my soap journal

Scripture:

Luke 3:6-7 “The Devil told [Jesus] ‘I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them – because they are mine to give to anyone I please. I will give it all to you if you will bow down and worship me.”

Observation:

The first thing that struck me about Jesus’ temptation in this passage was that Satan said “If you are the Son of God.” The movie Dogma addresses the issue of Christ accepting his identity with the “silent” un-recorded years of his life. I guess I always thought Christ knew who he was, but I wonder; if Satan posed this question to him, it seems to me that there may have been potential for self doubt. Also of note, Christ doesn’t actually respond to the question of his identity, but only the temptation

Satan’s second temptation almost seems to acknowledge Christ’s identity by subverting the accompanying mission. Jesus was a Jew, he was aware of the expectations that many had for a “savior.” If he was trying to accept his identity as God, I imagine he had to also accept his mission; the fact that scripture records this as a temptation tells me that “the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them” crossed Christ’s mind as a potential path. It could have been his shadow mission – patterns of thought and actions based on temptations and our own selfishness that lead us to betray our deepest values (John Ortberg).

Prayer:

Lord – thank you for staying true to your purpose: saving us from our sin. Please give me clarity regarding my mission, and help me identify and shun my shadow mission.