Important qualifications:
- I use YHWH (YHWH) because it saves me from calling YHWH by any male/female pronoun. I am also a cousin to YHWH’s people and so a better respect for YHWH is due.
- This text, like the others, are works in progress. If someone writes to let me know of a misspelled word etc or some other grammar-like possible correction necessary, i will change it. I will do the same if I find or am told that there is a logical problem within the context of the argument.
- There are footnotes to these texts, for further reading or from which direct quotes were derived.
Two weeks ago we entered the desert for Lent. The desert experience of Jesus, from the stories in Matthew and Luke’s Gospels, is also ours. It was not unique to him, but to all humanity. The temptations or testing that he faced there in that dry and difficult place of the spirit and the flesh were three very real and very human temptations or testings. We do not know how Jesus faced them throughout his life, but we know our own responses to them.
Last week the text confronted with the first of the three, that of bread or consumption. This temptation or time of testing tempts us to make a god out of what we consume, to assume that we are only animals with enormous stomachs. The challenge of this test was to consider ourselves to be more than biological entities that consume, that we do not exist to serve the holy market of goods and services. It should exist to serve us as a useful and valuable tool, but only a tool. Bread is the subtlest temptation while the one we consider today is the most deadly for ourselves and others. This is the temptation that comes with the desire for power, the temptation to control, not love, humans and YHWH.(1)
An example of this temptation is the story of Herod Antipas, which is often read at this time of year. He had taken John the Baptist’s head.(2) This is unchecked power: the power to control, coerce, manipulate, and kill. This is power that emphasizes a human being’s arrogance and love of self rather than love of neighbor, power that creates dreadful pride, pride that says: ‘I am god’.
In the story of Jesus in the desert, Jesus’ personal daemon takes him to some high place and shows him the kingdoms of the world and tells him that if he would but worship him (the devil or the daemon) that he could have all that the kingdoms of the world can offer. What is Jesus’ response through Matthew and Luke? “Worship the Lord your YHWH and serve only him” (Deuteronomy 6:13). I tied this quotation to another section in Deuteronomy (5:22-27). When the people were at the mountain where Moses received the Torah they saw no form of YHWH; a voice yes, but no form.(3) When they enter Canaan, they were not to make idols of the YHWH they think was there, because they cannot capture YHWH in images. If they do attempt to make such images. They will end up worshipping and serving something else, a pale copy and imitation of the real thing.(4)
Luke and Matthew tied this test to nations, kingdoms. What is it about nations and kingdoms that would be so tempting? Power. The term ‘nation’ implies a ruler or a king, someone with, then, had absolute power. In last week’s discussion about the testing by bread or consumption, we saw what would seem to be an obvious point: that what we buy or even the ability to buy itself can become an idol. Power is perhaps the most desirable idol of all. Think of how delicious it is: the ability to manipulate, move at will or control nature, nations, companies, institutions, even churches or other human beings (family, friends, employees-all those with whom we have relationships). It is the most compelling temptation. Why?
Because we can be like YHWH for a limited time without, to a point, human limits. Indeed, there are some who believe that is the next step in human evolution: that we should become gods. YHWH is dead, long live creatures of dust and water! That is why Matthew and Luke made power the chief temptation; it leads us from worship of YHWH who cannot be portrayed in any form; power gives us the illusion that we are gods. Rather than gods of stone and wood, which is what the Israelites sometimes made in trying to be like their neighbors, we make idols of flesh and blood; ourselves and other humans. Are we worthy of such adoration?
There is a difference between power and authority. Power is something that has little or no accountability attached to its use. Power, in the church in particular and not obvious. It operates in secret. It uses silence more effectively than litigation or a fist, though there are plenty of obvious examples of both. Power is something that is taken, not earned. Authority, however, has checks and balances. It operates in the open. There are clear lines of accountability. It is earned, not attached to a role because the role exists. Jesus was someone with authority, but no power. When he went into the temple and drove out merchants and bankers, he did so as someone with authority but no power. The Romans killed him because they and a few of the leaders in Jerusalem recognized his authority and they were afraid.
Such authority changes the world.(5) That is why this temptation would have been so appealing to Jesus and especially for his followers: to have power and authority at the same time would enable one to change the world, to bend others to one’s own will. And in fact, after 312 C.E. when Emperor Constantine made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire (and under Theodosius I in 381 c.e. made it the official religion of the Empire), the church acquired that: authority with power, together at last, for good and for evil.
There is not any temptation or test as disturbing for us or for the ancients as this one. It is the most alluring because we then would no longer be servants, but masters. We think we can depose YHWH and take YHWH’s place. For we have great power. We have unlocked many secrets to the universe that would, to people living even 100 years ago, seem miraculous. Our technological wizardry will increase. Our understanding of the universe will no doubt increase. To our ancestors, we might seem like gods. Or would we?
Would some of them perhaps be driven to ask us questions? For example: yes, you (moderns) understand much about the universe and the world. You can map the human genes that tell us about what we shall look like, even of what some of us might die. You have gone into the void of space and returned. It is possible to increase yields of crops that can feed millions. We, your ancestors, could not do such things and could not explain or make sense of such things. Yet, do you know it all? Can you explain everything? Can you know all the implications of your actions for the future, and the generations to come? If you could do all this, does this mean that increasing knowledge and wisdom is at an end? That mystery is gone? Is not by your own science the universe revealed to be much more mysterious than we have ever known it to be? Are we humans superior political animals, doomed to react to a kind of Darwinian, cutthroat, only the-strong-shall-survive impulse? Is wisdom found only in modern technology and understanding? Is the essence of humanity tied up only in our technological abilities, or also in our capacity for wisdom and compassion? A recognition that the blood of one is shared by billions? Does not our ancient wisdom have anything to say to you?(6)
We in our society do not ask such questions as much as we ought, as we used to do, especially the profound one about whether we are gods and who have the authority to manipulate, control nations and peoples, nature itself. The test in the desert is to think of ourselves as divine. Because we can, does not mean we ought. YHWH, through nature, has made us into intelligent creatures, with brains and the ability to understand and learn. The Christian version of the Shema, the ‘Hear, O Israel’ (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Mark 12:29-30): affirms that “You shall love the Lord, YHWH, with all your heart, soul, strength and mind.” No one should be required, or even choose, or encouraged to leave their brain at the door of any worshipping community. That said, however, the power that human beings have been able to gain should make us pause and to think about its use, especially since it is human to be fallible, to make mistakes. And of course the texts remind us that there is only one who is worthy of our love, our worship, and that is not ourselves. As soon as we open the door to authority, we can no longer act without a sense of responsibility for the same.
These are questions not alone for philosophers, theologians and scientists. They are questions for us all because even the weakest and smallest of humans is not immune to the lure of human will to power. To be like gods permeates the human experience, especially at the level of personal morality, how we conduct ourselves as living souls. We all love to pretend that we are higher than the average human, that we can play god in our relationships at work, home, in tour worship communities, to our own benefit and not to the benefit of others. We each know when we do this or when someone else has done the same to us. As Christians, we forget or ignore the admonition by Jesus and the early church that Jesus was a servant, not a king, that he had no power but authority, that he died as a criminal and through that death we Christians point at him and say this is what YHWH is like and therefore that we humans are called to become more like YHWH.
YHWH’s power—miraculous or divine, is not like that of Herod’s,—mastery over something, the ability to control, manipulate, even kill at will. YHWH’s self-giving, emptying nature, for the sake of humans is revealed. YHWH’s power is only that of persuasive love, not force of arms or absolute control. All this is, of course, grist for the mill of another reflection in a few weeks.
One other point, before we end this reflection about this testing of power. In our desire to be more than intelligent, created star dust we make one more assumption: that we can control the thing we worship. I suspect that the ancient Israelites, when they decided to, on occasion, build stone and wood figures of what they thought YHWH was like, did so because they thought that by imaging YHWH they could control YHWH, or the power of the YHWHs. The essence of the sin of idols is not the idols themselves but the human temptation of the will to power,(7) the power of what we imagine is that of a god. It is our pride that assumes that we can be such and unless we are very careful, such will to power can, has done, and continues to, cause enormous harm.
Last week the text confronted with the first of the three, that of bread or consumption. This temptation or time of testing tempts us to make a god out of what we consume, to assume that we are only animals with enormous stomachs. The challenge of this test was to consider ourselves to be more than biological entities that consume, that we do not exist to serve the holy market of goods and services. It should exist to serve us as a useful and valuable tool, but only a tool. Bread is the subtlest temptation while the one we consider today is the most deadly for ourselves and others. This is the temptation that comes with the desire for power, the temptation to control, not love, humans and YHWH.(1)
An example of this temptation is the story of Herod Antipas, which is often read at this time of year. He had taken John the Baptist’s head.(2) This is unchecked power: the power to control, coerce, manipulate, and kill. This is power that emphasizes a human being’s arrogance and love of self rather than love of neighbor, power that creates dreadful pride, pride that says: ‘I am God’.
In the story of Jesus in the desert, Jesus’ personal daemon takes him to some high place and shows him the kingdoms of the world and tells him that if he would but worship him (the devil or the daemon) that he could have all that the kingdoms of the world can offer. What is Jesus’ response through Matthew and Luke? “Worship the Lord your God and serve only him” (Deuteronomy 6:13). I tied this quotation to another section in Deuteronomy (5:22-27). When the people were at the mountain where Moses received the Torah they saw no form of a god; a voice yes, but no form.(3) When they enter Canaan, they were not to make idols of the YHWH they think was there, because they cannot capture YHWH in images. If they do attempt to make such images. They will end up worshipping and serving something else, a pale copy and imitation of the real thing.(4)
Luke and Matthew tied this test to nations, kingdoms. What is it about nations and kingdoms that would be so tempting? Power. The term ‘nation’ implies a ruler or a king, someone with, then, had absolute power. In last week’s discussion about the testing by bread or consumption, we saw what would seem to be an obvious point: that what we buy or even the ability to buy itself can become an idol. Power is perhaps the most desirable idol of all. Think of how delicious it is: the ability to manipulate, move at will or control nature, nations, companies, institutions, even churches or other human beings (family, friends, employees-all those with whom we have relationships). It is the most compelling temptation. Why?
Because we can be like YHWH for a limited time without, to a point, human limits. Indeed, there are some who believe that is the next step in human evolution: that we should become gods. YHWH is dead, long live creatures of dust and water! That is why Matthew and Luke made power the chief temptation; it leads us from worship of YHWH who cannot be portrayed in any form; power gives us the illusion that we are gods. Rather than gods of stone and wood, which is what the Israelites sometimes made in trying to be like their neighbors, we make idols of flesh and blood; ourselves and other humans. Are we worthy of such adoration?
There is a difference between power and authority. Power is something that has little or no accountability attached to its use. Power, in the church in particular and not obvious. It operates in secret. It uses silence more effectively than litigation or a fist, though there are plenty of obvious examples of both. Power is something that is taken, not earned. Authority, however, has checks and balances. It operates in the open. There are clear lines of accountability. It is earned, not attached to a role because the role exists. Jesus was someone with authority, but no power. When he went into the temple and drove out merchants and bankers, he did so as someone with authority but no power. The Romans killed him because they and a few of the leaders in Jerusalem recognized his authority and they were afraid.
Such authority changes the world.(5) That is why this temptation would have been so appealing to Jesus and especially for his followers: to have power and authority at the same time would enable one to change the world, to bend others to one’s own will. And in fact, after 312 C.E. when Emperor Constantine made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire (and under Theodosius I in 381 c.e. made it the official religion of the Empire), the church acquired that: authority with power, together at last, for good and for evil.
There is not any temptation or test as disturbing for us or for the ancients as this one. It is the most alluring because we then would no longer be servants, but masters. We think we can depose YHWH and take YHWH’s place. For we have great power. We have unlocked many secrets to the universe that would, to people living even 100 years ago, seem miraculous. Our technological wizardry will increase. Our understanding of the universe will no doubt increase. To our ancestors, we might seem like gods. Or would we?
Would some of them perhaps be driven to ask us questions? For example: yes, you (moderns) understand much about the universe and the world. You can map the human genes that tell us about what we shall look like, even of what some of us might die. You have gone into the void of space and returned. It is possible to increase yields of crops that can feed millions. We, your ancestors, could not do such things and could not explain or make sense of such things. Yet, do you know it all? Can you explain everything? Can you know all the implications of your actions for the future, and the generations to come? If you could do all this, does this mean that increasing knowledge and wisdom is at an end? That mystery is gone? Is not by your own science the universe revealed to be much more mysterious than we have ever known it to be? Are we humans superior political animals, doomed to react to a kind of Darwinian, cutthroat, only the-strong-shall-survive impulse? Is wisdom found only in modern technology and understanding? Is the essence of humanity tied up only in our technological abilities, or also in our capacity for wisdom and compassion? A recognition that the blood of one is shared by billions? Does not our ancient wisdom have anything to say to you?(6)
We in our society do not ask such questions as much as we ought, as we used to do, especially the profound one about whether we are gods and who have the authority to manipulate, control nations and peoples, nature itself. The test in the desert is to think of ourselves gods. Because we can, does not mean we ought. God, through nature, has made us into intelligent creatures, with brains and the ability to understand and learn. The Christian version of the Shema, the ‘Hear, O Israel’ (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Mark 12:29-30): affirms that “You shall love the Lord, YHWH, with all your heart, soul, strength and mind.” No one should be required, or even choose, or encouraged to leave their brain at the door of any worshipping community. That said, however, the power that human beings have been able to gain should make us pause and to think about its use, especially since it is human to be fallible, to make mistakes. And of course the texts remind us that there is only one who is worthy of our love, our worship, and that is not ourselves. As soon as we open the door to authority, we can no longer act without a sense of responsibility for the same.
These are questions not alone for philosophers, theologians and scientists. They are questions for us all because even the weakest and smallest of humans is not immune to the lure of human will to power. To be like gods permeates the human experience, especially at the level of personal morality, how we conduct ourselves as living souls. We all love to pretend that we are gods, that we can play YHWH in our relationships at work, home, in the church, to our own benefit and not to the benefit of others. We each know when we do this or when someone else has done the same to us. As Christians, we forget or ignore the admonition by Jesus and the early church that Jesus was a servant, not a king, that he had no power but authority, that he died as a criminal and through that death we Christians point at him and say this is what YHWH is like and therefore that we humans are called to become more like YHWH.
YHWH’s power—miraculous or divine, is not like that of Herod’s,—mastery over something, the ability to control, manipulate, even kill at will. YHWH’s self-giving, emptying nature, for the sake of humans is revealed. YHWH’s power is only that of persuasive love, not force of arms or absolute control. All this is, of course, grist for the mill of another reflection in a few weeks.
One other point, before we end this reflection about this testing of power. In our desire to be more than intelligent, created star dust we make one more assumption: that we can control the thing we worship. I suspect that the ancient Israelites, when they decided to, on occasion, build stone and wood figures of what they thought YHWH was like, did so because they thought that by imaging YHWH they could control YHWH, or the power of the gods. The essence of the sin of idols is not the idols themselves but the human temptation of the will to power,(7) the power of a god. It is our pride that assumes that we can be such and unless we are very careful, such will to power can, has done, and continues to, cause enormous harm.
Footnotes
(1) YHWH is the tetragrammaton. Another way of referring to YHWH is by G_D. For this reflection I will use YHWH when referring to the G_D of Israel, as a sign of respect but also of avoiding male and female language to refer to the Deity.
(2). Mark 6:14-29; Luke 9:7-9; Matthew 14: 1-12. Another is the story of Pilate ‘mixing the blood of certain Galilean worshippers at the temple with their sacrifices’ at Luke 13:1). A further one about Antipas’ father, Herod the Great, apocryphal or not, murdering the children of Bethlehem makes the same point: Matthew 2:16-18. As John Dominic Crossan wrote in a similar context: “This never happened; it happens all the time.”
(3) In that time it was a puzzling notion, as Pompey and Titus discovered, that there were no images of the Jews’ God. How do you kill a people’s trust in their YHWH if you cannot chop of their wood or stone heads? Their YHWH was unknowable, dark, hidden: “I am who am”, “I am what I am” or “I will be what I will be” or even “I create what(ever) I create.” Or more literally, “I am”, “I was”, and “I will be.” Exodus 3:14. See Stone, Robert E, II (2000). “I Am Who I Am”. In Freedman, David Noel; Myers, Allen C. Eerdman’s dictionary of the bIble.
(4) Paul refers to one of these stories in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, using it as a way of talking about deep spiritual realities to his Gentile converts and readers.
(5). Consider Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parkes, that young Chinese man who stood in the way of the tanks at Tiananmen square, Power alone of course has changed the world as well. Think of the usual persons of this type: Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Pol pot; indeed any similar intended Caesars who are still alive, unlike those who die through the implementation of their policies. These persons had/have naked power, unclothed; no checks and balances, completely non-limited.
(6). Wade Davis, The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World, being the 2009 CBC Massey Lecture (Toronto: Anansi, 2009).
(7) There is considerable debate about what Friedrich Nietzsche meant by this phrase. I prefer the following: “My idea is that every specific body strives to become master over all space and to extend its force (its will to power) and to thrust back all that resists its extension. But it continually encounters similar efforts on the part of other bodies and ends by coming to an arrangement (“union”) with those of them that are sufficiently related to it: thus they then conspire together for power. And the process goes on—” Friedrich Nietzsche, The Will to Power, a new translation by Walter Kaufmann and R.J. Hollingdale (New York: Vintage books, a division of Random House, 1967), 339-340 (636 March-June 1888).