And as we are at the end of the Holy Forty Days, we remember the temptation of the Lord Christ on the mountain, and the rest of His temptations. And we try to take from the Lord’s experience reflections that are beneficial for our lives.

So what are temptations? And why did God allow them? What is their benefit? And what are their conditions?

In the temptation of the Lord Christ, there is consolation for us… as we see that even Christ Himself was tempted… rather, the Scripture says that He “was tempted in all things like us, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

Therefore, temptations and tribulations are not evidence that God has abandoned man.

It is possible that the Only-Begotten Son, the Beloved who is in the bosom of the Father, would also be subject to temptations and tribulations, and tempted in everything…

And He was not only tempted in everything, but also in every place:

He was taken up into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, and He was tempted on a high mountain, and in the holy city, and on the pinnacle of the temple… and on the cross.

Thus, temptation can come in a holy place…

On the pinnacle of the temple, as happened with the Lord Christ. And in Paradise, as happened with Adam and Eve… therefore, the presence of a person in Paradise does not prevent temptation. And his presence on the pinnacle of the temple does not prevent temptation…

And temptation can occur in holy times…

The Lord Christ was tempted during the period of fasting, which is a holy period, and during a time of solitude, in which He was alone with the Father in prayers and contemplations… and the occurrence of temptations in holy times does not carry the meaning of abandonment.

Rather, the temptations that God allows have conditions, and the first condition is that “He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

He does not tempt you beyond your endurance. Severe and difficult temptations, God gave them to strong people whom He knows very well that they can endure… such as righteous Job… and Abraham the father of fathers… He knows that they can endure…

The second condition: that with the temptation there is a way of escape… there is a solution with it… the temptation exists, and also the grace of God and His help are present as well.

Man does not stand alone in temptation… there are many powers surrounding him: the angels, the spirits of the saints, the Holy Spirit Himself, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father.

Among the characteristics of the temptations that God allows is that they are all for good:

The Virgin Lady, the Mother of the Savior, the holiest woman in existence, was also tempted: she lived in bitterness of heart, and a sword pierced her soul, and she was sometimes surrounded by doubts, and sometimes by poverty and hardship, and she lived in orphanhood, and she sojourned and came to Egypt.

Being full of grace did not prevent temptations from her… and being the purest saint did not prevent temptations from her… rather, being the Mother of the Savior did not prevent temptations from her… temptations are not a form of abandonment, but they are a blessing. What matters is that a person is not shaken by the temptation, but benefits from it…

If a temptation comes upon you, take the grace that is in it, and stand firm before it, and experience the life of victory, and test the divine help. Then the temptation will become for you spiritual memories that fill your heart with joy.

In most cases, God gives graces and blessings through temptations:

Sometimes you touch God in temptations, and enjoy His blessings and gifts… among the examples of this is what our teacher John the Evangelist said: “I, John, your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos… I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:9–10).

In tribulation, and in exile, on that remote island, John was in the Spirit, and was given the greatest vision, and saw the Lord and His kingdom and His throne…

In that tribulation, the mysteries of God were revealed to him, and he knew what was to come, and saw things related to eternity, and the heavenly hosts, and the throne of God and what surrounds it of heavenly armies…

And many saints experienced the depth of grace while they were in arenas of martyrdom, or in prisons and underground cells, and in various sufferings…

Rather, divine inspiration accompanied the saints in tribulations:

Paul the Apostle wrote his epistle to the Ephesians while he was in prison (a prisoner in chains). And other epistles he also wrote in prison…

In tribulations, they experienced divine help, and saw the Lord and touched Him…

And when they were partners in suffering, they became partners in glory…

“If we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified with Him”… if you die with Christ, you will rise with Christ… if you walk in the way of Golgotha and the way of the cross, you will certainly reach the glories of the resurrection…

“Count it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into various trials”

When you fall into a temptation, say: Christ also was tempted, and so was the Virgin, and so was John the beloved who leaned on the bosom of Christ; Saint Athanasius, who greatly defended the divinity of Christ, lived a life full of tribulation, and was exiled many times from his see, and councils judged him, and he was accused with false and vile accusations…

Tribulation has its blessings, and it has its graces, for everyone who is patient and receives…

Do you want to obtain a blessing? Enter into tribulation. Do you want to touch and bring Christ into your life? And experience the spiritual life in its depth? Enter into tribulation.

On one occasion, Abba Paul the Simple lived with Saint Abba Anthony under the shadow of his prayers. Then Saint Anthony said to him: “Go and dwell alone, to experience the wars of the demons.”

And in temptations, Abba Paul the Simple experienced the depths of the spiritual life.

He experienced grace entering into his life. The demons shake him, and grace supports him. The hand of God rescues him, and he feels the blessing of God’s hand in his life.

“Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of heaven.”

“Whoever wants to follow Me, let him carry his cross… let him experience toil and bitterness, so that he may receive their blessing”… how beautiful is that single phrase that came in the Paradise of the Fathers about Abba Paul the Hermit when he said:

“He who flees from tribulation flees from God”…

Sometimes we flee from tribulation. And if it surrounds us and we cannot escape, we murmur, complain, grow weary, grumble, and suffer, and are punished.

He who murmurs against tribulation loses its blessing, and takes from it only its hardship. Therefore, if a tribulation comes upon you, accept it with joy, satisfaction, and thanksgiving. And accept it in hope that God will intervene…

Know that you will take from the temptation a blessing, and experience, and benefit in your life… and for this reason, the children of God did not flee from tribulations, but sought them. They threw themselves into tribulations, and found in that delight… tribulation did not fill them with annoyance, but with thanksgiving…

The Scripture says: “Whom the Lord loves He disciplines”…

Abraham the father of fathers, and Moses the friend of God, were among the beloved of the Lord, and yet temptations were not prevented from them…

If we complain about tribulations, we take only their hardship without their blessing… because we look at them with a dark lens that sees the thorns surrounding the rose without inhaling its fragrance.

Some of the saints, when a tribulation came upon them, one of them would say: “This is because of my sins,” and he would take from it blessing, repentance, and contrition, as David the Prophet and Abba Abram the Syrian did…

We may be tempted because of our sins, but the Lord Christ was holy, and sin does not agree with His nature… and He allowed Satan to tempt Him.

It is astonishing that the Lord allows Satan to tempt Him!

He grants the principle of equal opportunity even to Satan… He allows him to approach Him, and to take Him to a high mountain, and to set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and even to dare to ask Him to fall down and worship him…

Christ was not tempted out of weakness, because when Satan exceeded his limits, the Lord rebuked him, saying: “Away with you, Satan.” So he departed immediately.

The Lord allowed Satan to tempt Him so that he would not say: “If I had fought Him, I would have defeated Him!” And the Lord gave us through His temptation an example of victory in the wars of demons, and the way of this victory…

And the wars of Satan with Christ continued all the time, even while He was on the cross, it was said: “If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

The story of the Lord Christ on earth is entirely a story of the cross… from when He emptied Himself and took the form of a servant, and from when He was born in a manger of oxen, and fled to Egypt… until He was nailed to the wood at Golgotha…

The cross was before His eyes continually, it never departed from Him…

This الكلام benefits us, as we approach Holy Week, so that we may have fellowship in the sufferings of Christ… “that I may know Him and the fellowship of His sufferings.”

Paul the Apostle, when he declares the blessing of temptations saying: “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities”… Paul who was given a thorn in the flesh, as a blessing for him and a grace. And according to one of the saints:

The health and strength of Paul were necessary for preaching and serving the word, but God gave him a thorn in the flesh, because that blow was beneficial for his spiritual life, even if the preaching was slightly hindered…

Lift from me, O Lord, this thorn, and give me health to serve You. He says to him: rather, I give you this blow, for it is more beneficial for you, lest you be exalted above measure… and likewise the Lord gave a blow to Jacob…

Let us now prepare ourselves for Holy Week… let us prepare it with love of suffering, and with fellowship in suffering. So train yourselves in this week, how to enter into the fellowship of sufferings in your lives, and how to benefit from that.

 An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – in El-Keraza Magazine – Eighth Year (Issue Thirteenth), 1-4-1977

For better translation support, please contact the center.