Now the Serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"
And the woman said to the Serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'"
Then the Serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing Good and evil."
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:1-6
While we have all read plenty of commentary on the Garden, the Serpent, the Woman and the Man, and a lot about whether God did or did not say what Eve claims, and even what the Serpent claims, there has been little enough about the meaning of verse 6.
Please note the three ways in which the fruit was a temptation for her:
Now we fast-forward to a time closer to us, when the Serpent is at it again, with a totally different result.
Then Jesus [after His baptism by John], being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the Devil. And in those days, He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.
And the Devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."
But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'"
Then the Devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the Devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours."
And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"
Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,' and 'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"
And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God'" Luke 4:1-12
Too often, what is missed in commenting on this passage is each of these temptations was specifically linked to one of the notorious Messianic Expectations. During the 400 Years of Silence the popular Jewish writings proposed all sorts of ponderous things that the Messiah would do for His People. These "prophecies" included that he would see to it no Son of the Law ever went hungry again. Indeed, the opulence of food would boggle the mind. Bread would become more common than the flat stones of the Judean Wilderness -- which, by the way, bore a striking resemblance to the flat round bread everyone ate in the Mediterranean Basin those days. There was also the obvious hope the Messiah would conquer every political foe, making the Jews rulers of the whole world. Finally, this Messiah would announce himself with stunning miracles, to include specifically leaping off the Pinnacle of the Temple -- that far southeastern corner of the Temple terrace some 70 feet (213 meters) above the valley over which it extended -- and land safely.
Note again here, the nature of the temptations:
The Apostle John, arguably the one of the Twelve that first and best understood Jesus' teachings, wrote in his first letter:
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world -- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life -- is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:15-17
Note how he characterizes the nature of worldliness:
I believe it is no coincidence. This is the trinity of fleshly desire, of fallen human nature. John founded his teaching on the clear pattern of Scripture. It's not some wild speculation to build a theology from this.
Lust of the Flesh: The appetites of the flesh are not inherently sinful, for so long as there is a way to fulfill them righteously. What John is referring to here is the desire without restraint. In the Spirit, we know that we dare not quench our lust for sex in ravishing every delectable cutie that crosses our path. The desire is not itself wrong, but the lack of restraint is. How could the purposes of God be fulfilled in that? So it is with food. Paul says,
All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 1 Corinthians 6:12-13
The question is not whether the fleshly appetites are evil, and if so, which ones. They are part of God's plan and are essential for human life. The question is: Who rules? Who decides when and how those appetites will be fulfilled?
Lust of the Eyes: This one is a little less obvious. We can understand the appetites of the flesh we share with lesser creatures of earth, but they don't suffer from this one so much, it seems. What we have here is a perversion of the natural human inquisitiveness. Were it not for our curiosity, all humanity would still be living in caves and relying on hunting and gathering for sustenance. It is our nature to seek out something we have not yet seen or experienced, and it has brought us many great wonders of discovery and advancement.
Sadly, this can also be twisted to our hurt. Ever notice yourself drawn by fascination, and at the same time repelled by horror, at some particular sight? Ever wonder why so many people slow down at the scene of grisly auto crashes? Admit it: Don't you want to see? The responding policemen know this, but having worn rubber gloves all too often while collecting bits of human flesh, they are hardly curious anymore. Indeed, if you could hear them chatter, you'd be shocked at the casual language -- and even jokes -- with which they discuss the job.
We could go on and connect this to the way pornography addictions work, but obviously the answer is that we have to stop somewhere, to draw the line. We have to let the Spirit rule in our hearts and obey when He says, "Don't go there. You don't need to see that." Again: Who rules?
Pride of Life: Most of us are likely to think we know this one. We would do well to recall pride in accomplishment is no sin. If one is able to achieve by self-discipline and persistent effort against the odds, some pride is just. Such have earned their place, and they are unlikely to use it for harm.
Clearly, John warns against pride in a position unjustly gained. Holding a noble title does not make one noble in every sense of the word. By God's grace, we know that the ideal for those of noble birth was to be truly a cut above the rabble, to rule by right, not simply demand the right to rule. Try telling Queen Elizabeth the famed Eton is merely an academic institution like any local school. Eton is not known for turning out store clerks and soccer hooligans. History and legend alike are filled with ample material in this vein.
We are all tempted to gain an advantage in life over things that would frustrate us. In pursuit of the first two above, we might willingly seek some leverage denied others, and join the self-indulgent motto of the cartoon character, Hagar the Horrible: "I got mine!" Never mind whether we might seek that advantage for ostensibly noble causes. Tyranny is never so foul to you as when it seeks to do what's in your best interest. Over every ruler, at every level, who does not acknowledge the Lordship of Christ as King of Kings, there is a dark cloud of evil waiting to drench all, including the ruler. Yet again: Who really rules?
Virtually every temptation of man can be associated with one or more of these three. Each is but a perversion of some righteous gift from God. That is, of course, no surprise: Satan creates nothing. He can only twist and pervert what God has done. He is the Master Pervert of the Universe.
Note: This teaching has been around for some time in various forms. I am the author merely of this particular version.
Ed Hurst
03 March 2003, updated 17 September 2005
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