Luke 4:9-10 (NRSV)
Read Luke 4:9-10 on biblegateway.com
Verse 9Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, Verse 10for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,'
Devotion
Jesus fasted for 40 days, and the tempter tried to entice him to turn stones into bread. Jesus wandered humbly without possessions, and the tempter tried to entice him with great wealth and power. Finally, the tempter tried to entice Jesus to throw himself down from a great height, defying gravity and death. All of these were attempts to lure Jesus from his true identity: that of embodied divine compassion. If Jesus were truly to live as most humans live, he would at times suffer some hunger, thirst, alienation, disappointment, pain, loneliness and death. To opt out of any of these would lessen his capacity to be the Compassionate One. Compassion suffers with. It is experienced from a state of equality. Christ suffered, died and rose anew. With compassion in his eyes, he reaches to us.
Prayer
As you sent the Christ, O God, to show your compassion for all creation, may our lives be transformed into his compassionate image. Amen.