WHEN the Spirit, as a dove, had descended upon Jesus at Jordan, this spiritual experience was followed by the call for him to prove the efficacy of Spirit to overcome the flesh in its varying forms of appeal. Without this proof the vision would have been of no practical import to the world; nor would Jesus have become the Way-shower.
His first temptation dealt, naturally, with matter in its crudest form, —the temptation to believe that man is preserved and satisfied through matter and the material senses. Matthew says of him, "He was afterward an hungred;" and with the hunger came the temptation to satisfy it by material food. Being in the wilderness, far from the accredited source of supply, this would seem an opportune time to test the truth of that wonderful proclamation from heaven that he was the "beloved Son." As such, he could command that the stones be made bread; and thus would his material hunger be satisfied. But the vision of the opened heavens was still with him; and he knew that, even with the material senses gratified, he would be unsatisfied, for the material can never nourish the spiritual. Therefore, he turned decisively from the tempting thought and, speaking as to a personal tempter, he said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." We have many later instances of his satisfying the material and spiritual hunger of others, through the understanding gained from this experience.
Joy over a temptation met and conquered always lifts one to a higher plane of thought; so Jesus found himself mentally upon "a pinnacle of the temple." Looking about upon the world from this higher standpoint, his heart yearned over those still in bondage to matter. To feed them with the bread of Life was his intense desire; but how to reach them and make them understand their need was the problem that confronted him. But was it not written, "He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone"? Was not that a promise of protection to him while going to the depths, if necessary, to rescue a brother? So, possibly, argued the tempter, as he has argued to many another before and since. But Jesus had seen the Father, Truth; and the glory of the opened heavens had so illumined his consciousness that he was able to see clearly that he could help others only by steadfastly maintaining his own high viewpoint, and lovingly showing them the uplifted Christ. If he should descend to their level he could not convince them he had something better than they, for there would be no proof to support his statement. Therefore he rejected the temptation with these words: "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."
From this trial Jesus rose higher still in demonstration and in vision, and came to "an exceeding high mountain," from whence he could view "all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;" and as he gazed, the tempter whispered, "All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." Jesus knew his mission was to bring salvation to the world; and here it lay before him with the promise of prompt delivery,—a promise with a condition attached, however. He must "fall down and worship" the liar, who had never yet kept a promise. The world had believed in the fall of Adam and Eve when they listened to the promise that they should be as gods, knowing good and evil; but only evil had been their portion. Now Jesus must show man unfallen, because refusing to bend the knee to the belief of evil, even when it was holding forth tempting promises of good, with nothing said about evil. His was a sacred mission,—to bring the world to his Father; and he could do this only in the Father's way, the way of good, the way of God. With that he dismissed the tempter with the ringing words, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." No opportunity was given the lying serpent to wind its way subtly through his thought, feeding upon' material satisfaction and growing into "the great red dragon, swollen with sin, inflamed with war against spirituality," as Mrs. Eddy describes it in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 565). It was routed; and "angels came and ministered unto him."
Jesus' wilderness experience is the experience of all who care sufficiently for his reward to meet and conquer the same temptations. No heart escapes its hunger. Too often is the attempt made to eat of the stones of materiality in the vain hope of satisfaction! Jesus was the Way-shower; and his example of discarding the material for the spiritual must be followed by all who would have true satisfaction. Material hunger is as nothing in comparison with spiritual; and when the food of Spirit is sincerely sought, the human need is sure to be met fully. We need never fear any lack, for our heavenly Father has ample supply in readiness for each and all of His children. Mrs. Eddy has written of this in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 307), "God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in turn, they give you daily supplies;" and she further adds, "Divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment."
The child of God is never satisfied to eat his bread alone, but longs to share it with a hungry brother who has not reached his height of demonstration. This brother may ask merely for material sustenance, and so tempt us to cast ourselves down by meeting only his temporal wants; but we must not so forget ourselves, nor his true need. It may be wise and loving to supply the temporal; but we are failing in our high mission unless we also see beyond the temporal into the eternal,—beyond matter into Spirit, the source of all supply. Then he, also, may be led to journey to the mount of vision, from whence can be seen "all the kingdoms of the world" transformed, because seen through spiritual vision.
Our time of tarrying in the wilderness depends upon the clearness of our vision of the opened heavens, upon our recognition of the heavenly voice, and upon our willingness to surrender everything for Spirit. The children of Israel were there forty years; Jesus, forty days. He showed us how to escape quickly. We cannot plead inability to do so; for he himself said we should do whatsoever he did, and even greater things. If we resist, promptly and conclusively, every whisper of the tempter, dismissing it with words of Truth, angels will surely come and minister unto us; and we can and will go forth from the wilderness in the power of Spirit to a life of service, as did our beloved Master, winning glorious victories.
If a crooked stick is before us, you need not explain how crooked it is. Lay a straight one down by the side of it, and the work is well done. Preach the truth and error will stand abashed in its presence.—
