popular movie Broadcast News, we are humorously introduced to a temptation faced by today’s network news. On one hand we have Aaron who is a brilliant reporter, passionate about his vocation, and committed to the highest professional standards. He believes the news should be fair, accurate, and informative. On the other hand we have Tom, a handsome broadcaster who frankly is not very bright, but the camera loves him. He and the network executives are far more concerned about image, marketing, and ratings than they are about quality reporting. In fact, not only doesn’t he care about professional newscasting–he doesn’t even know what it is.
But none of that matters to the TV executives. The camera loves him the women love him the twenty-something generation loves him and the advertisers love him. And so he is chosen over Aaron for a plum broadcasting job.
And of course no movie would be complete without a romantic interest. Aaron is in love with fellow-reporter Jane who shares his cherished ideals of their vocation. The problem is that Jane falls in love with the superficial but handsome Tom. In trying to help Jane come to her senses, Aaron says the following: “Tom, while a very nice man, is the devil.” Jane thinks Aaron has gone crazy. But Aaron continues, “What do you think the Devil is going to look like if he’s around? Come on, nobody is going to be taking him to be a guy with a long, red, pointy tail. No, I am semi-serious here. He will be attractive, he will be nice and helpful, he will get a job where he influences a great, God fearing nation, he will never do an evil thing, he will never deliberately hurt a single thing. He will just bit by little bit lower our standards wherever they are important. Just a tiny little bit, coax along flash over substance, just a tiny little bit, and he will talk about us just really being salesmen.”
What do you think of when you hear the word temptation? Do you think of illicit sex or chocolate sundaes? Cheating on your income tax or your partner? Embezzling from the company you work for or using cheat sheets during exams? Using a fuzz-buster and going 70 mph when no police officer is around? We almost always think of temptation in terms of obvious evils and violations of ethics if not of the law. But the movie Broadcast News and our passage for today paint a different picture of temptation. In the movie Tom is a likeable character. He is good looking, easy to talk with, friendly, fun to be around. He doesn’t abuse little children, mistreat dogs, rape women, or rob convenience stores. He is such an attractive personality, so the executives reason, that he can not only increase their ratings but can do a public good as he attracts people to watch the evening news who would otherwise never do so. Tom does not present himself as a choice between the evil and the good. He presents himself as a choice between the good and the best–the easy and the difficult – the attainable and the ideal. And very few realize that what is at stake is the soul of a nation.
In our passage for today the same dynamics are at work. Jesus has just undergone his baptism and has heard the voice of God, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” And now, as Jesus considers his identity and mission he faces the temptation of the good over the best, the easily attainable over the more difficult path of absolute integrity. The Devil approaches Jesus with these words, “IF you are the Son of God …” The Devil does not actually doubt Jesus’ identity as God’s Son. In fact, in the Gospels those who first recognize who Jesus really is are the demons. “You are God’s Son. So why don’t you act like it?” And then the Devil presents three temptations designed to assure quick and easy results. He asks Jesus to enter into a contract with Israel. “Promise to feed the people. Turn the stones littering the Palestinian countryside into bread. God’s will is for the hungry to be fed. All the prophets say that. In fact, you will say that –“You saw me hungry and fed me; when you have done it unto the least of these you have done it unto me.” Fill their bellies, and they will stick to you like white on rice.” And what a temptation that must have been for our Lord! In a world where famine and starvation were only one bad harvest away, surely God’s Son would provide the food needed to sustain life. Surely one as compassionate as Jesus would jump at the chance to feed the multitudes. But Jesus remembers that to feed those made in the image of God is not the same as to fatten cattle. There are hungers of the belly, hungers of the Spirit, hungers of the soul, and a hunger for righteousness. The whole person, body and spirit, must be made whole. Do you see that Jesus’ choice is not between good and evil but between lunch and God?
The Devil then in the blink of an eye shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and says, “These are mine!” (They are his because all of those kingdoms are ruled by greedy, arrogant, and ruthless kings.) “These are all mine, but I will give them to you if you will worship me. If you will follow my easy steps to political success. It doesn’t matter to me whether Tiberius Caesar or Jesus of Nazareth or Adolph Hitler or Mother Theresa sits on the imperial throne, as long as whoever rules understands the necessity of compromise. As long as the ruler realizes that what is important is image and not substance. As long as the ruler is good at 15 second sound bites and catch slogans which will inspire the crowds. As long as the ruler understands that ends always justify means. Keep your holy identity. Remain the Son of God. Just in your heart of hearts–in your soul, let expediency and results take precedence over integrity and faithfulness. Swing the sword, chant the slogans, and kiss the babies. And it will all be yours.” But Jesus says, “I will worship and serve only one, the Lord my God.” Jesus the Jew understood the primacy of the first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me.” And again we need to appreciate how tantalizing this temptation was for Jesus. Wouldn’t you want to live in a world where Jesus was on the throne? Wouldn’t you want Jesus to be the commander-in-chief of all the world’s armies so that oppression and injustice could be eradicated? The short cut of the sword was much more attractive than the path of the cross. But Jesus would serve only one God.
And then the Devil takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple overlooking a sheer drop of 450 feet to the Kidron Valley below. “Jesus, since you are the Son of God, jump. The Bible says that the angels will catch you before you hit bottom. The temple crowds will witness the miracle, and they will know you are indeed God’s Anointed. Impress them, Jesus. First get them to follow you because their eyes have been dazzled, and then later you can talk about the cost of discipleship and the necessity of faith.” But Jesus, who was able to discern the Word within the word, said, “You shall not tempt God. God is to be trusted, not tempted.”
And Luke tells us that the devil departed from Jesus until an opportune time. Matthew and Mark end their temptation accounts with angels ministering to Jesus. But Luke, who has a fondness for angels, says nothing of this. Only he alerts us to the certainty of further temptations in the life of Jesus. The Devil will return at an opportune time. We know of two such times: “Get behind me, Satan!” when Simon Peter tempts Jesus to abandon the dangers he will face in Jerusalem.
And the mocking cry of his executioners, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
Few passages in Scripture are as rich and deep as those in the Gospels dealing with Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness. It is not by accident that the Gospel lectionary for the first Sunday of Lent is always one of the accounts of Jesus’ temptations. As we enter this season of soul searching and repentance, what may we learn from this familiar story?
First, we must expand our concept of temptation and evil. The popular understanding seems to be that the closer we are to God, the fewer temptations we will face in life. Now that may be true as far as the “hot sins” are concerned. But we are not immune to those temptations which promote the good at the expense of the best of God’s will. In fact, we even might suggest that the closer we are to God and the more committed we are to God’s will, the more intensely we may experience temptation. No one was closer to God than Jesus, and yet how awesome were the temptations he faced! How fierce must have been his battle with evil! And if Jesus struggled, then who among us is exempt?
Each of the three temptations we have looked at today attacked Jesus not at a point of weakness but at his greatest strength– his compassion, his commitment, and his faith. It was because he cared, because he wanted to flesh out God’s will in this world that he struggled so in the wilderness.
As followers of Jesus we are not exempt from temptation. And the temptations we face are far more serious than the urge to glance at a Playboy or to enjoy a night with the Chippendales. Mature discipleship allows for mature temptations–for those temptations which promote the good but at the expense of the best. And the closer we are to God and the more committed we are to the ways of God in this world, then the greater the temptations we must wrestle with. Temptation is not just for the weak, cowardly, and reprobate. It is also for the Son of God and all his followers. And the sooner we recognize that, the more disciplined and faithful our discipleship will be. As Dean Rockwell Harmon Potter said many decades ago, “The simple gospel is not as simple as a lot of simple people would like to think it is.” Anyone who seeks God’s will must struggle in the wilderness and often that evil they must struggle with masquerades as good.
And that brings me to the other point I want to make from this passage. The choice before Jesus was not between good and bad but between the good and the best–between apparent decency and the all-consuming will of God. And because such good falls short of God’s will, it becomes a distorted good and that distorted good becomes evil. That is the truth represented by the symbol of the Devil as a fallen angel.
In many ways as North American Christians we have identified ourselves with the values and ethics of our culture. What our society expects and labels as good is ratified by the faith we profess. Being a good neighbor, a good parent, a good friend, and a decent fellow has almost become the definition of a Christian life. Now there is nothing wrong with being a good neighbor, parent, and friend or being a decent human being. It’s just that who we are called to be in Christ is far more than goodness as understood by this world. Let me give just one example of what I am talking about. We esteem those parents who strive to be good parents, who provide for their families, who give priority to the happiness of their children. But in our materialistic culture it is easy to equate such parenting with indulging our children with things they really don’t need and which in fact rob them of chances for a more authentic life. And how does all this stack up against a gospel which says “life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” and which defines compassion in practical terms like sharing the food we eat and the clothes we wear? In a society where materialism is capturing the souls of our children and in a world where tens of thousands of children starve to death every day because we will not share, is it possible that good parenting defined by our culture masquerades as an attractive evil when measured against the will of God? Is it possible that one the most insidious evils in our culture is the indulgent and extravagant type of parenting practiced by so many in our materialistic and self-serving society –a type of parenting which withers our children’s souls and which takes food from the mouths of less fortunate?
As disciples of Jesus we are not exempt from temptation. And as followers of Christ we must carefully discern between the good of this world and the best of God’s will, for the Devil will return again and again at the most opportune times to present us with that choice. And he’s a good-looking Devil! At such times may we share in the faithfulness of Jesus. Amen.
