The Temptation That Names the Stakes
Matthew 4:8-10
8. Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory.
9. He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.”
10. Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”
Jesus has been out in the wilderness fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, and the devil has come to tempt Him. The devil takes him up on a high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. These are not the lands of the world, but the powers that rule them. These are not the glory of God, but the glory of those kingdoms.
When the devil says that he will give him all these things, he means it. The offer is real. This is a shortcut. A devilish cheat code that would allow Jesus to wield power over all the systems of the earth without having to endure anything that follows. The devil names his price. You must prostrate yourself before me and worship me.
Jesus responds by calling the devil one of the Satans, one of the beings sent by God to be an adversary, a test. He then quotes the scripture and says that you should only worship the Lord your God, and only God should you serve. Instead of entering the false relationship offered by the devil, Jesus names the right relationship between the faithful devotee and the cosmos.
The Mountain of Revelation and the Counterfeit Glory
The devil takes Jesus up on the high mountain because it is the place of revelation. Moses received the Torah on the high mountain, and many of the prophets went into the mountains to receive the Word of God. This action is meant to have Jesus see His own importance. He is standing in the place of revelation, looking down on all of the powers of the earth, all of the systems that control it, and the kingdoms that are there. The devil gives Jesus a semblance of divine authority before he makes the offer.
The devil offers Jesus two things: the kingdoms and their glory. In offering the kingdoms, he is giving Jesus a shortcut to legitimacy and power. “Why go through all of the work and sacrifice when I can just hand it to you?” The glory of the kingdoms is a counterfeit for the glory of God, the presence of God that shines through all things. Instead of the glorious presence of life, the devil is offering Jesus the fading glory of gold and riches and worship, things that he neither wants nor needs but are tempting. After all, who wouldn’t want worship rather than sacrifice?
The cost is surrender. All Jesus has to do is prostrate himself and worship to give those essential parts of himself over to the systems of control and power that run the world. This is a different kind of sacrifice. Rather than pouring out your labor for the sake of all who suffer and who are downtrodden, just give your will, empathy, and concerns to the systems that will just tell you what to do and give you the power to enforce your will on the world. That temptation is very strong.
Jesus counters by invoking the Holy Name of God: HaShem, my God. The one who is, was, and ever shall be. The one in whom we live, move, and have our being. Only that do you serve. Living in service to life brings healing, hope, and restoration to all people, not just power for a few. Jesus did not come for His own aggrandizement, but for the salvation of the world.
When he says, get behind me, Satan, he is saying, “Accuser sent by God to test. Your test is done. Go away. Go behind me. Do not stand in my way. I am here to do the work I was called to do, and you will not deter me from it.”
A Dangerous Text for a Dangerous Time
The Temptation of Jesus was written at a very dangerous time for the early Jesus movement. The way attracted not just the poor and the slaves, but also people in power. In the centuries that followed, the movement would be co-opted entirely by the empire that once persecuted it. But now, here in Matthew’s Gospel, we see the writer struggling with this temptation. When we bow a knee and conform to the desires of power of the ruling authorities above us, we are rejecting the light of God that shines through all things. We’re refusing to hear the word of God that speaks through the cosmos. When we seek the glory of God and the glory of empires in riches and power and authority in titles, we are rejecting the very truth that we are all equal. That we are all in need of healing, of restoration, and of being lifted up. Whether that is from poverty of means or poverty of spirit, we all must be raised up.
Matthew consistently presents Jesus as the new Moses. And here we see Jesus on the mountain of Revelation, and the revelation that he is given is one that will distort and destroy his message for all time. The kingdom of God cannot survive if it is co-opted by empire. We cannot serve two masters. We will seek our own aggrandizement, and not the benefit of all.
Throughout the centuries, the story has been used to show the superiority of Jesus; how he was able to resist the temptation of power, that he was able to just resist because of who he was, forgetting that he was a man as human as we are. When we neglect or forget that basic human frailty, we turn this story into something weak and without meaning.
This story has also been used to teach the superiority of the kingdom of God over the kingdoms of men, and that again is not what is being preached here or in any of the gospels. The kin-dom of God is something that exists within and among us as equals. It does not have hierarchy. As Jesus himself says, whoever will be greatest in the kin-dom must be servant of all (Mark 9:35).
Jesus’ refusal of earthly dominating power of empire inspires us to refuse that same call on our lives, to not use the methods of violence and coercion that Empire uses. We are a people of love, and we proclaim a gospel of life and a law of liberation. Institutional power chokes that power, that love, that strength that we are called to. Hierarchy crushes those underneath it. We are called to a different way. A way where we are all equals working to elevate everyone and to leave no one behind.
Witness: Defiance and the Luminous Way
I was raised to seek power and to exercise authority. Evangelicalism taught me that God’s love is controlling, bringing his dominion into the world. I was taught to kneel to the devil without even knowing it.
That is not the Gospel Jesus taught. That is not the Way, the Truth, or the Life.
My heart yearns for the luminous way of Jesus that brings life more abundantly. Standing on the rock of Jesus teachings defies the empire that wants us to kneel.
Render Unto Caesar Without Kneeling
Mark 12:13-17
13. They sent some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to him, that they might trap him with words.
14. When they had come, they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you are honest, and don’t defer to anyone; for you aren’t partial to anyone, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?
15. Shall we give, or shall we not give?” But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test me? Bring me a denarius, that I may see it.”
16. They brought it. He said to them, “Whose is this image and inscription?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.”
17. Jesus answered them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” They marveled greatly at him.
In Mark 12:13-17, the Pharisees and the Herodians set a trap for Jesus. They flatter him before asking, “Do we pay taxes to Caesar or not?” The trap is simple. If he says that they should pay taxes, then they will call him out on his kingdom rhetoric, that he doesn’t really mean to bring the kingdom of God on earth because he is making himself subservient to an earthly terrestrial kingdom. If he says they shouldn’t pay their taxes, then he has put himself in opposition to Rome, and they do not treat those in opposition to them lightly.
Jesus asks them to bring him a coin, and when they do, he asks them whose face is on the coin. When they respond, Caesar’s, then he simply tells them, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s. He not only sidesteps their trap in this moment, but shows the nature of the kin-dom when he does.
The kin-dom of heaven is not of this earth, and it does not exercise dominion over it. If he were to tell those gathered not to pay their taxes, not to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, he would have been exercising the same control and dominance over earthly affairs as the devil offered him in his temptation. Instead, he spoke the Living Word. “For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).”
The living word is not found in a book. The living word is not a book. It is the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge spoken at just the right time to show the truth of the moment. If Caesar wants back what he has given you, then give it to him. But that does not free you from the duties that you have to one another as you walk the way of God. Here he makes the path clear and defeats the trap that was set against him without giving in to the darker temptations of empire.
It Shall Not Be So Among You
Matthew 20:25-28
25. But Jesus summoned them, and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
26. It shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.
27. Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant,
28. even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
In Matthew 20:25-28, Jesus explicitly names what leadership looks like in the kin-dom. It is not about hierarchy, but service. We do not have leaders who dominate or lord over us, who bring us under control. We do not have leaders who wield authority down upon us or overpower us.
Those who wish to be seen as great in the movement are servants, giving willingly of themselves so that everyone has what needs to be done in the moment. They are not here to lead, but to serve. Whoever is first among us must be enslaved to this idea, a full bondservant to the cause. Someone who is without status, who is not higher than anyone else, but someone who has pledged to serve everyone.
Jesus did not come to be worshipped. He did not live his life to be adored and bowed down to. He poured out his life even unto the ignominious death on a cross so that we would understand the way. Those who aggrandize themselves lack any authority in the eyes of the Way. Those who seek power or wealth or the domination of others have abdicated their place among our leadership.
Even they have seen this message in scripture and created the term “servant leadership” as a tool for their own control over the family, their spouse, and their own patriarchal dreams of domination.
A servant listens and learns. If anyone is to be first among us, they must listen and serve all. Not their chosen few, but everyone.
Jesus said that he has sheep that are not of the fold. There are those out there that we do not think are among us, but are listening to the words of Christ and following his way. Jesus told us that whoever is not against us is for us, and that we should not forbid them from doing work, even work in His name.
We will know people by their fruit. If they leave in their wake love, tenderness, compassion, healing, justice, and equity. If they feed the hungry, tend to the sick, visit those who are imprisoned, and bring relief to the crushed, without hoarding wealth or power to themselves, we will know them. Those who do otherwise have the spirit of antichrist upon them. They are working against Jesus in His own name.
Jesus’ kin-dom is built on the rock, the firm foundation of wisdom, the experience and the speaking of the living word, and the love that we have for God, our neighbor, and one another. No one is left out of that love.
Who Bears the Cost of Empire
Luke 6:20-26
20. He lifted up his eyes to his disciples, and said, “Blessed are you who are poor, God’s Kingdom is yours.
21. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
22. Blessed are you when men shall hate you, and when they shall exclude and mock you, and throw out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake.
23. Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for their fathers did the same thing to the prophets.
24. “But woe to you who are rich! For you have received your consolation.
25. Woe to you, you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
26. Woe, when men speak well of you, for their fathers did the same thing to the false prophets.
In Luke 6:20-26, Jesus gives us a list of blessings and woes to the people of Earth. He blesses the poor, the hungry, those who mourn, and those who are hated, excluded, and mocked, and whose names are cast as evil for the sake of the kin-dom. He reminds them that the poor, those without power or wealth, will inherit the kin-dom of God, for it is already theirs, that the hungry will be filled, and that those who weep will laugh, and that we should rejoice when we are mocked for our work in the kin-dom because they mocked the prophets the same way.
He then warns and laments over the rich, those who are full, happy, and those who are spoken well of, because they have already received their reward and will have no other. Those who are full will hunger as they see the true emptiness of their lives. Those who have received the blessings of people have done nothing more than what the false prophets did, who spoke sweet lies to the world.
Jesus is showing us the cost of power. That when we accumulate wealth, we have no other blessings. Our friendships suffer, our minds become suspicious of those around us, and we become isolated and alone. When we fill ourselves with those things that we hunger after and desire, we lose access to all of the things that truly fill and fulfill us. When we distract ourselves from the work that grief brings and the healing that we can have as we restore ourselves and our world around us, that hollowness opens us up, and all we have left is mourning and tears.
This is the message and the warning of the book of Ecclesiastes. All of these things are emptiness, like chasing after the wind. Wealth tarnishes and moth destroys, but the real treasure of the kin-dom is not in some afterlife. Because the kin-dom is here now amongst us. The wealth is the community of friends and relations that we develop, the chains of support, aid, and care that strengthen the bonds between us. A life filled with love and built upon it overflows with blessings. Selfishness, greed, lust for power isolate and remove people from all of the joys that could be theirs if only they would change their minds, return to the path, and become one with the people.
The Daily Invitation to Kneel
In our everyday lives, we are asked by the devil to kneel regularly. We are told that if we have nothing to fear, if we’ve done nothing wrong, then surveillance is nothing to worry about. They ask us to move out of the way of so-called law enforcement when they are doing harm and breeding chaos in our cities. They trick us to stay home and not exercise our vote to participate in this democracy, so we will bow the knee to their imperial aims.
Every time we reject the fear of others that they want placed upon us, we do not kneel before empire. Every time we speak our voice clearly and honestly, we do not bow to the empire. Every time we think for ourselves and do not accept the stories that we are given, we do not bow to empire.
The truth is they have done a lot of work over the decades to confuse expertise with imperial power. And they’ve taught us to fear and mistrust expertise and to bow down to their authoritarian rule.
Doctors know more about medicine and the human body than any of us who have not studied it. Their expertise is vital if we are to remain healthy and strong as a people. Their opinions should be based on the data, not the dictates of those in power.
Scientists who study nature and the climate know more about what is happening than any of us who do not. And their expertise is vital if we are going to understand what is happening to the world around us.
The trick that they played on us is to make the advice of experts sound like the authoritarian claims of power, so that the authoritarian claims of power sound like advice defiant and strongly for the people against that tyranny. When we open our eyes and have eyes to see, when we listen carefully and have ears to hear, then we can see through this trick and understand that, of course, someone who has studied a thing knows more about it than those of us who don’t. And we have to take their wisdom and knowledge under advisement. That is different from bowing to the whims and dictates of people, no matter how educated, that are simply striving for their own power, wealth, and aggrandizement.
Anytime we can see through these lies, we are standing up for the kin-dom of God and rejecting the offer of dominance made by the devil.
What Sustains the Refusal
We are the body of Christ, and as such, we live in that cosmic Christ that indwells all of the world. In Him, we have refuge. In Him, we are made whole.
Through meditation and prayer, we enter that peace that passes all understanding:
the mindfulness that keeps us clear in the present moment,
the compassion that burns in our heart, stepping forward into the work that must be done,
the Kavanah or intention that becomes clear to be about the work of healing and restoring the world and ourselves, and
the effort that is necessary to get us there.
The work can be hard, and we can experience despair. They can try to take from us our comfort, our sense of belonging, our reputation, even our safety. But we know that the work that we are about is to leave a better world for those that come after us.
That hope that we will leave a better world to come than the one that we were born in fills us with hope and courage. Our knowledge that we are united within Christ gives us strength to move on. It is our unity, our hope and faith, and the great love that ever flows through us that knows no matter how isolated they make us feel, we are never alone. The kin-dom is spread out upon the earth, and many do not see it. But we do. We live within it, and we know that it is our true and faithful home.
Check out the live discussion here: