This is the
third sermon on the series of the temptations of Jesus Christ in the
wilderness, interpreted in 1 John 2:16. In The Desires of the Flesh, it was
highlighted that Satan’s temptations appeal to our natural human appetites and
needs. In The Pride of Life, what was underscored was the fact that Satan’s
temptations appeal to our human sense of dignity and honor. This post will deal
with the third temptation, which in the words of 1 John 2:16, are temptations
related to “the desires of the eyes.” In the wilderness narrative, the
temptation was actually very simple: “The devil took him to a very high
mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And
he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship
me’” (Matt 4:8-9, ESV).
Three
things can be said about the third temptation of Jesus.
First,
it’s about Belongings
Owning
property is not essentially bad. The eighth commandment, “You shall not steal”
(Exo 20:15; Deut 5:19) was given precisely to protect private property. Even
though “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it” (Ps 24:1; 1 Cor 10:26),
the Lord has given humanity dominion over creation as stewards (Gen 1:28).
Hence, it is not wrong to own something. It is not wrong to own dresses, or
homes, or food, or anything that sustains and promotes human life and
well-being. Owning property is not wrong. It is our attitude about property
that may be right or wrong.
It is
important to have a proper view of ownership and property. We live in a world with a twisted
mentality of ownership and a terrible concept of having. In fact, our view of
having is so deranged that even interpersonal relationships are seen in terms
of owning and having. It is quite appalling, but we unconsciously say things
like: “I have a wife” or “I have children” or “I have friends” or “I had sex.”
The language we use reflects a terrible mindset that we own even people. The
language insinuates that people become our property and we can treat them as
our possessions. It is alright to say that we have houses, land, money or cars,
but when we use categories of having to speak about our interpersonal
relations, something is terribly wrong.
Moreover,
it is important to give material things their appropriate value. Satan’s temptation is very simple:
the temptation to value earthly possessions more importantly than
God’s divine purposes. Satan’s temptation was for Jesus to consider
material things above everything else. Jesus Himself warned against this
attitude: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and
rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and
where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matt 6:19-20). Jesus later on in His
ministry again asked rhetorically: “What will it profit a man if he gains the
whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matt 16:26; Mark 8:36). Satan’s temptation
was for Jesus to exchange the eternal for the material.
There are
stories in the Bible where people have failed because of how they valued
material things. Saul disobeyed God and His purposes because he was blinded by
the value of property: “Now go and strike Amalek and devote to
destruction all that they have… But Saul and the people spared Agag and
the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the
lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was
despised and worthless they devoted to destruction… (1 Sam 15:3, 9). Saul
valued the wealth of the Amalekites and taught that he can justify himself
keeping them if he offers some of these things to God. Saul’s sin cost him his
throne. Then we have the story of Achan who was blinded by “the devoted things”
from Jericho (Josh 7:1), which led to God’s anger and punishment: “Israel has
sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they
have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put
them among their own belongings” (Josh 7:11). Achan valued the beautiful and
valuable devoted things of Jericho, which caused the death of his entire
family. It was a poor bargain. He exchanged his family’s life over a few golden
articles. We see these stories repeated in Gehazi (2 Kings 5:20-27), Ananias
and Saphira (Acts 5:1-11), the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21), and the rich young
man (Matt 19:16-22; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-30). They all portray ungodly
attitudes about possessions and material things.
The Bible
admonishes us not to attach too much value in materials things. The command not
to covet (Exo 20:17) is included in the Ten Commandments. To covet is to yearn
to have something. We are commanded—not encouraged—to not covet. As long as we
do not have a strong yearning for material possessions, even though we are
tempted in relation to them all the time, we should be alright.
Secondly,
it’s about Beauty
Satan’s
temptation not only appealed to material possessions, but also to our human
nature to appreciate and value beauty. Imagine if you were Jesus, who was shown
“all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.” The temptation would have been
very real and appealing. Whether we care to admit it or not, we like beauty.
People do not desire ugly things. Those who study culinary arts do not only
learn how to cook but also learn food presentation. Restaurants not only appeal
to our sense of smell but also to our sense of sight. A beautifully presented
food is more appetizing than a sloppily prepared plate.
God created
us to appreciate and love beauty. It is a part of our DNA to prefer the
beautiful over the ugly. In movies and other forms of entertainment, the
beautiful is always related to the good and the ugly to the bad. Handsome and
gentle-looking actors always get the protagonist roles and the vicious-looking
actors always play the bad guys. There is something about beauty that appeals
to us.
Beauty
evokes a sense of admiration and excitement. Beauty has the power to create a
desire in us, and because this is true, it is a powerful avenue of temptations.
The world offers a lot of “eye candies.”
Visual adverts in television, billboards, newspapers, and websites all appeal
to our love of beauty, even to the point that even television adverts use
half-naked women to promote ice cream! Billboards advertising shirts, pants and
all sorts of products are filled with beautiful men and women. It is ridiculous
how a billboard about a shoe brand has two-thirds of it occupied by a
half-dressed lady. Why do advert agencies do this? The answer is simple:
they are appealing to our love of beauty.
Several
Bible stories actually illustrate the power of beauty in temptations. Eve ate
the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was because she “saw that
the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes” (Gen 3:6).
Similarly, Achan was tempted to take the devoted things of Jericho because of
their beauty: “Truly I have sinned against the Lord God of
Israel, and this is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful
cloak from Shinar,… I coveted them and took them’” (Josh 7:20-21). Saul
disobedience was because he was blinded by “the best of the sheep and of the
oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good” (1
Sam 15:3, 9). David was led to adultery because when he saw that Bathsheeba
bathing naked, he saw that “the woman was very beautiful” (2 Sam 11:2).
It is
amazing how beautiful things can lead us to sin, and we can be so oblivious
about it. Again, love of beauty is not wrong. We are created to admire beauty.
What is wrong is making decisions in the light of what is appealing to our
eyes. It is good to remember that “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor
5:7). What is wrong is making decisions in accordance to beauty and
aesthetics. It is good to remember that
“the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward
appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Sam 16:7). What
is wrong is love of beauty without love of righteousness, or love of beauty at
the expense of righteousness.
Finally,
it’s about Beholding
Satan’s
temptation was grounded in a very simple showing: “The devil took him to a very
high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory”
(Matt 4:8). The temptation was all a matter of showing on the part of the
tempter and looking on the part of the tempted. This sounds so simple and
ordinary that it absolutely insults the intelligence of the tempted. We can
even think: “Who would fall for such a simplistic temptation?” The basic
reality, however, is that temptations start off in seemingly ordinary ways: a
married man who saw a beautiful young lady, a young man who saw a small picture
on the side of the browser, a penniless woman who saw an expensive item in the
store, and so on. It starts with just simple looking to elaborate sinning.
Of course
looking is not sin in itself, but looking can become the starting point of sin.
Going back to the Bible examples already cited here, the sins of the characters
are related to their response when they looked and saw. Eve ate the fruit of
the tree of knowledge of good and evil was because she “saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes” (Gen 3:6). Achan was
tempted because he “saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200
shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I
coveted them and took them” (Josh 7:20-21). David was led to adultery because
when he saw Bathsheeba bathing naked, he saw that “the woman was very
beautiful” (2 Sam 11:2). Lot’s greed was prompted by what he saw as the greener
pasture: “Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well
watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of
Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed
Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and
Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other” (Gen 13:10-11). The
disobedience of Lot’s wife, which also led to her being turned into a statue of
salt, was because of looking (Gen 19:26; cf 19:17).
The eye is
an important human body part, but it is also a fertile ground for temptation
and sinning. Jesus said that “the eye is the lamp of the body” (Matt 6:22).
Whatever we see affects our soul or inmost being. What we see affects our
emotions, like how watching movies make us happy or sad or scared, or looking
at a beautiful woman and our sexual desires are aroused. Whatever we look at
affect our decision-making. The things that we see affect our lives more than
we realize. This is why Jesus taught, “if your eye causes you to sin, tear it
out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with
two eyes to be thrown into hell” (Mark 9:47). We cannot claim that we can
look at things because they do not affect us anyway. The reality is that things
that we see infect our minds and they stay there! It is very hard to forget
something that we have already seen. This is why the Psalmist said, “I will not
set before my eyes anything that is worthless” (Ps 101:3). As the song
says, “Oh be careful little eyes what you see…” We also cannot claim that it is
alright to keep looking as long as we keep a clean heart. This is like saying
it is alright to possess a sex toy as long as we are not using it.
Conclusions
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