The Third Temptation – “All These I Will Give Thee…”

Temptations sift us. We cannot know what we are till we are tried in heart and reins. When all is well with us, our apparent devotion may be high spirits or self-interest. “Our of hearts thoughts are revealed by trials and temptations. What is in the depth of our hearts, self or God? Come let us be thorough! What is our ideal life? The passion of fine men is to have a name in the world, to be no common man; it is ambition, self-exaltation.

So the tempter comes a third to our Lord. He comes into the open and seem to say, “I know men; I have sounded the greatest; You belong to the select few. You can rise above personal comfort; above the sophistry of immediate results; You can have enduring power in this world. How glorious is a name from age to age! See the panorama of history; see the epochs as they unfold, and a great Leader at the head of each! The scene speaks for itself. “All these I give Thee” – not an altogether empty boast, for the demon has power in human affairs. Don’t be a dreamer, an idealist! Let us have an understanding! The great have achieved supreme power by coming to terms with the world. The world can be gained in one way only, by adopting the woeld -spirit. This argument is the secret to be plain; the price of power … Leave the supernatural out! If you be unworldly, man will not understand your speech; they will laugh at you; You will be a great failure, the world will turn its back upon you, if you do not heed my advice … Fall in with popular ideals; put yourself at the head of the government of the day!

Jesus answers, “The Lord thy God thou shalt adore, and Him only shalt thou serve.” God, not self, must be exalted. In Christ, the Prince of this world has nothing. Our Lord rejects the popular ideal of the kingdom, and thus loses His own people. He rejects the popular ideal of the kingdom, and thus loses His own people. He rejects Satan, and thereby has him an implacable enemy. He does not rally His disciples with the sword, and so stands abandoned before Pilate – a king, not of this world. He loses His life, lays it down while His failing ears hear the cry of derision, “Save Yourself!”

“Amen, amen, I say unto you, if the grain of wheat falling on the earth dieth not, itself remaineth alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit. He who loveth his life, shall lose it, and he who hateth his life in this world, preserveth it unto life everlasting.” (John 12:24-25)

( An extract from “Retreat Companions For Priests” by Fr. Francis Harvey)