Video Clip
30. Wilderness Temptations
Summary: After baptism, Jesus goes to the wilderness to wrestle with which path he will take: the Babylonian way of trust in force – or the Biblical way of trust in truth, gentleness, love. He has 3 temptations but 2 of them are questions of identity: “If you are the Son of God, …” The temptation beneath the temptation is to get Jesus to question his identity. Remember, we are born in love, by love, and for love. At the root of every temptation is to question who we really are or what reality is really about. If we question that God is love, we might put our trust in an alternative power. This alternative sounds practical, logical, and makes sense to the dominant culture. The temptations are not about evil ends but rather the means through which that can happen. We are tempted to question our true identity. We don’t remember it so we seek approval, power, control, affirmation, survival. Safety has become our God. Money becomes the ticket for that longing for security, for control, for a sense of autonomy. So making money becomes our goal; our trust is in money and what it can buy.