“Then the Evil One said to him, ‘If you’re the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written “The Divine Messengers will be commanded to lift you up so you won’t even stub your toe on a stone”‘” (Matthew 4.6).
“The ones passing mocked him, shaking their heads, saying ‘You who would throw down the Temple and build it up in three days, rescue yourself. If you’re the Son of God, come down from that cross'” (Matthew 27.40).
Last week, I mentioned that in spiritual matters one is never asked to do something you can’t do. In temptation, particularly, the Evil One’s not foolish enough to tempt any of us with something we can’t do. So there must be some truth here in this particular temptation or else the Evil One wouldn’t have wasted time with it. That he took Jesus to a high place and said, go on, show everyone you’re the Anointed One meant he knew those frightening messengers of the Divine would appear and guide Jesus’ feet gently to the ground. In front of the whole city.
This temptation is about spectacle. It’s a moment meant to go viral, posted and reposted millions of times in the first few minutes. On camera for all the world to see, this poor carpenter’s son gliding gently down from the heights. Sure, there’ll be some naysayers. But with all the phones catching that same moment from so many angles, it’ll be impossible to deny. This guy’s the One.
Now, of the three, this is the strangest method of temptation. Listen here, Jesus. Take a swan dive off the pinnacle. But, of course, the Evil One knew that this was the kind of stunt that one someone looking for legitimacy would understand had value.
Such an act is authoritative proof that Jesus was who those with him claimed him to be. And with that proof, even the Sadducees in the Temple would have to accept the radical words he was saying. Why, it would take an act of faith to disbelieve in him.
This isn’t the last time someone tempts Jesus with coming down off a high place.
Bound, nailed, and raised up onto the cross in the midday sun, those who had conspired to have him brought to this place outside the city taunted and tempted him: If you’re who you say you are, come down so we might believe.
Use your power, in other words, and remove all doubt about who you really are. Show us that you are beyond pain and injury, and come down from up there. Because, if you are who you say, you can do it.
Jesus was, as my faith proclaims, not just a prophet nor one anointed to do God’s work, but God themselves who made the stars, the world, The One who had breathed life into us.
And perhaps these past two thousand years would have gone much differently had he given in to this temptation. Perhaps there would be wars that would have never happened, innocents never killed through violence or neglect. Or maybe it all would have been even bloodier than it has and continues to be.
But Jesus refused both times he was tempted to come down from a high place, to create a spectacle. In the former, that wasn’t how he wanted people to come to believe in what he was teaching. At the cross, he chose to let us do our worst. In this reality, he chose to be powerless. Which, of course, was the most powerful thing he could have done.
That same reality that we inhabit, the one existing alongside that Reality of God that Jesus spoke of, is one of attention-seeking and getting. Some race one another to say the most obscene or offensive thing that comes to mind. Others perform all manner of exhibitionism—from sex to shopping to gaming—to pull in views and likes. Heck, if I were a little less insecure (and a whole lot less tired) I’d probably be trying to get these weekly writings more attention than they currently receive.
But in this other Reality, the one where the meek inherit the earth, the grieving are blessed, and those who strive for peace are celebrated it’s not about making a scene or blowing up the internet. It’s about quiet, patient work that desires no fame for itself. It’s about being attentive rather than getting attention. Service rather than ruling.
It would take courage to leap from the heights. But it took more courage to walk amongst people being vulnerable, human, and daring to love each and every one he met. It would have been easier just to free himself, leap down from the cross. But in that moment of pain and difficulty, Jesus established his presence with everyone who the state and the powers of this world choose to silence.
And on the third day, after being taken down, he rose.
Risen One, help me seek to attend rather than seek attention, to remain when I could walk away, and, when given the choice, to be vulnerable when the world tempts me to invincible.