temptation: kingdoms

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."

The second Adam stood upon the mountaintop and the Tempter offered him power. Power – unbelievable power. But the Second Adam knew that mountaintops were not made for power.

For so long, we have assumed power had been Jesus’ intention from the very beginning. Isn’t that why Jesus came? Didn’t he come so that his Kingdom could take over the entire world? So, when the Tempter offered Jesus all the Kingdoms of the world, wasn’t the Tempter surrendering? Isn’t victory within Jesus’ grasp?

Imagine all the good that Jesus could do with that power! Here he was, the one selfless human being and he had an opportunity to control every kingdom in this world. It would only cost his soul.

Adams and Eves have been making this bargain for years. We desperately lust for power. We eagerly sink our teeth in the fruit offered by the Serpent. But the Serpent cannot create, he can only destroy; and with this fruit, we have been destroying each other as fast as we can. In our marriages we don our masks and grapple with one another, wrestling for control. Children manipulate their parents hoping for an edge in a game without winners. Politicians maim, Preachers hurt and millionaires enslave. And what is the hope? What is the point to all this destruction? Power.

In his book Searching for God Knows What, Donald Miller wonders what fuels this power craze. Why do we think we have to step on someone else to get somewhere? Why are we so eager to get to the top? His conclusion is that we’re insecure. In other words, if we aren’t the weakest, we’re safe. Perhaps we think if we’re powerful, then we’re in control and that we can control the dangerous elements of the world. Maybe if we’re powerful, we’re safe from the things that might harm us.

This all sounds good except it’s the opposite of faith. The Tempters offer was enticing, but Jesus refused. Why? Because in controlling the kingdoms of this world, he would have to sacrifice the Kingdom of Heaven. Things like control and power are not elements of the Kingdom of Heaven. Manipulation is not an element of the Kingdom of Heaven. Climbing over the weaklings and getting to the top is not the act of a Kingdom person. Faith is the way of the Kingdom and while the Tempter’s offer may have been enticing, it was rebuffed by Jesus. It was rebuffed because it was not a part of the plan. He refused the Bread, he refused the Spectacular and finally he refused the Power. Instead he accepted the hunger, the humility, and weakness that is the Kingdom of Heaven.

“The way of the Christian leader is not the way of upward mobility in which our world has invested so much, but the way of downward mobility ending on the cross. This might seem morbid and masochistic, but for those who have heard the voice of the first love and said ‘yes’ to it, the downward-moving way of Jesus is the way to the joy and the peace of God, a joy and peace that is not of this world.”

- Henri Nouwen