Scripture reading: Matthew 4:1-11
The key to this temptation of Christ is illusion. I had the occasion to take a man to the hospital who said he was dying of cancer but was in reality a drifter addicted to cocaine. After he was settled in a room, I went back to visit with him, and he was hallucinating on pain medication mixed with the cocaine he apparently consumed early in the morning. He was mumbling and pointing to things that did not exist. The drugs took him to a place that drowned out the pain of his life, but he had reached the end of the road after many years of being addicted to narcotics.
It is the illusion of the surreal, a world that does not exist, the end of which is nothingness and death. This is not a physical death, but a spiritual death. The end of the illusion is a complete separation from God. In this case, it would be expelling Jesus from the trinity.
Matthew Henry writes that Satan was offering up only an illusion of kingdoms because in reality he was not possessed of such kingdoms over which to grant authority. The only authority over kings and kingdoms is in God through Jesus Christ. Thus, in temptation there is both illusion and reality. Temptation does its best to create an illusion which masks the reality of truth. This is also at the core of the first temptation, the illusion of superior knowledge and an existence like unto God. God promised that disobedience would lead to death, and the role of illusion was to twist the truth.
How many illusions do we have in society today? The illusion of superiority in wealth; power in workaholism; status in possessions; fantasy in narcotics and alcohol; the illusion of acceptance and belonging in prostitution, pornography and homosexuality; the illusion of happiness in being instantly gratified in innumerable pleasures; the illusion of freedom in abortion; satisfaction in spending or shopping; more youthful skin and longer life in medicine; intellectual superiority in evolution, medical science and other sciences that try to disprove God; and the list can go on and on.
Just a few pages later in Matthew 6 Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said in verse 25, “Take no thought,” do not worry about and do not expend effort on becoming something you are not or having something out of your reach. It is an illusion.
Satan was offering Jesus the illusion of a step-up in power and status. “Take no thought” to possess something that is not within your power to have. Just as we are incapable of growing in height at will or jumping up off our deathbed or out of harm’s way to add years to our life, we are incapable of possessing that which is only an illusion.
So the question becomes, how do we know what is illusion and what is real and truth? Why did Jesus not acknowledge the temptation more than He did? After all, He already had authority over the very kingdoms Satan was offering to give Him. Jesus could have set Satan straight. Perhaps it was for the same reason Jesus kept silent before His accusers moments before they led Him to the cross. Truth needs no defense, and you can’t win an argument with a fool.
Like this post? Subscribe to stay up to date on new posts.