Well, for that He would have to force human liberty, use the strength of divine power. Doing so would be possible, but it would transgress the ethics of the Creator, who wants only free subjects. It would be to succumb to the methods of Satan, upholding that he is right. It would be to acknowledge failure of the divine plan and to justify the accusations of the devil, yielding before him, which would amount to worshiping him.22
Jesus sees the cunning trap and once again replies like a man of faith:
I worship only God and I serve only Him.
The third great temptation of Jesus is the temptation we all encounter when we say to ourselves:
Obtain whatever you want at any cost. The end justifies the means.23
The three temptations attempt to make Jesus separate Himself from divine will, leaving aside His human condition, and to use His divinity for personal gain.
But the account of these decisive moments in the life of Christ clarifies what temptation truly consists of, also for us: it is the struggle with a dangerous desire that challenges us to exercise our freedom on the fringe of divine will.24 In the face of that challenge, we can resist or surrender. But to desire what is unsuitable and to be tempted is not yet to fall. To sin would be to let oneself be captivated by desire in a game of capitulations that has all the ingredients of erotic seduction, that is, one is tempted when lured and enticed by one’s own desires.25
Every temptation contains one of these elements: giving in to a compelling urge that prevails over reason, succumbing to the irresistible desire to see something improper come to fruition, or acting in a way that puts one’s will above all.26 For this, we do not need to look for occasions: they present themselves. We are at war with the worst of ourselves, in a corrupt world, and our daily life is in the middle of the greatest conflict.27
Jesus has been tempted as are the best believers,28 as a mere mortal, overwhelmed and sensitive.29 But He has overcome temptation, remembering that He is also a Son of God, and that if He seeks His help, the latter will never allow Him to succumb.30
Nothing defeats temptation better than the decision to turn to God.31 Because, at the end of the day, it is about choosing between the will of God and ours, behind which the devil always attempts to camouflage himself.
After overcoming this decisive moment, exhausted, at the edge of the abyss, Jesus relishes the incomparable joy of victory over temptation: ephemeral, momentary, as all of ours,32 without witnesses, but heroic.
Having prevailed over the assaults of the enemy latched on to God, the Teacher surfaces stronger, and consequently, more capable to overcome his next assaults.33
The enemy has fled. “Now you can hear the full depths of the desert silence. It isn’t the quiet before the storm, or the silence of the end of the world, but a silence that only covers another, even deeper, silence.”34
Upon putting the backpack on his shoulder to leave the desert, headed toward other struggles, Jesus has already decided that He will be a Teacher, and that He will dedicate Himself to teaching other mortals, one by one, the difficult art of surviving in a besieged world.
He knows that, to carry out His plan, He will have to face new dangers.
What He still ignores is that His first followers are already waiting for Him.
1 . In the biblical world, deserts are places suitable for transcendental encounters. Great spiritual leaders such as Moses and Elijah spent some of the most decisive periods of their lives in the desert. Following their example, throughout history thousands of men and women have renounced the world seeking spiritual enlightenment or communication with heaven in a withdrawn life.
2 . Jesus usually withdrew himself to deserted places to pray, at times including at night (Matt. 14:23; Mark 6:46; Luke 6:12, 9:28).
3 . See Roberto Badenas, Encounters (Madrid: Editorial Safeliz, 2000, pp. 13-27).
4 . Mark 1:11; Matthew 3:17; Luke 3:22.
5 . Mark 3:20-21; 6:4; John 7:5.
6 . Luke 4:24; Matthew 13:47.
7 . Giovanni Papini, The Story of Christ, Madrid: ABC, 2004, p. 47.
8 . See, for example, the case of the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 19:4).
9 . These forty days of solitude in the desert remind of other biblical periods of quarantine, always experienced as periods of test: the forty-year exodus in the desert from the city of Israel, which took it from the slavery of Egypt to the promised land; the forty days Moses waited at Sinai before receiving the revelation of the divine law (Exod. 34:28); or the forty days Elijah spent refuged in the desert until finding the strength that would allow him to face the wrath of queen Jezebel (1 Kings 19:8).
10 . Fyodor Dostoyevsky, in his parable titled “The Grand Inquisitor” acknowledges “only one who can appease their conscience can take over their freedom” The Brothers Karamazov, Madrid: Cátedra, 2006, p. 410).
11 . Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, Safeliz, Madrid: 2006, p. 68
12 . The account of the temptations of Jesus in the desert is found in the Gospels of Matthew (4:1-11), Mark (1:12-13) and Luke (1:1-13); but only Matthew and Luke give details about the temptations. Luke varies the order of the last two. Here, we follow the order of Matthew given that the latter was a direct disciple of Jesus, and his account presents them in a clearly progressive order. (cf. Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 74-77)
13 . Regarding the meaning of the biblical fast, which does not always or necessarily imply not eating or drinking, see Isaiah 58:5-11.
14 . Regarding the incarnation of Jesus, see Philippians 2:5-8.
15 . —Well, a wallet fell on a subway seat: and with plenty of dollar bills. These rich people have money in abundance and you, poor wretched soul, breaking your back at the service of these exploiters for a wage of pittance. No one sees you. Take the money it contains, which might not be much for the owner. What’s more, it serves him well for being careless. Based on your need of this money at this time . . . who knows if it is God himself who has placed that wallet there, close at hand, in response to your prayers?
16 . Matthew 4:4, citing Deuteronomy 8:3; the verb form of the Greek perfect gegraptai denotes something that “has been written and is still in force.” Jesus nourishes his contact with God through the Sacred Scriptures. His key to defeating, his “magic formula” is: “Gegraptai: It is written, or God teaches (in the Bible).”