There’s danger within familiarity. We relax. And we get sloppy. Hence, our family gets to experience “the beauty and the beast” in us. Back to Jesus matters. There are VIP Scripture passages that have become ordinary to us like John 3:16, Psalm 23 or Proverbs 31.
Just like you, I have read many a time about Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. The story where we see the devil as a skilled salesman. Like a sin vending machine, he tells hungry Jesus. “How about open up a bakery with flaky croissants out of these pebbles. You know you want it. Your body needs it.”
Forgive my artistic license to strongly paraphrase the verse. You get it. To us Luke 4:3 might be a 4-seconds read on a full stomach “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” We must work at turning a flat text into a pop-up book, to get a glimpse of what truly happened. Forty days without food. The stomach is growling, the gastric juices are giving hunger pains, the weight loss weakens the body already dehydrated. To any hypoglycemic soul, a French baguette is a marvelous idea. Quick fix. Then and there.
Of course the sin-inventor doesn’t stop at one temptation. When it rains, it pours. And he throws in “if” clauses and places question marks where God has put exclamation points. And adds commas, where there are periods.
What captured my attention in this familiar passage was not the usual takeaways of how we must respond to temptation with Scripture as Jesus did; or how the tempter knows our blind spots and insists on them when we are vulnerable; or his creative persistence to get us to trip over our desires.
The corner of the puzzle for me this time was in verse 13. “And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.” Luke 4:13
“…he departed from him until an opportune time”
After he’s done inviting us to act in emotions, live the moment, listen to our heart (as if he cares about our hearts), not to count the cost, cling to fake promises, and “this will feel good”. He simply says “See ya later saint! I ain’t done with you.” And like a promised sequel he returns “to kill, steal, and destroy” some more. Part II.
Paul reminds those in Corinth “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” 1 Corinthians 10:12
As I was searching for a photo to add to the article, I wrote in Canva the words “see ya later”, what popped up was a P250 | See Ya Later pistol. Quite fitting. That’s what the tempter thinks too.
Peter reinforces Paul’s words. “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” 1 Peter 5:8-9 ESV