"The Third Temptation of Christ (Control)"
"The Third Temptation of Christ (Control)"
After the need to be successful and the need to think well of the self, the third human addiction is the need for control or power. So the devil tells Jesus to bow down before the systems of this world: “All of them you can have” (Matthew 4:8). Just buy them. Believe in them. Jesus refuses to bow down before the little kingdoms of this world, the corporations and the nation-states, the security systems, the idols of militarism. The price of this love of power is to “fall at Satan’s feet and worship him!” (Matthew4:9). That’s a very heavy judgement on “all the kingdoms of the world.” In all these systems, self-interest has to dominate. For Kingdom people, self-interest cannot dominate.
Simply put, the third temptation is the need to be in control, to be aligned with power and money. The three temptations that Jesus faces, in a certain sense, all become one: the addictive system, the great lie, the untouchable mythology, “the sin of the world” (John 1:29) that must be unmasked and dethroned. And I know nothing strong enough to break the mythology – not ideology, not liberalism, not conservatism – except the upside-down gospel of Jesus. You must re-found your life on a new foundation, the foundation, the foundation of your experienced union with God.
Jesus tells Satan,” ‘You must worship the Lord your God, and serve God alone.’ And the devil left him” (Matthew 4:10-11). When you have faced these three “biggies,” Satan doesn’t have a chance.
from Preparing for Christmas With Richard Rohr
After the need to be successful and the need to think well of the self, the third human addiction is the need for control or power. So the devil tells Jesus to bow down before the systems of this world: “All of them you can have” (Matthew 4:8). Just buy them. Believe in them. Jesus refuses to bow down before the little kingdoms of this world, the corporations and the nation-states, the security systems, the idols of militarism. The price of this love of power is to “fall at Satan’s feet and worship him!” (Matthew4:9). That’s a very heavy judgement on “all the kingdoms of the world.” In all these systems, self-interest has to dominate. For Kingdom people, self-interest cannot dominate.
Simply put, the third temptation is the need to be in control, to be aligned with power and money. The three temptations that Jesus faces, in a certain sense, all become one: the addictive system, the great lie, the untouchable mythology, “the sin of the world” (John 1:29) that must be unmasked and dethroned. And I know nothing strong enough to break the mythology – not ideology, not liberalism, not conservatism – except the upside-down gospel of Jesus. You must re-found your life on a new foundation, the foundation, the foundation of your experienced union with God.
Jesus tells Satan,” ‘You must worship the Lord your God, and serve God alone.’ And the devil left him” (Matthew 4:10-11). When you have faced these three “biggies,” Satan doesn’t have a chance.
from Preparing for Christmas With Richard Rohr
posted by LuisVelasco @ 10:38 PM
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