“The Inconvenient Messiah,” Tambuli, Mar. 1989, 19
The Inconvenient Messiah
“Life was very inconvenient for the Savior, and, I believe it will often be so for us when we take upon his name.”
There are certain responsibilities we have to face when we choose to follow Jesus Christ. In the Savior’s life and in ours, Satan fights against discipline with temptations of an easier way, with an offer of “convenient Christianity.” It is a temptation Jesus resisted, and so must we. Life was very inconvenient for him, and, I believe it will often be so for us when we take upon us his name.
Probably the most easily recognizable kind of evil is that which simply openly rebels against heaven, as Satan rebelled before the world was created—willful, opposition to God. From the time of Cain to today’s domestic and international hostilities, Satan has attempted to lure children of promise into violent, destructive rejection of the gospel and its teachings. These are harsh sins which the world has known only too well.
But there is another, more subtle strategy used by Satan which is not so violent, not so vengeful, and at first glance not so vicious. But that’s where the problem lies, because this second approach is more sinister. It comes in the soft enticement of convenience. It says to every would-be Christian—enjoy the temptation of comfort and ease.
Remember when Jesus “had fasted forty days and forty nights, and had communed with God, he was afterwards an hungered, and was left to be tempted of the devil.
“And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
“But Jesus answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
“Then Jesus was taken up into the holy city, and the Spirit setteth him on the pinnacle of the temple.
“Then the devil came unto him and said, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
“Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
“And again, Jesus was in the Spirit and it taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.
“And the devil came unto him again, and said, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
“Then said Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him.” (Matt. 4:1–11.)
I believe tempting thoughts come to us day after day, hour after hour—even among the Latter-day Saints. And because for us, like Christ, these temptations are far more subtle than the more obvious temptations, let me comment briefly on them.
“If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”
Whatever else Satan may do, he will certainly appeal to our appetites. Far better for him to try to use our natural needs than struggle to create artificial ones in us. Jesus experienced the real and very understandable hunger for food by which he would sustain his mortal life. He has fasted for forty days and forty nights. Why not eat? He seems ready to break his fast, or surely must soon. Why not simply turn the stones to bread and eat?
The temptation is not in the eating. He has eaten before, he will soon eat again, he must eat for the rest of his mortal life. The temptation comes in Satan’s suggestion to do it this way—to get relief the easy way, by abuse of power and without a willingness to wait for the right time and the right way. It is the temptation to be the convenient Messiah. Why do things the hard way? Why deny yourself satisfaction when with only a slight compromise you might enjoy this much-needed nourishment? But Christ will not ask selfishly for unearned bread. He will postpone gratification indefinitely if necessary, rather than satisfy appetite with what is not his.
Sexual expression is also a high and holy physical gratification we were designed and created to enjoy. It is as natural as it is appealing. It is given of God to make us like God. But it is not ours without price. Not instantly. Not conveniently. Not with a comfortable corruption of eternal powers. It is to be earned, over time, and with discipline. It, like every good thing, is God’s right to give, not Satan’s. When faced with that inherent appetite, a disciple of Christ must be willing to say, “Yes, but not this way.” In time, with love, and within the bonds of matrimony. The right and proper and sanctified physical relationship of a man and a woman is as much a part—indeed more a part—of God’s plan for us than is the eating of our daily bread. But there is no convenient Messiah. Salvation comes only through discipline and sacrifice. To young and old alike, I plead with you not to yield to the temptations of the flesh.
“If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down” from the pinnacle of this temple.
Satan knew the temple was the center of religious life for Israel’s people. It was the temple to which the promised Messiah must come. Many were even at that moment coming and going from their worship, many who through their traditions and disbelief would never accept Jesus as their Redeemer. The temptation to Jesus could be paraphrased this way: “Why not cast yourself down in a dramatic way and then when the angels bear you up, as the scriptures say they must, legions will follow you and believe? They need you. You need them—to save their souls. These are covenant people. How better to help them see than to cast yourself off this holy temple unharmed and unafraid. The Messiah has indeed come.”
The temptation here is even more subtle than the first. It is a temptation of the spirit, of a private hunger more real than the need for bread. Would God save him? Would he? Is Jesus to have divine companionship in this awesome ministry he now begins? Perhaps before venturing forth he ought to get final reassurance. Why not get spiritual confirmation, obtain a loyal congregation, and answer Satan with one appeal to God’s power? Right now. The easy way. Off the temple spire.
But Jesus refuses the temptation of the spirit. Denial and restraint are also part of divine preparation. He would gain followers and he would receive reassurance. But not this way. He had not yet earned the converts nor the comfort he would so richly deserve. His ministry had hardly begun. The rewards would come eventually. But even the Son of God had to wait.
And so I ask you to be patient in things of the Spirit. Perhaps your life has been different from mine, but I doubt it. I have had to struggle to know my standing before God. As a teenager I found it hard to pray and harder to fast. My mission was not easy. I struggled as a student only to find that I had to struggle afterwards, too. As an adult, I have wept and ached for guidance. It seems no worthy accomplishment has ever come easily for me, but I’m living long enough to be grateful for that.
It is ordained that we come to know our worth as a child of God without something as dramatic as a leap from the pinnacle of the temple. All but a prophetic few must go about God’s work in very quiet, very unspectacular ways. And as you labor to know him, and to know that he knows you; as you invest your time—and inconvenience—in quiet, unassuming service, you will indeed find that “his angels [have] charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up.” (Matt. 4:6.) It may not come quickly. It probably won’t come quickly, but there is purpose in the time it takes. Cherish your spiritual burdens because God will converse with you through them and will use you to do his work if you carry them well.
If sometimes the harder you try, the harder it gets, take heart. So it has been with the best people who ever lived.
Now, in some frustration, Satan moves right to the point. If he cannot tempt physically and cannot tempt spiritually, he will simply make an outright proposition to the Savior—and to us. From a high mountain where they might overlook the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, Satan says, “All these things will I give thee, if thou will fall down and worship me.”
Satan makes up for lack of subtlety here with the grandeur of his offer. Never mind that these kingdoms are not his to give. He simply asks of the great Jehovah, God of Heaven and Earth, “What is your price? Cheap bread you resist. Messianic drama you resist, but no man can resist this world’s wealth. Name your price.” Satan is proceeding under his first article of faithlessness—the unequivocal belief that you can buy anything in this world for money.
Jesus will one day rule the world. He will govern every principality and power in it. He will be King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But not this way. Indeed, to arrive at that point at all, he has to follow a most inconvenient course. His arrival at the throne of grace is to lead through travail and sorrow and sacrifice. Some seven centuries earlier Isaiah had prophesied of him:
“He is a man despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
“He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.
“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and … openeth not his mouth.” (Isa. 53:3, 5, 7.)
Should earning our place in the kingdom of God be so difficult as that? Surely there is an easier way. Can’t we buy our way in? Every man and every woman does have a price, don’t they? Sometimes we wonder. But no, not everyone does have a price. Some things can’t be purchased. Money and fame and earthly glory are not our eternal standards. Indeed, money and fame and earthly glory can, if we are not careful, lead to eternal torment.
As much as this Church and you and I as individuals need the resources to feed and clothe ourselves and further the work of the kingdom, we do not need to sell our souls to get them. In the world today, there are many who try to involve others in unwise purchases or “once in a lifetime” opportunities. These kinds of opportunities often offer something for nothing—convenient ways of making a lot of money quickly, without much effort. Unfortunately, many trusting people have been misled by scheming, deceiving promoters. We can get our share of the earth’s bounties, but not this way.
Appropriate, necessary income, studies at school, or any other honest endeavor is important. To work hard, to try earnestly, and to deserve good things to happen is worth the effort and worth the wait. And they will happen, often sooner than you think. But it won’t be easy, and it won’t be convenient.
It is not easy to go without physical gratifications, spiritual assurances, or material possessions, but sometimes we must since there is no guarantee of convenience written into our Christian covenant. We must work hard and do right, and sometime our chance will come. And when we’ve tried, and waited for what seemed never to be ours, then the angels may come and minister unto us. (See Matt. 4:11.) For that ministration in your life I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Illustrated by Lyle Beddes
Illustrated by Edward Maryon
Illustrated by Sydney E. King
“Get Thee Hence Satan,” by Carl Heinrich Bloch. Original at the Chapel of Frederiksborg Castle, Denmark. Used by permission of the Frederiksborgmuseum.
Illustrated by James C. Christensen