Temptation of jesus
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The temptation of Jesus is an episode mentioned in the three Synoptic Gospels of the New Testament : Jesus of Nazareth fasts alone in the desert, resisting the temptations of the devil that haunt him. According to tradition, this took place on the Mount of Temptation in what is now the West Bank .
Representation in the Bible
In the Gospel according to Mark it only says immediately after Jesus' baptism :
“ 12 Then the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness. 13 Jesus stayed there for forty days and was tempted by Satan . He lived with the wild animals and the angels served him. "
In baptism the Spirit of God came down on Jesus; this spirit leads him first into the desert. The temptation episode is followed by Jesus' first public appearance in Galilee; temptation itself is therefore part of the preparation for its work.
In Matthew and Luke there is an original representation that includes three temptations:
| according to the Gospel according to Matthew , chap. 4th | according to the Gospel according to Luke , chap. 4th | |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction |
1 Then Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit; there he was to be tempted by the devil.
2 When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he became hungry. |
1 Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus left the Jordan region. Then the spirit led him around in the desert for forty days,
2 and Jesus was tempted by the devil. The whole time he ate nothing; but when the forty days were over he was hungry. |
| 1. Temptation | 3 And the tempter came up to him and said, If you are the Son of God, command that these stones be made into bread. | 3 Then the devil said to him, If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread. |
| answer | 4 But he replied, `` It is written in the scriptures: Man lives not only on bread, but on every word that comes out of God's mouth. | 4 Jesus answered him, `` The scriptures say: Man does not live only on bread. |
| 2. Temptation |
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on top of the temple
6 and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; For it says in the scriptures: He commands his angels to carry you in their hands, so that your foot does not hit a stone. |
5 Then the devil led him up (to a mountain) and in a single moment showed him all the kingdoms of the earth.
6 And he said to him, I will give you all the power and glory of these kingdoms; because they are left to me and I give them to whoever I want. 7 If you prostrate yourself to me and worship me, everything will be yours. |
| answer | 7 Jesus answered him , `` The scriptures also say, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. | 8 Jesus answered him, `` It is written in the scriptures: Before the Lord your God you must prostrate yourself and serve him only . |
| 3. Temptation |
8 Again the devil took him with him and led him up a very high mountain; he showed him all the kingdoms of the world with their splendor
9 and said to him, I will give you all this if you prostrate yourself before me and worship me. |
9 The devil then brought him to Jerusalem, put him on top of the temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here;
10 for it says in the scriptures: He commands his angels to watch over you; 11 and: They will carry you in their hands so that your foot does not hit a stone. |
| answer | 10 Then Jesus said to him, Get away with you, Satan! For it is written in the Scriptures: Before the Lord your God you shall prostrate yourself and serve him only . | 12 Jesus answered him, The scriptures say, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. |
| Enough | 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and served him. | 13 After these temptations, the devil left him for a time. |
Reference is made to the following Old Testament passages:
- Deut 8,3 EU : He wanted you to know that man does not only live from bread, but that man lives from everything that the mouth of the Lord speaks.
- Ps 91 : 11f. EU : For he commands his angels to guard you in all your ways. / They carry you on their hands so your foot doesn't hit a stone.
- Deut 6,16 EU : You should not put the Lord your God to the test.
- Deut 5,9 EU : You should not prostrate yourself to other gods and you should not commit yourself to serve them. and 6,13 EU : You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve him; by his name you shall swear.
All of these places have to do with the desert migration . The mention of "forty days and forty nights" is often associated with Ex 24.18 EU or interpreted symbolically.
Text genre and origin
The logical source Q is hypothetically assumed as the text source . In Matthew and Luke the second and third temptations are reversed. Since an increase can be seen in the Matthew version, it is considered the original, while Luke lasts the temptation of world kingship because of the importance of the Jerusalem temple as a punchline. Luke also alludes to the Passion as the climax of his Gospel with the concluding remark that the devil let go of Jesus “for a certain time”.
That Jesus stayed in the desert for a while can be taken as historical. The history of temptation itself has a special position in its form and genre - eyewitnesses are out of the question and a literal historical interpretation fails due to the fact that one cannot look down on “all the kingdoms of the world”. Some exegetes therefore interpret the story in such a way that it took place inside Jesus as a kind of vision .
interpretation
Parenetic interpretation
The fact that (man) Jesus resists the temptations of Satan can be read as a warning ( pareneesis ) to the believer: The temptations must be resisted in obedience to God, with a warning against what is of the devil. This approach was shaped by the earlier Church Fathers .
Christological interpretation
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The story of temptation unfolds a Christology in which Jesus remains faithful to his divine commission in connection with the word of God. His existence of temptations after baptism corresponds to the whole finding of his identity as Son of God and Son of man and in the Gospels stands for his messianship as a prophet, priest and king - but not as a political messiah.
The letter to the Hebrews obviously knew about the temptation of Jesus:
“Therefore he had to be like his brothers in everything to be a merciful and faithful high priest before God and to atone for the sins of the people. For since he himself has been tempted and suffered, he can help those who are being tempted. "
"We do not have a high priest who could not sympathize with our weakness, but one who has been tempted in everything like us, but has not sinned."
In the temptation episode, Jesus - completely human - struggles for his way with the result that he has to go through and suffer the whole human path not only in his death but also in his life in order to find redemption .
Stones to bread
The temptation is that Jesus used his authority to get out of the situation of want (hunger). Jesus' rejection can be interpreted in two ways:
- As the real source of life, the word of God is superior to bread. Obedience to God and His Word is more important than the search for material nourishment and well-being, even if it is a difficult path (Jesus consciously agrees to be hungry). Correspondingly, the mockers under the cross say: “If you are the Son of God, then come down from the cross” ( Mt 27.40 EU ). The temptation is to avoid suffering.
- God has the power to keep people alive and "nourish" them even without bread. To give in to temptation would be a betrayal of trust in God. The source of life does not lie in the person himself, but arises beyond him - humanity implies need. The temptation is the illusion of self-sufficiency. This interpretation is supported by the fact that God actually “provides” for Jesus through the angels who serve him according to (Mark and) Matthew .
Fall down from the temple
In the second temptation according to Matthew and the third according to Luke, Jesus is supposed to throw himself down from the Jerusalem temple , to which the devil is leading him, to try out God's protection. The fact that the devil himself quotes from Scripture can be interpreted to mean that the Bible text can be "misused", that is, to "prove" one's own ideas.
The motive that Jesus does not claim divine salvation can be found in the Passion:
- In obedience to the word of God, Jesus does not demand divine salvation before “the work is done”: Or do you not think that my father would immediately send me more than twelve legions of angels if I ask him? But how would Scripture then be fulfilled, according to which it must be so? ( Mt 26,53f. EU ).
- The scribes who mock the crucified believe that Jesus is entitled to God's intervention: He has trusted in God: He should save him now if he pleases him; he said: I am God's Son. ( Mt 27.43 EU ).
- When asking for signs, Jesus refuses to use divine signs to identify himself in his favor and also refers to the “sign of Jonah ” ( Mt 12:40 EU ).
In doing so, Jesus fully accepts the limitations of being human - in this second temptation, namely, to be vulnerable and mortal.
World kingship
In the third temptation according to Matthew, the devil presents himself as the “Lord of this world” and grants Jesus worldly kingship on the condition that he worship him. With this, the devil's intention is to break Jesus' connection with God.
Jesus 'reply "Away with you, Satan!" ( Ὕπαγε, σατανᾶ Hypage satanā ) can also be found literally in Mt 16.23 EU addressed to Peter : Peter, too, uncomprehendingly criticizes Jesus' decision to go his way through suffering and the cross so to come to the glory of God. In both cases Jesus places “what God wants” above “what people want”; Satan, on the other hand, offers “power without suffering” or “rule bypassing the cross”.
Salvation consists in the union of the heavenly and the earthly; only he who has it in heaven and on earth has real, real and true power. In this sense, the risen One says to his disciples "on the mountain" ( Mt 28,16 EU ): "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me." (28,18 EU ).
The Mark version - Jesus as New Adam
The temptation of Jesus can be seen in the context of the temptation of Adam in Paradise: While Adam succumbed to the temptation, Jesus resists it and is thus the " New Adam " who redeems the debt of the first. This approach can be seen above all in the Markus portrayal: the “desert” with the “wild animals” contrasts with the garden of paradise ; According to late Jewish tradition, Adam was also fed by angels. The eschatological "restoration" of paradise begins with Jesus .
Liturgical
The Catholic lectionary assigns the temptation story the first Sunday of Lent to: the pericope Matthew 4,1-11 is read in Year C in Year A, Mark 1.12 to 14 in Year B and Lukas 4.1 to 13.
Artistic and cultural reception
The tempted Jesus has repeatedly been a topic in art and literature. It is processed literarily, for example, in the poem Paradise Regained from 1671 by the English poet John Milton , the story The Grand Inquisitor (contained in the novel The Brothers Karamazov ) by FM Dostoyevsky and with educational intent in WS Maugham's novel Auf Messers Schneide .
The controversial film The Last Temptation of Christ addresses Jesus as a tempted as well as Jesus of Montreal , in which Daniel, who parodies Jesus, receives an offer from lawyer R. Cardinal over the rooftops of Montreal to market his personality if he serves him.
Jesu Temptation was set to music by Günter Raphael (1934), Gustav Gunsenheimer ( The Temptation of Jesus (1968)) and Rudolf Mors (1985), among others .
In Agatha Christie's story "The Temptation", an angel appears to Mary shortly after the birth of Jesus and shows her the future of her son until his crucifixion. He says she has the choice to spare her son these sufferings; then he will take him in his arms and bring him back to God. Maria decided against this offer. The angel is Lucifer who now hopes to later successfully tempt Jesus.
literature
- Fritz Neugebauer: Jesus' temptation: decision at the beginning. Mohr Siebeck, 1986.
- Matthias Apel: The beginning in the desert - Baptist, baptism and temptation of Jesus. Catholic Biblical Work, 2013.
Web links
- Albert Keller : The temptation of Jesus. Sermon in St. Michael , Munich on February 21, 2010.
- Michael Schneider: The Mysteries of the Life of Jesus II: The Temptations of Jesus (PDF; 255 kB) (Radio Horeb March 15, 2010)
- Jesus overcomes temptation. bonnubf.org
Individual evidence
- ↑ Buchkritik.at - Agatha Christie - But it came to pass. . . Retrieved January 12, 2019 .