Temptation vs need

[imjim]

Question on this weeks lesson:

Matt 4:1-11 gives the account of Jesus in the wilderness and being tempted. After 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry and the devil “tempted” him to make bread out of a stone.

Elsewhere in the Bible we read that Jesus caused a fig tree to wither away because it lacked fruit when he was hungry (Matt 21:19-21).

Being hungry after 40 days without food seems to me to be a genuine human need. Yet, being hungry, and not for a 40 day stretch, was reason enough to cause a fig tree to wither away.

Given these 2 extremes, how was turning a stone into bread, thus fulfilling a genuine human need, a temptation?

Jim

[zoarean]

Question on this weeks lesson: Given these 2 extremes, how was turning a stone into bread, thus fulfilling a genuine human need, a temptation?Jim

There were/are two sides to Jesus' nature- advocate & judge.

"For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." John 5:20-30

When Jesus commanded the fig tree to wither away, he was exemplifying his authority to judge all creation. The fig tree had "done evil" by taking God's nourishment & giving nothing in return, as with the receiver of the one talent (Matt. 25), & Jesus was rightly executing judgment upon it.

But John also shows Jesus to be our "advocate" with the Father in his First Epistle...

"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." John 2:1-2

Scripture tells us it was Jesus' mission to suffer every trial, every temptation of man during his time on earth so that he could comprehend our every need as he fulfills his role as mediator between the Father of Heaven & his children. Satan knew his mission, & sought to thwart Christ's goal of laying aside his physical needs for a time in order to minister to the needs of God's children later. We may take great solace in the fact that when we call on him in physical or spiritual hunger, he knows our pain, for he's "been there" himself.

"Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Heb. 4:13-16

And with reference to next week's Lesson title, God truly is the only Cause and Creator of so great a salvation as Christ's- so I pray that none of us would neglect it. (Heb. 2)

zoarean

[Do Go Be Man]

Jim,

Your question is a good example of the need to examine passages and stories in the full context of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

As I've studied the Bible, I've found so much of the New Testament refers back to the Old. Jesus quoted and referred to the Old Testament frequently. If you check the cross references of these passages, you may find surprising connections.

[Starlight Rider]

If he had power within himself to turn rocks into bread it would make him a creator, instead or relying on the Creator to supply his needs. It would mean he could turn anything into anything else he wanted, which could easily corrupt anyone into self-indulgence. If it were me, I'd probably turn a handful of pebbles into a box of Raisinettes, a tree trunk into one of those really plush La-Z-Boy recliners, and a pile of bricks into a big screen TV showing Gilligan's Island reruns.

As for the fig tree, I consulted three Bible commentaries. They all suggested the tree was intended as a metaphor for the Jewish rulers whose policies were not bearing fruit to benefit the people. Note there is a slightly different account of the story in Mark 11.

[signs]

Hi Jim, it’s a great question. For me, one common theme here is that no matter how many "miracles" you do, it is God and our faith w/o doubt in His presence and power that accomplish everything. In case of turning stone into bread, the temptation Jesus rejected was "i" could do this or "i" created this healing situation. And in case, of a fig tree, he urges his disciples to do these miracles, only with a total faith in God w/o any doubt, not the faith in themselves but 100% giving all credit to God. Human need is met only by divine Love and all temptation is based on the belief in lack. Fig tree w/o fruits is a belief in lack so with authority from God, he rejected it, knowing God WILL provide proper food to feed him and his disciples. In the following section, Jesus refuses to answer a question, "With whose authority are you doing this?" Any straightforward answer would have caused the meaningless argument so he asked them a question about John the Baptist. Jesus’ teaching constantly reminds me, “it is like seeing all sorts of lack in your dream and waking up to find out you lacked nothing. The only action we are asked to do is to wake up to God's abundance. Then, you see angels ministering all along.

[adyer]

Whenever I face something like this, I first ask: Do I accept that it was a temptation? Usually when I deal with that question first, I come upon the answer without much difficulty. And it's not a rhetorical or objective answer, it's a spiritual signification.

In other words, am I skeptical that it was a temptation, or am I searching to discover what the passage's spiritual meaning is to me? I think that is of utmost importance. Once I have firmly established the answer to that question, the next step makes more sense to me.

When it comes to the passage you mention, I bring it into my own experience by asking, Do I have a particular genius or talent for something that I am tempted to use for self-justification or self-gratification? The story from Matthew seems a bit absurd to a material sense but I think that's the point. Even when near starvation spiritual integrity overcomes what seems acute physical need. The demand is for me to take this literally -- not as a literal account of a historical event (not the point of this) -- but as a literal demand to the extent to which it seems to go.

[levity]

Another interpretation I've heard of the story of the fig tree is that Jesus was rebelling against the so-called material law that said that a tree can only be productive in a certain season.

As a metaphor, this made a lot of sense to me, especially since I've thought so often about how I appreciate Jesus' role as Saviour in the broadest sense of that term. (From John: "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.")

Jesus saved us from sin, sickness, and death and all the material limitations, "laws," and beliefs in between. He saved us from every argument that said "I can't." The fig tree was a big "I can't." But I feel like Jesus was proving that in a universe created and governed by a God called "I AM," there is no "I can't." This has been very helpful to me whenever I'm in a situation where I want to give into "I can't," or where some limitation or obstacle seems more powerful or authoritative than God. That's when I remind myself that I have a Saviour, and that that Saviour already proved the Allness of "I AM" and the nothingness of matter and its "I can'ts."

[Junebug]

I do not understand the meaning of the fig tree, but I see there are many contributers who have good grasps. I wanted to comment on the temptation story. Just a thought...
Jesus being tempted in the wilderness was the same as Eve being tempted by the serpent--to "become as gods" "knowing good and evil." Jesus was tempted to find sustenance in matter. It wasn't until the "tempter" blatantly points out that Jesus could have all power if he only worshipped "the devil" that he -unlike Eve- saw the temptation for what it was and banished it from his thought.
A story more about "hungering and thirsting" for righteousness than food; the subtlety of error/evil; taking a stand for Spirit... than eating.
I know I have much to learn about temptation and actually eating... but I haven't quite tackled that yet.:o

[Kate]

I think its because it was the devil not God that was initiating the solution.

[zoarean]

For Jesus to be our intercessor with the Father, for him to "know our pain", he must have likewise experienced every pang of desire we could experience.

"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:14-16

zoarean

[LoraHoward]

Dear Kate,
I was browsing through some older threads and when I came to your comment "I think it was because it was the Devil who was initiating the solution,"i was struck dumb with the simplicity and rightness of that.
Of course if error talks to us, it is never ever right, and we can just reject it. Period. End of story.
Thanks

--Lora

[mhnlm]

"how was turning a stone into bread, thus fulfilling a genuine human need, a temptation?"

From a Spiritual standpoint, we can appreciate that, in the course of many copies (as everything was recorded on skins, and needed frequent re-copying -- by "non-metaphyscial" scribes) it could be, that someone added the "alone" in the passage, "man does not live by bread" -- BUT BY every Word of God." (Luke 4:4)

In a nutshell, the notion of "human need," would be secondary to the initial "challenge," "if thou be the Son of God" -- which would, itself, be the primary temptation.

Starting with the "human need" presupposes that "Man" is "human" rather than "the image and likeness OF Spirit," and that Omnipresence can be absent or deficient.
Neither of which are very "efficient" when working metaphysically.

I think the main point of the story is, whatever the respective "temptation" is called, the "solution" is to not argue with or indulge what mortal mind says, but rather tell "it" to "take a hike!" -- ("Get thee behind me.") -- we vehemently dispute "its" right to speak in the first place. ...

(After which, in Matthew, there was the illustration of "ministering Angels" -- The "Demonstration" must be incidental to the recognition that being the "Son of God," is not in doubt.

With ALL Blessings
Michael
):->

[mhnlm]

how was turning a stone into bread, thus fulfilling a genuine human need, a temptation?


It may be of some benefit to acknowledge the possibility that in the process of re-copying, (as was the necessity, due to the fact everything was written on skins or papyrus) that a "non-metaphysical"scribe could have added the word "bread" to the passage,

"man shall not live by bread [alone,] BUT BY every Word the proceedth out of the Mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4)

Starting from the notion of a "human need," presupposes "Man" to be "human," Good to be "matter," and includes the belief that Omnipresence can be absent or deficient -- which is not very "effective" when working "Metaphysically."

In a nutshell, I think, irrespective of how the "temptation" bight be defined, the primary concern is challenging the initial doubt offered:

"If thou be the Son of God"

The "solution" was described -- not by "doing or not doing," but telling mortal mind to "take a hike!" -- "Get thee hence," -- Our primary task is not to argue with, or indulge, what mortal mind says, but vehemently refuse "its" right to speak, in the first place --

After which, the story illustrates, there were "ministering Angels."
The "demonstration" must be incidental to our understanding that being the "Son of God" is not debatable.

"your Names ARE written in Heaven." (Luke 10:20)

With ALL Blessings
Michael
:)