Temptation

 

Iso-mandala No. 101 (September 2020)

Reflections for the First Sunday in Lent, the 22^nd of February 2026, in the pew notes at St Peter’s Church, Eastern Hill, Melbourne.  Written by Philip Harvey.

 How to talk about temptation? How to deal with it. Who to talk to, when in Scripture, from the start, temptation as a fact is assumed.

 A lifetime of encountering the decalogue teaches that the commandments are not simply warnings and directions. They describe society and its temptations, picture a human world that is not only peculiar to some ancient time and place, but is ours also. Forbidding in appearance as well as in their messages, they challenge our human desires and motives, causing us to think, reflect, and act. The commandments are talking points for the subject of temptation; they also inform the law.

 They are delivered in the wilderness. Wilderness is a place of desolation and need. There, things will be clarified over time, down to the basics. Wilderness is dangerous, but also purifying. This is where we might have a showdown with our demons. We might find it a challenge, but resolutions are reached free of distraction.

 The story of Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4: 1-11), familiar over a lifetime, delivers another way of talking about temptation. We are presented directly with the challenge of saying yes or no. Temptation, what to do? Either way, something will happen. Christ’s example is to summon reasons that counter temporary powers and illusory promises, even down to the whole world and everything in it.

 In terms of the story, here is a person who will not be tempted; Jesus is preparing to go into his ministry as one who speaks forthrightly, forgivingly and with godly authority. While for us, here is a model of possibility. We attend to his many consequent words and actions as lessons in how to live and understand God’s law. We are shown how our mistakes are made and how restoration is achievable. We learn to develop good habits, preferably to bad habits minor and even major. We choose ways that give life, whatever our circumstances. 

 Even the conclusion, where Jesus is ministered to by angels, indicates that challenges and setbacks are real, but that we will not be left lonely. After deserved rest, we can enter a new day.