Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
Matthew 4:3 – A Most Powerful Weapon
A Most Powerful Weapon
Going away for college, while backing out of the driveway, my mother gave me the following advice – “Don’t forget what your name is!” Either my mother thought that I scored even worse on my SAT scores than I actually had done, or else she was giving some very sound advice. I’ll give her – and me – the benefit of the doubt.
“Don’t forget your name,” that is, “Don’t forget who you are.” Identity, self-awareness, these are powerful weapons. Knowing who we are, where we come from, and were we are going – these are not just academic. They are weapons of warfare. They are strength itself.
How did Jesus overcome temptation? There will also be debate and discussion on the incarnation, on what Jesus “emptied Himself” of (Phil.2). But let there be no debate, no doubt on something simple and sublime. That is, that Jesus overcomes temptation because He knew Who He was.
Satan taunts twice, “If you are the Son of God” (Matthew 4:3,6). Satan wanted Jesus to prove Who He was through turning the stones into bread and jumping off the pinnacle of the temple without harm. Jesus obliged Satan, but not through proving Who He was by succumbing to temptation, but rather by proving Who He was by overcoming temptation.
Right before being betrayed, we again see this self-identity within Jesus – Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God (John 13:3).
What a powerful weapon against temptation. Knowing who we are. How often do we forget?
Comments