This is the most revealing portrait of Jesus because only Jesus could have related this experience to his disciples, because it was only witnessed by Jesus himself. All of the temptations are based on the desire of the devil to have Jesus end his collaboration with the Father’s plans and collude with the devil’s plan of destruction. The greatest evil of the forces of collusion is to threaten our livelihood. We “go along to get along” so that we might earn a living and live in a respectable fashion. We also see that the devil asks Jesus to test God. Often in our frustration we want to say, ‘Let someone else do it.’ But God has called us to do it and we come to understand, “You shall not put the Lord, your God to the test.” God knows to whom he wants to give his assignments. Despite what temptations the devil places before us, our commitment is in our faithfulness to God, “and him alone shall you serve.”

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