Webster recalled having read debates about that text within the church from the beginning, finding uneasiness in the idea of Jesus as needing to repent or to confess sins. He tried again one of his hypotheses: “I understand ‘repentance’ to mean a change of life’s direction, so it isn’t too difficult to see Jesus at a turning point. Maybe with a new awareness of his destiny as preacher of the Kingdom.” “So far, so good,” Andrew said, “I guess that I can buy that but what about ‘sin’. The church has always claimed Jesus to be sinless. There seems to be the options: either give up that teaching and see Jesus as a sinner like the rest of us. Or find some other meaning for his baptism.” There were nods around the table and an eagerness to see if Webster could stick handle his way around this. “Well,” he began, “I agree it’s a bit tricky. My feeling is that we define ‘sin’ a bit too narrowly. The actual word carries the connotation of ‘missing the mark’. Maybe Jesus saw his thirty years up to that moment as somehow spent in avoiding his destiny.”
“It’s quite a big ‘maybe’” replied Andrew “But it’s certainly worth some thought.” And Melanie rounded off their exchange by expressing gratitude that “here is a safe place to be creative!”
Finally, the familiar episode of the dove, the voice and the commendation. Was this observed by all? Or did Jesus speak later (to his disciples?) of some mystical experience at his baptism? Melanie raised these issues and she was surprised when Stephen, whose interventions to date had been rather irritating, spoke quite movingly of his own experience as a teenage boy, being baptized in a river in Manitoba and the lasting impression made by that event. He confided that each year on August 10, he celebrated the anniversary of his baptism by attending a Eucharist wherever he might be and renewing his baptismal vows. All present were impressed and rather surprised; Al, who had been silent most of the evening, acknowledged that he had never been baptized and thanked Stephen in a very cordial manner for his sharing.
As the time for ending the session came closer, Al suddenly came up with a suggestion which took Melanie quite by surprise. “Leading a group like this is not easy,” he said, “and we know that Melanie didn’t exactly volunteer for the job. Why don’t we take turns at introducing the chapter and then go on from there?” Melanie felt her anger rising but she kept herself as calm as she could. “Why,” she wondered to herself, “hadn’t Al had the courtesy to raise the matter in their coffee shop conversation?” She was somewhat mollified as Al continued. “Melanie,” he said, “don’t take this as a criticism. It’s just an idea which occurred to me this minute.” She had come to realize that Matty had held the group in control by the force of her personality and that she wasn’t in the same league. She decided that two could play at the game of surprises. “Actually, it would suit me quite well to have someone else take over next week. There’s a lot going on at the office. And since you raised this, Al, what about taking it on?” She was a bit startled when he agreed.
They went their separate ways, somewhat surprised by the turn of events. Al tried his best to continue his reassurances in the parking lot and Melanie felt that she should be magnanimous. “Al, we will be looking forward to next week,” was her parting remark
Chapter 4
Al could devote time the following week to some sober second thoughts. His agreement to give an introduction to the next chapter of Matthew had been impulsive. It wasn’t that he shrank from the task, exactly, but rather that he wanted to avoid giving a lecture and then waiting for questions. There was also the little matter of being a complete newcomer to Bible reading! He remained uneasy and regretful about his impulsive action, hoping that his relationship with Melanie wouldn’t be soured by his suggestion.
He sighed as he sat at his desk in the bookstore. It was a familiar location where he was well able to keep an eye on comings and goings. There was George, one of the regulars, a collector of Victorian children’s books, browsing but rarely making a purchase. And Brian, shabby and sad, finding the bookstore a warm, dry place. He occasionally surprised Al by his knowledge of books but had never yet bought one.
He knew them well and left them alone.
He called up the first part of the text onto his screen and examined it closely.
At that time Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the desert in order to be tempted by the Devil. There he fasted for forty days and nights; and after that he suffered from hunger. So the Tempter came and said, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to turn into loaves.”
“It is written,” replied Jesus, “It is not on bread alone that a man shall live, but on whatsoever God shall appoint.”
Then the Devil took him to the Holy City and caused him to stand on the roof of the Temple, and said, “If you are God’s Son, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘To His angels He will give orders concerning thee, and on their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any moment thou shouldst strike thy foot against a stone.’”
“Again it is written,” replied Jesus, ‘Thou shalt not put the Lord thy God to the proof.’”
Then the Devil took him to the top of an exceedingly lofty mountain, from which he caused him to see all the Kingdoms of the world and their splendour, and said to him, “All this I will give you, if you will kneel down and do me homage.”
“Begone, Satan!” Jesus replied; “for it is written, ‘To the Lord thy God thou shalt do homage, and to Him alone shalt thou render worship’.” Thereupon the Devil left him, and angels at once came and ministered to him.
Firstly, then, the Temptation story with Jesus off in the desert, the forty days and nights of fasting and the three-fold testing. He guessed that the Temptation narrative might provoke lots of discussion. He glanced at the other parts of the chapter. They seemed to be the account of picking up where John the Baptist left off, finding disciples and beginning an itinerant ministry in which proclamation was augmented by powerful deeds.
He checked out the Temptation story and became aware that it fell into a well-known category; he reread parts of Joseph Campbell’s “Hero with a Thousand Faces” and recognized the temptation narrative as an account of a series of ordeals that Jesus had to face on his journey. The puzzle was making sense of the conversation; when the suggestion comes that he should make bread from stones, his reply seems a non-sequitur. No one is suggesting that men should live by bread alone but simply that he should satisfy his own hunger. Al thought about a reference to “fast food” as a kind of joke but thought better of it.
The temptation to create a sensational miracle is countered by the general notion that one should not put God to the test. The last of the three seemed simply bizarre at first glance: who in their right mind would entertain the notion of becoming a servant of Satan for the sake of political power? He paused a bit over that thought, reminding himself of those in the history of mankind who had seemingly done just that!
Was it possible, he wondered, that Jesus gave his followers a general description of his time in the desert and that later writers did the Midrash thing again, complete with citations from the Jewish scriptures? It would certainly explain the dialogue, which, he thought, was somewhat lame; surely Jesus and his opponent could debate more profoundly than the record seemed to indicate.
He wondered again if it was possible to penetrate the mind of Jesus. Could it have been the case that he was unaware of his destiny until he was baptized and experienced the events around his baptism, then needed to get away into the desert to try to sort it out? Could he have eventually shared with his disciples something of the struggles to answer the question, “If I am the Messiah, what should I do to fulfil that destiny?” The three temptations might conceal underlying options: to provide bread for the people as a benefactor, to make some spectacular manifestation of his Messianic powers, to find political action to inaugurate the Kingdom.
His mind drifted inevitably to his memory of “The Last Temptation