Trial and Testing (4)
The Trial and the Test “4”¹
The Holy Scripture continues, in speaking about “the temptation on the mountain,” saying: “Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and said to Him: I will give You all these, if You fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him: Get away from Me, Satan, for it is written: You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve. Then the devil left Him and went away, and the angels came and ministered to Him.”
This is “the third temptation.” It has many meanings, and the first of these meanings is that the devil does not despair… For Christ defeated him in the first temptation… then Christ defeated him in the second temptation… and yet he approached Him to try Him with a third temptation!
Do not think that when you defeat the devil once or twice, he will stay away from you and the matter ends…
Do not also think that there are temptations greater than you… Rather remember well that the devil is ready to tempt you and fight you with any sin…
And if the devil thought to fight Christ… and asked Him to worship him… Is it conceivable that Christ would worship the devil? But the devil did so… For the devil always proceeds in the way of the unreasonable… He does not despair, nor is he ashamed…!
And no matter how much you triumph, the devil is behind you, and do not think that he fights only the weak… but he fights the saints, the anchorites, the monks, and the worshippers… And the devil – in his warfare – is impudent, not knowing “the etiquette of dealing”… nor is he intimidated by the saints… nor does he know the meaning of “shame,” because “shame” is known to the well-mannered, and the devil is not among them. He knows neither “shame” nor “embarrassment”… And therefore he went to Christ “with insolence and without shame, and asked Him to worship him!! O shame… where is your redness!!”
The devil does not despair and does not feel shame, and he can fight any human being, at any time, with any sin!
The Scripture says: “And he took Him to a high mountain…” The devil imagined that he could defeat Christ if he changed the place… He did not know that the power of Christ is “from within,” above every sin, and that the matter is not a matter of “place,” but a matter of “a heart filled with the love of the Father”…!
The devil had said within himself: Perhaps I was defeated before Christ in the previous times, in the place of solitude and worship and prayer and fasting… Perhaps when I take Him away from that place I may be able to defeat Him!
And the devil had said within himself: Perhaps I was defeated before Christ previously when He was on the pinnacle of the temple, and the temple is a “place” with its holiness; perhaps I may defeat Him if I take Him away from it to another place.
These are the devil’s thoughts… a point of view that cannot be ignored… but not with respect to Christ, for Christ does not derive His power from the “place,” but His power from within… from His holy, pure heart united with the Father…!!
Among the devil’s tricks is to deprive a person of the means of grace so that he may defeat him… He deprives him of the temple, and the holy mountain of God, and the place of solitude and worship and contemplation… This is what he did with Christ…!
So if you find the devil taking you away from holy places, remember that he is preparing a temptation for you!!
But if the devil finds you – on your own – distancing yourself from these places, this is what he wants… And many people, when they distance themselves from the sources of grace and its means, fall into the hands of demons…!!
The devil took “Lot” to a mountain and showed him the “land of Sodom,” beautiful, grassy, filled with good, saying to him: I will give you this only if you distance yourself from “Abraham”… And Lot responded, and the devil led him into the land of Sodom… and destroyed him!!
The temptations offered by the devil are many and shiny… For he took Christ to “a high mountain” and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world… The devil does the same with us… Sometimes he takes a person to “the mountain of fame”… and sometimes he takes another to “the mountain of greatness”… or “the mountain of pleasure”… or “the mountain of knowledge”… or “the mountain of wealth”… and says to him: I will give you all these… only… in exchange… that you obey me: “If you fall down and worship me”…
The worship here is not literal, but means bowing to the devil’s desires and responding to his will…!
And on the mountain a person can see everything… And so he did with Christ and said to Him: “I will give You all these,” after he “showed Him” the kingdoms of the world…
He showed Him… and offered Him… These are the temptations the devil practices with us… in many forms, when he takes any of us to “any mountain”… like the mountain of lust… or the mountain of pleasure… or the mountain of greatness and self-love… He offers a person what he desires, leading him into daydreams… and “lets him wander”… in a vast sea of wishful fantasies… and says to him: I will give you all these!
Believe me, my brothers, the devil never gives… He always takes… His style is “giving”… while in reality it is “taking”!
He says he “will give you” lust and pleasure… while in truth he “will take” from you chastity and purity…
He says he “will give you” abundance and plenty… while in truth he “will take” from you contentment and satisfaction…
He says to you: “I will give you” rest and sleep… while – in truth – he “will take” from you prayer and connection with God!
He says to you: “I will give you” the world… while he “will take” from you the Kingdom of God…!
It is inconceivable that the devil would be a “giver,” for he does not give. He deceives people while he wants – in truth – to take!
The devil said to Herod: I will give you the head of John the Baptist… And when he did, he had taken from Herod peace of heart and tranquility and rest…!
And when he said to the Lord Christ: “I will give You the kingdoms of the earth”… he only wanted to take from Him the virtue of renunciation and detachment!!
The devil – in all his taking – does this under the guise of giving… The devil is a liar, and Christ described him as a liar and the father of all liars!!
And… does the devil own anything to be able to give!
The devil – my brothers – is a deceiver and a fraud… He owns nothing… despite pretending that he can give everything… He is like the one who sold the tram!!
The devil never gives, but he throws a person into “hopes” and desires and lusts… and cannot fulfill any of them…!
And even if the devil gives, he gives nothing but harm, worry, and misery… nothing beneficial…!
All those who followed the devil became weary… And before us – in America – is an example of youths who followed the devil… like the hippies and the Beatles… all of them became weary… afflicted with mental, psychological, and nervous illnesses…!
The Holy Scripture says: the devil took Christ to a high mountain “and showed Him all the kingdoms of the earth and their glory”… Do not think the devil did this with Christ merely for “seeing”… Rather there was temptation and praise of worldly glory… “Temptation” is a method in which the devil excels…
I remember once, years ago, when I was at a conference abroad… I found foreign clergymen drinking wine… Then one of them invited me to join them, and I refused, showing great astonishment… Then this person tried to convince me of the benefits of wine… saying: You are the Bishop of Education, and you must know the advantages of wine and teach people about them… for it is refreshing… etc.!
But I insisted on refusing… This person imagined that wine gives “refreshment” and vitality… not knowing that it takes health. So are the devil’s methods in temptation… he depicts sin as giving… making you feel that the path of sin is comfortable and pleasant… and that you will lose nothing but gain… All this is deception from beginning to end…
We refuse any gift that comes through the devil… even if it appears good!
The devil once went to St. Abba Anthony… and woke him from sleep to… pray!
Would anyone believe that the devil could be a promoter of prayer?!
But this is what he did with the saint… And the saint refused to pray, saying to him: I do not pray by your advice!
Know that anything that seems good and righteous coming from the devil, behind it is harm… visible or hidden!
The devil tried to raise the degree of holiness of some saints… so that he might direct a “right-hand blow” at them… Therefore the saints said: If you see a young man lifted into the air… pull him down!!
The devil wanted to give the first man “knowledge”… And when man took it from him, he fell and entered ignorance and error, and lost the knowledge of God, and was lost…!
Do not take anything from the devil, nor seek help except from God alone, nor take anything from the devil’s hand, nor from the hands of his helpers and soldiers and supporters and followers… And when the devil says to you: I will give you… say to him: From you I will not take… I take only from the hand of God… Do not make yourself indebted to the devil!
When the Lord Christ approached Golgotha, He said: “The ruler of this world comes, and he has nothing in Me”… Christ said this because He had taken nothing from the devil…!
And when the devil gives, he must take back… So if he gives you everything you want… then… at the hour of death he comes to you and says: Your eyes took from me sights and visions… so they are mine… And your ears took from me hearables… and your hands… and your body… And thus you find that the devil has taken complete control over you, and you cannot escape… because he was giving you… and you were taking from him…!
Therefore I say to you: Beware lest any of you be indebted to the devil for anything… Do not take anything from him, nor from his soldiers and followers… Cut him off… For “David the prophet” says in the Psalm: “Let not the oil of the sinner anoint my head”!!
The Church – in its early ages – did not accept offerings from sinners or heretics…!
So how do you accept something from the devil…??
Reject every gift coming from the devil, and be strong in rejection, knowing that the devil does not own to give… The kingdoms of the earth are material, perishable matters that do not please the heart of the believer clinging to God… All these are dust and ashes… Solomon the king enjoyed all the pomp and glory of kingship and said: “… I became very great, surpassing all who were before me in Jerusalem… Yet all is vanity and grasping for the wind, and there is no profit under the sun”!!
The devil cannot give you anything lasting or eternal… He gives only perishable things which you regret after some time, if you accept them!
Set for yourself a principle: Do not take except from the hand of God alone, and from those whom God sends to you… Always remember the phrase of Job the righteous: “The Lord gave…”!
From God alone you ask, and from no one other than God you ask. Say as David said: “In Him my sufficiency is found, and I lack nothing… The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want…”!
He who has tested God needs nothing else and asks from no other… Asking from others is humiliation… Asking from the devil is a fall… Christ said to His disciples: When I sent you without money bag or knapsack… did you lack anything? … Do not fear!!
Reject taking from the devil, rebuke him with contempt as Christ did and said to him: “Go away, Satan”!
Do not think the devil gives you free of charge… He gives only for a price… and takes far more than he gives… Even if he gives “material things and the world”… he takes “the Holy Spirit and the soul”…!
The devil said to Christ: “I will give You all these if You fall down and worship me”… This is the price… It means the devil wants your heart, your love, your loyalty, your following, all your concerns and occupations. He wants your obedience.
So ask yourself: Have you ever fallen and worshipped the devil? Have you ever bowed your head to him? Or given him your conscience?!
Have you ever bowed to the devil and obeyed him, following his desires and counsel, surrendering to his thoughts?!
Strange is the matter of the devil, and his impudence!
He asked Christ to fall and worship him!! That is the price…!
The devil is not easy… his demands are not small… And the person who obeys the devil one step… will find himself driven to the end of the path behind the devil!
The devil – in this temptation – appears exposed and revealed in his true nature…
He appeared in “the first temptation” as compassionate and concerned for the hungry Christ… when he said to Him: Turn these stones into bread…!
And he appeared as if he wanted nothing in “the second temptation,” when he said to Him: “Cast Yourself down… and the angels will carry You…”!
But in this “third temptation,” he appears exposed to the fullest, impudent, boastful, asking Christ to worship him!!
Therefore the Lord rebuked him and said: Go away, Satan… Previously He had left him… But when he reached this degree, Christ had to rebuke him and cast him out… saying: Get away from Me, Satan… The devil could not reply and left… defeated and crushed!!
Here the power of Christ appears… He allowed the devil to tempt Him – as a form of proving Christ’s victory over the devil – until the weakness of the devil was exposed to the utmost.
“Get away from Me, Satan”… With this Christ cast the devil out… May you take this phrase as a motto for you in your spiritual warfare… The devil remembers it well… and knows from whom it was first said to him…
It reminds him of his defeat and downfall before the power of the Lord Christ!
The Holy Scripture tells us about the devil: “Resist him, steadfast in the faith”… Know your authority over the demons… Know the position God has given you: “to trample snakes and scorpions and all the power of the enemy”…
Also: “He gave His disciples authority over the demons”…
Christ rebuked the devil, so the devil left Him… and angels came and ministered to Him”… As if the angels obey the verse: “In the seat of scoffers you shall not sit”… Angels are not present where demons are… So the angels came after the devil had gone…!
The angels were around Christ… but they did not intervene during the temptation… because Christ was the One controlling the situation… After He triumphed, the angels came to minister to Him…
This is evidence that Christ is greater than the angels… and an acknowledgment of His divinity!
I imagine that the angels were with Christ, surrounding Him continually, and when He triumphed over the devil, they rejoiced and celebrated, coming to bless Him who triumphed over the devil… And in His victory, He gave us the power to triumph over demons…!
We can call “the temptation on the mountain” the “victory of Christ over the devil, and His defeat of the devil in all fields”…
We sense the power of the phrase Christ said: Go away, Satan… He said it at the end of a series of temptations that Christ allowed the devil to attempt against Him… for He – glory to Him – wanted to defeat him in every field…!
And He triumphed…!
And Christ – our God – who triumphed over the devil, is able also to give us victory, by His power working in us, by the strength of our faith in Him, and our steadfastness in Him!!
¹ An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, published in Watani Newspaper on 12-3-1972.
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