On the Temptation of Christ (II)

Still mulling over Matthew 4:1-11. There is so much more to say about this inexhaustibly rich text than could ever fit into a 25 minute sermon. These thoughts didn't make it directly into my sermon on Sunday, but working on it last week, I had Henri Nouwen's reflections on our Lord's temptation echoing in my head and heart the whole time.


These come from a talk he gave on Christian leadership for the Center for Human Development back in 1989. He draws a link between Christ's temptation in the desert and our temptation, as Christian leaders, to be "relevant." The first time I read them they shone light on my own struggles in ministry with all poignancy, wisdom and grace. Still meditating on Christ's temptation today, I offer them here; may they minister to you today wherever you're at:

Jesus' first temptation was to be relevant: to turn stones into bread. Oh, how often have I wished I could do that! Walking through the "young towns" on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, where children die of malnutrition and contaminated water, I would not have been able to reject the magical gift of making the dusty stone-covered streets into places where people could pick up any of the thousands of rocks and discover that they were croissants, coffee cakes, or fresh-baked buns, and where they could fill their cupped hands with stale water from the cisterns and joyfully realize that what they were drinking was delicious milk. Aren't we priests and ministers called to help people, to feed the hungry, to save those who are starving? Are we not called to do something that makes people realize that what we do makes a difference in their lives? Aren't we called to heal the sick, feed the hungry, and alleviate the suffering poor? Jesus was faced with these same questions, but when he was asked to prove his power as the Son of God by the relevant behavior of changing stones into bread, he clung to his mission to proclaim the Word, and said, "One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).