The Trial and the Testing(3)
The Trial and the Testing “3”¹
We were talking last week about “the temptation on the mountain,” and we spoke about the first temptation..
The Scripture says: Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward hungry. And the tempter came to Him and said: If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. But Jesus answered and said: It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God…
Then the devil took Him into the holy city, and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him: If You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down, for it is written: He shall give His angels charge concerning You, and on their hands they shall bear You up… But Jesus said to him: It is also written: You shall not tempt the Lord your God…!
Then the devil took Him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and said to Him: All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him: Go away, Satan, for it is written: You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve..!
We notice here that temptation can come in any place, and it can come during “spiritual solitude” and worship.. for Christ was in solitude on the mountain, fasting and praying, and nevertheless the tempter—Satan—came to Him!
And if temptation can come “on a very high mountain,” from which a person sees “all the kingdoms of the earth and their glory”… it can also come “in the holy city” and on “the pinnacle of the temple”!
If sin comes in a place where temptations are available, that is natural.. but for temptation to come in “the holy city” and on “the pinnacle of the temple”.. that is not easy.. and it means that Satan can come even to “the holy city” and to “the pinnacle of the temple”.. and tempt…!
This matter calls us to be cautious in every place, and at every time and moment.. for Satan did not tempt Christ only “in the holy city”.. and he did not suffice that this temptation be on “the pinnacle of the temple”… but the temptation—besides that—was after a holy period of forty days and forty nights, which the Lord Christ spent in solitude and worship and fasting and prayer…!!
Some people think—at a certain stage—that they have become immune against sin, so they become careless.. To such people I say: even if you are in the holy city.. even if you are fasting or spending a devotional solitude in worship and fasting and prayer.. you are not far from temptation.. so beware.. and be cautious!
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Notice that Adam was tempted while he was in Paradise.. inside the garden Satan was able to enter and tempt Adam inside it!
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And Joseph the Righteous was exposed to temptation while he was in the house of a “sinful woman,” yet he did not fall.. but Adam—while in the garden—fell…!
So the place, then, is not what saves a person from falling.. but what saves him is “the purity of heart from within,” and “strong clinging to God,” and “the help of the Holy Spirit”…!
Do not think that you escape sin by means of “place”.. it is true that some places have fewer battles than others.. but it is also true that Satan tempts a person in any place.. no matter how much he flees!!
And you may remember the story of the “monk” who was troubled by the “devil of anger”… so he wanted to flee to another place… but he found that the devil followed him wherever he went…!
Therefore I say to you: a person must not abandon his vigilance, nor give up his caution in any place.. or in any environment.. because temptations may exist in any place.. and at any time.. and temptations may exist in every period, even if it is a period of fasting and devotional solitude.. temptations may exist in every location.. so be vigilant.. and be cautious at all times, and in every place…!
And a person’s battle is often from within himself.. it is a battle that comes to him from inside.. and when the Holy Scripture said that Satan fought Christ on a mountain.. and during solitude and worship.. and in the holy city.. it wanted to show us the strength of Christ in every situation, and in every place, and in every condition.. the Scripture wanted thereby to show us that Christ can triumph in every place and every condition.. and Christ the Lord can triumph in you also, if you are exposed to the battle of Satan…!
Yes.. Christ can triumph in you during Satan’s battle. Only call upon Him and cling to Him, and say to Him: O Lord, I cannot escape the battle of Satan.. but You, O Lord, are able to give strength and help for victory, no matter how strong and fierce the battle!
Jesus did not respond to Satan when he said to Him: “Cast Yourself down, and the angels will carry You”…!
• But we often cast ourselves into “places of stumbling” and we wish the angels to carry us!
• And we often place ourselves where temptations of sin exist, and say that the angels will protect us!
• We even sometimes leave the matters of our lives without order and without management, and say that God will manage!
We are thereby like one who loses himself and then asks God to protect him and save him..
God intervenes to save you when temptation comes to you.. but if you yourself cast yourself into destruction, then ask for God’s intervention.. that is wrong…!
Do not lose yourself, and do not say: I will enter the temptation and confront it.. but always say—in your prayer—as the Lord taught us: “Lead us not into temptation”..!
• Lot chose “Sodom,” and lived there, so he cast himself into destruction, and lost himself, and lost his children and his wife, and if it had not been for Abraham’s intercession.. he might have perished also..
• And likewise Eve, when she associated with “the serpent,” she fell into sin and was lost!
Do not cast yourself into destruction, and do not approach entering temptation, for if you do that, it is as though you are responding to what the Lord Christ Himself refused, when Satan said to Him: “Cast Yourself down, and the angels will carry You”!
Do not say to yourself that you can cast yourself down, and the angels will carry you.. therefore you must be careful to stay away from places of destruction and places of stumbling.. and keep away from “evil associations”.. and keep away from bad books and images and recordings.. and do not underestimate anything, for if you underestimate danger—no matter how small it appears to you—then you are deceiving yourself.. do not cast yourself down, and then ask the angels to carry you so that you will not perish!
Beware of sin..
And remember that “Eve”—when she associated with “the serpent”—fell and was lost!
Beware of sin, and remember that life with God teaches us precision and vigilance…!
And if one of you falls into a temptation, let him say what David the Prophet said: “I was pushed to fall, but the Lord supported me”..
Flee for your life, and do not push yourself into temptation and destruction…!
And remember that the angels said to Lot: “Flee for your life, do not stand in all the plain, and do not look behind you”!
It is true that the angels can carry you and save you, and this could have happened with Christ, but He refused to cast Himself down.. while He Himself walked on the water…
The important thing is that a person should not seek temptation himself.. and should not cast himself into destruction.. and “Solomon the Wise” says: “Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?” Do not rely on your strength, and do not trust your immunity, for sin has cast down many wounded, and all her slain were strong!!
So be cautious for yourself, for the person who is not cautious for himself becomes liable to destruction, and you are not stronger than the apostles and the prophets and the mighty ones who fell.. so be cautious and careful.. and act by the proverb that says: “The door from which the wind comes… shut it and rest”!!
“Be cautious for yourself.. but this does not mean that you ‘fear’ sin, for there is a difference between ‘caution’ and ‘fear.’ We are cautious, but we do not fear.. trusting that God works in us!
“Be cautious” of the tricks of Satan, and stay away from every cause of sin.. stay away from evil friendships.. and wrong counsel, and everything that may create stumbling blocks.. and surround yourself continually with a fence of God’s work and spiritual things.. do not boast, but be humble.. and do not cast yourself “from the pinnacle of the temple”.. and do not continually ask that the angels carry you.. and remember the saying of the Lord Christ: “It is written: You shall not tempt the Lord your God”!
Satan wanted—in this temptation—to offer a “wrong type of temptation”: when he asked Christ to cast Himself down.. it was as though he was saying to Him: You are the Son of God, and you must take your right of miracles, and the angels must carry you…!
And when Christ said to him: “You shall not tempt the Lord your God,” it was as though He was saying to him: God works miracles in their time, not at all times.. and a person should not neglect himself and then ask for a miracle.. a person should not neglect his livelihood and then ask God to provide for him.. and a student should not neglect his studies and learning, then ask God to make him succeed at the end of the year…!
A person must be “reasonable”.. and must not tempt the Lord his God!
Some people rely on others and say: “Let it be by blessing”.. or “Let it be on God”.. so they neglect their affairs, as if they ask God to run their matters by miracles.. such people must always reflect on the saying of Christ: “You shall not tempt the Lord your God”..
Always try to be cautious, careful.. and do not ask God for miracles in every situation.. some people imagine that “the way of God” is “the way of miracles”.. and this is wrong.. Christ did not tell us to live by miracles.. but miracles happen at the appropriate time which God sees…!
Satan also wanted something else with this temptation.. as if he painted for Christ that when He casts Himself, and the angels carry Him.. this miracle would serve the cause of preaching…!
But Christ—when He refused—as if replying to Satan saying: I came to save the people by suffering for them, and teaching them the way of salvation.. not by saving them through a miracle.. I came to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom, and to heal every weakness.. I do not want “splendor” or “showing off,” because salvation does not come by these matters which are from the work of Satan!
The Lord asked man to be wise.. and He praised the “unjust steward” for his wisdom…!
And spiritual life needs “heavenly wisdom.. and…”
And we must not ask to be dealt with by a nature other than ours.. rather we need to walk wisely in the spiritual path.. the Lord Christ says: “Be wise as serpents!”
Satan fights us and confronts us with wisdom.. so should we not also be wise in order to know how to conquer him and overcome him? The spiritual path needs wisdom.. and if you do not have “wisdom,” then use “counsel”.. ask others, and take the “wisdom” of the fathers and guides and the books and the saints.. and do not behave recklessly in the spiritual life when you think that the matter is simply to “cast yourself.. and the angels will carry you”.. for this is a deception from Satan..
Satan wants “scenes” and “display” and “pomp” and “splendor.” But you must not walk in this way.. and do not search for scenes and splendor and glory, for those who sought these, the demons led them astray and played with them…!
¹ An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III published in Watani Newspaper on 5-3-1972.
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