Lent is a season of reflection and a time to consider our life in God. It's the time that leads up to Jesus going to the cross for us - His act of rescue for us all. It's a time to reflect on our identity in Christ and the gift of forgiveness and new life that He's earned for us. One reason among others, that His rescue ultimately happened is because He denied temptation and sin.
In the gospel of Luke, chapter 4, Jesus we are told, is tempted by the devil. This is shortly before Jesus will begin His public ministry. In a sense, the temptation is a winnowing of His fitness for His role in leadership and His obedience as savior. Temptation is common to all of us, and it is particularly noteworthy for leaders. How we stand up to temptation is an important matter in how we will lead other people toward God and not toward ourselves. This is the essential difference between Christian leadership and secular leadership. Our call is to lead people to God when the temptations around us are regularly seeking to speak to the deficits in our souls, trying to convince us to lead people to us, to ourselves, to "see how great we are."
It is no coincidence that the opening challenge from the devil to Jesus is "If.... you are the son of God, turn these stones into bread." This challenge to not trust God's provision is a frequent challenge in our lives and in leadership. But it is more than that, it is preceded by an even more pernicious and subtle appeal. It is first something more fundamental - it is a challenge to Jesus' identity as being the son of God. Being the son of God is the fullest expression of Jesus' identity and the fullest place of His value and worth. Being a son of God, or a daughter of God is likewise the fullest expression of our identity and worth. There is no achievement, no celebrity, no wealth - that can make you more valuable than that. If we are settled about our identity as sons and daughters of God, settled about the incredible value this bestows on us, then we are much less temptable. But if Satan can get us to doubt this, then he has the "in" he's looking for. If Satan could get Jesus to doubt that He is the son of God, then he could make Jesus believe He was not valuable, not loved, not held in the highest esteem by God Himself. If Satan could get Jesus to think He didn't have this place of value, of love, of esteem - of identity, then he could try to get Jesus to succumb to sin, and this would wreck the total plan of salvation.
Almost all temptation begins with this challenge to our identity and an appeal to identity deficits and feelings of inadequacy - feelings of not being loved, of not being valuable. Temptations suggest that "if we do this or that, we will be more valuable, more admired, more highly thought of." Or, the same temptation but presented from the other angle is "since you are not valuable, not admired, not loved, do this thing because you already know God doesn't care about you, you are not valuable, not esteemed, not worth much." This is the lie and it is the starting point of almost all temptation. To succumb to temptation, we have to believe a lie. A lie about God (that He's not good or not love, that He doesn't care about us and doesn't have our best in mind) or a lie about ourselves (that we are not of highest value to God, that we are not worthy, not loved). So just before Jesus' was to begin His ministry to rescue the world, Satan tried to get the plan aborted before it started, by challenging Jesus' confidence as the Son of God. "If you are.... the son of God." You can hear the hiss of the forked tongue.
Having failed to sidetrack Jesus at the outset, Satan returns one more time just before the ultimate act of rescue would unfold on the cross. It was there that Jesus was challenged, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself and come down off the cross." If Satan could just get Jesus off that cross, it was his last shot at derailing the work of redemption that would enable all men and women to be forgiven of sin and reconciled to God. And here it is again, "If" you are the King of the Jews. Note in Luke, it says that "above His head was a sign that read "the King of the Jews." Yes, in His utter humility, in His hour of suffering and apparent defeat, Jesus held on to the truth of His identity. Thank God Jesus didn't succumb to the "if."
It's always the devil's word in temptation, whether spoken or unspoken: "if" you want to be worth anything you should do this, "if" you want to be loved you should do this, "if" you want to be well known you should do this, "if" you want your life to make a difference you should.... What might the "if" be for you? The "if" is always an appeal to an identity deficit.
However, the highest most valuable place of identity that any person can have is to be a son or daughter of God. Jesus' sacrifice to get us back, makes this clear.
Let's encourage each other so we never forget it.
