RE: The ridiculous story of the temptation of Jesus
February 23, 2021 at 11:32 am
(This post was last modified: February 23, 2021 at 11:43 am by Redstar.)
(February 8, 2021 at 7:13 pm)Simon Moon Wrote: It's ridiculous on several levels, but it isn't even internally coherent.
In Matthew 4:1-11, when Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days, the following occurs: "Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me".
So, if Satan knows that Jesus is the god of the universe, he would also know that Jesus already owns "the kingdoms of the world". Jesus would obviously also know that "the kingdoms of the world" are already his. So, what exactly is the ammunition being used in the temptation?
If I walked into your house, and pointed to your tv on the wall, and said, I will give you that tv if you bow down to me, anyone in their right mind, would laugh at me, and kick me out of their house.
How could Jesus be tempted with the promise of getting the stuff he already owns? And everyone in the story already knows he owns it.
Jesus Christ is both God and man. He has both a divine nature and a human nature.
Yes, Satan is aware of His divine nature* - hence the efforts to subjugate Him. However, with his efforts to tempt, he is appealing to Christ's human nature because from experience he also knows human nature is fragile (i.e prone to greed, lust, anger, selfishness, deceit etc).
(*or he at least suspects this, which we can tell from what he says)
I understand what you mean about God "owning" the kingdoms of the world, however, but Jesus Christ 'the man' did not own them in any meaningful or beneficial way. To the world, He was a carpenter's son from Nazareth, not a man of means. Yet, these things could have made Him rich and powerful - at least for a while. Hence Satan's angle for tempting.
