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7. The Temptation.
The voice: ‘This is
my beloved Son,’ was heard among others by an unrighteous man. Jesus
went away from his baptism into the desert, into a lonely, uncultivated
region. An evil spirit crept after him there. The evil spirit likes to
creep into solitude. When Jesus had abstained from all ordinary food
there for forty days and finally felt hungry, the evil one said to him,
‘If you are the Son of God, say that these stones will become bread!’ -
But Jesus said to him, ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ - Then the evil spirit took
him to Jerusalem, to the top of the temple, and said to him, ‘If you are
the Son of God, let yourself down!’ Then he recited a little saying and
gave him a false interpretation. ‘It is written,’ he said, ’that God
will give his angels charge over you, and they will bear you up in their
hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ - To this
Jesus replied, ‘Again, it is written: You shall not tempt your Lord God,’
i.e. a person should not put himself in unnecessary danger by trusting
in God. - Finally, the evil spirit led him up a high mountain and showed
him what could be seen of the kingdoms of the world and their glory. He
said: ‘I will give you all these things if you fall down and worship me.’
- Jesus then recognised who he was dealing with. He said to him: ‘Get
away from me, Satan! For it is written: You shall worship God your Lord
and serve him only.’ Then the evil one left him, and the angels came to
him and ministered to him. Where Satan must depart, there the angels
come. So Jesus was tempted to sin and triumphed in the temptation and
was justified as the Son of God.
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