The Kingdom of God is At Hand

Discussion in 'Scriptural Thoughts' started by Andy3, Jan 2, 2015.

  1. Andy3

    Andy3 Powers

    [11] And there came a voice from heaven: Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. [12] And immediately the Spirit drove him out into the desert. [13] And he was in the desert forty days and forty nights, and was tempted by Satan; and he was with beasts, and the angels ministered to him. [14] And after that John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, [15] And saying: The time is accomplished, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe the gospel.

    So I was walking the other day and saying the Luminous Mysteries and mediating on each mystery of the rosary. When I got to the third mystery I was stumped for a minute and really confused about something and was trying to wrap my mind around something that is virtually impossible to try and wrap one's mind around. So after Jesus is baptized, he heads out to the desert to be tempted by Satan. Upon His return he sets out on His mission to gather the flock and declares that the Kingdom of God is at hand. He comes to this after his victory of the temptations of Satan while in the desert.

    Mathew 4:
    [1] Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil. [2] And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he was hungry. [3] And the tempter coming said to him: If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. [4] Who answered and said: It is written, Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. [5] Then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him upon the pinnacle of the temple,

    [6] And said to him: If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written: That he hath given his angels charge over thee, and in their hands shall they bear thee up, lest perhaps thou dash thy foot against a stone. [7] Jesus said to him: It is written again: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. [8] Again the devil took him up into a very high mountain, and shewed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, [9] And said to him: All these will I give thee, if falling down thou wilt adore me. [10] Then Jesus saith to him: Begone, Satan: for it is written, The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve.

    So here is what I was confused about. The what and why for this temptation and really why would Satan even bother trying to tempt the Son who is really the Father and Spirit as well. Sure Jesus is a man but He is also Divine and wouldn't Satan know this. Why would Satan even bother trying to tempt Jesus who is God? How also could Jesus even be tempted as a man and God? Jesus obviously triumphs over this but again how could Satan give Him all the kingdoms on Earth when He is God? God could never bow down to adore Satan to begin with.

    As time passed on my walk and in prayer asking to better understand at least some of it. The following came to me. Of course Jesus as God could not be tempted but when He became man He chose to experience all that man experiences. He chose to be tempted as the son as man. Could Jesus had failed these tests and bow down before Satan? I doubt it but also no one could ever know the answer to that. Maybe He could have which is why Satan tried or maybe it was just the same old former head angel antagonizing God yet again this time via His Divine Son on earth. What I do know in my heart now and believe this to my core as it came to me in this thought, is the "why" to this. Jesus did this so that as man He would know what it was like to be tempted and to show us how to conquer temptation because he conquered it for us. He is our greatest teacher and master. The greatest teachers have to also be students first to know the what they are teaching fully. He came here to experience all that we experience so when we look up at Him on the cross we see a man that loved us so much that He came here to suffer as one of us. He can say to us as we suffer, "I have been there and know your suffering." He can give us His shoulder to cry on because He truly knows and can relate to our pains and struggles too. How great a thought when you think of it. He is Our Creator, Our Father, Our Master, Our Teacher and Our Beloved Friend who has been there. He truly is all things, the Alpha and the Omega and everything in between!

    Further thoughts??
     
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  2. little me

    little me Archangels

    I've always thought that satan did not know who Jesus actually was. Satan knew He was a holy man but not that He was the Son of God. Jesus could not have failed these tests as we know He could not sin. Not ever. I agree that Jesus allowed this to show us "the way". He gave us a perfect example - to the extreme - of how to handle temptation and that is to humble ourselves and immediately acknowledge God. Good thread Andy.
     
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  3. Andy3

    Andy3 Powers

    That would make a lot more sense if he did not know who he was. The demons though knew who He was later in the gospel but maybe He was not made known to Satan and the fallen until after he made the declaration that the Kingdom of God was at hand??
     
  4. Bartimaeus

    Bartimaeus Archangels

    If in doubt just ask BXVI :)
    This was his last Ash Wednesday homily 2013:(

    First of all, the desert, where Jesus withdrew to, is the place of silence, of poverty, where man is deprived of material support and is placed in front of the fundamental questions of life, where he is pushed to towards the essentials in life and for this very reason it becomes easier for him to find God. But the desert is also a place of death, because where there is no water there is no life, and it is a place of solitude where man feels temptation more intensely. Jesus goes into the desert, and there is tempted to leave the path indicated by God the Father to follow other easier and worldly paths (cf. Lk 4:1-13). So he takes on our temptations and carries our misery, to conquer evil and open up the path to God, the path of conversion.In reflecting on the temptations Jesus is subjected to in the desert we are invited, each one of us, to respond to one fundamental question: what is truly important in our lives? In the first temptation the devil offers to change a stone into bread to sate Jesus’ hunger. Jesus replies that the man also lives by bread but not by bread alone: without a response to the hunger for truth, hunger for God, man can not be saved (cf. vv. 3-4). In the second, the devil offers Jesus the path of power: he leads him up on high and gives him dominion over the world, but this is not the path of God: Jesus clearly understands that it is not earthly power that saves the world, but the power of the Cross, humility, love (cf. vv. 5-8). In the third, the devil suggests Jesus throw himself down from the pinnacle of the Temple of Jerusalem and be saved by God through his angels, that is, to do something sensational to test God, but the answer is that God is not an object on which to impose our conditions: He is the Lord of all (cf. vv. 9-12). What is the core of the three temptations that Jesus is subjected to? It is the proposal to exploit God, to use Him for his own interests, for his own glory and success. So, in essence, to put himself in the place of God, removing Him from his own existence and making him seem superfluous. Everyone should then ask: what is the role God in my life? Is He the Lord or am I?

    full text available at

    http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2013/02/13/full-text-of-benedict-xvis-general-audience-address/
     
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  5. kathy k

    kathy k Guest

    I think several Saints / mystics have said they were told that the enemy didn't recognize Jesus because he expected Him to come in majesty and with power. The enemy doesn't know everything, and he has a big blind spot - humility.
     
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  6. fallen saint

    fallen saint Baby steps :)

    The "created one" does not know everything. He is far greater then us but in the end, he was created. He can not know everything and is learning as he goes. He has brief understandings of the future but does not know everything. He is most confused by Gods chosen ones...he doesn't understand why or how they were chosen.

    As for the temptation, need to contemplate more...but i'm sure the created one wasn't positive it was God. It probably wasn't what he was expecting. Once, Our Lord was crucified, it put the last nail in his coffin. He understood he lost the war. Now his only focus is to take as many souls to hell as he can.

    May Gods Will be Done
     
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2015
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