3rd February Trinity 2013, Creative Power

3^rd, 4^th February Trinity

(Sunday after Ash Wednesday)

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the loneliness of the desert to experience the tempting power of the adversary.

Blake

After fasting forty days and nights, He felt for the first time hunger for earthly nourishment. Then the tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, let these stones become bread through the power of your word.”

Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘The human being shall not live on bread alone; he lives by the creative power of every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

  

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the parapet of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Blake

Again a third time, the devil took him to a very elevated place, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give to you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me  as your Lord. “

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship [pray to] God your Lord who guides you and serve him only.’”

Then the adversary left him, and he beheld again the angels as they came to bring him nourishment.

3^rd February Trinity

February 17, 2013

Matthew 4: 1-11

To live as a human being on earth is to attract the Tempter. And Christ Jesus was no exception. He too faced humanity’s adversary; but the adversary failed to ensnare Him. This was because Jesus had been taught by scripture, by God’s word itself; and Christ was able to access this and to remember three things at the right moment.

When tempted to supply his own food, He remembered that the human being remains alive by the creative power of God’s eternal speaking, His power streaming through the universe. Even today there are people who do not require food in order to stay alive and healthy.[1]

Blake

He also remembered that human beings are not to challenge the divinely ordained order out of a sense of their own self-importance and pride.

And He remembered that guidance and wisdom come from God, not from the supposed splendor of the prince of the fallen world.

It was Christ’s three recognitions: God’s creative power streaming through the atmosphere, God’s divine ordering, and His wise divine guidance that kept Christ protected from the universal human temptations. He shows us what to remember in times of temptation. He shows us the way to keep our integrity and to remain connected with our own divine origins. For by resisting the temptations of the adversary, Christ has restored humanity’s lost connection with the Kingdom of God in human hearts.[2]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] One example is Therese Neumann

[2] Pictures by William Blake, Satan tempting Christ to turn stones into bread, to cast himself down, and to worship Satan.