NOTES for Luk 4:1-15

What is the meaning of the trial the Savior has to pass through in the wilderness before He begins His preaching of the Kingdom? With what does the devil tempt Him? If we look closely at the picture described by the evangelist, it is not hard to see: the issue is precisely the Kingdom, what it is and how it is to be brought to people.

The first and simplest thing that can come to mind is this: the Kingdom is bread, a society of universal and free prosperity. It is the dream of the post-Soviet person: everything in abundance, and all of it for free. Of course, in the Kingdom no one truly lacks anything and never will. But a person cannot share in the Kingdom in his present condition. Change is needed, transformation is needed, and that means effort is needed. But the one who receives everything in unlimited quantities and without effort will have even less desire to strain himself for the sake of some transformation. Why would he need it if, as it appears, everything is already wonderful?

Then, it appears, people will have to be led to perfection with a firm hand. "Perhaps You could try that," the devil suggests to Jesus. "Here are all the kingdoms of the world, for just one symbolic bow to me, which no one will see, which no one will know about, and I," says Satan, "will no longer stand in Your way. The world is before You; build Your Kingdom in it." All for one bow that means exactly nothing: after all, we are alone, there are no witnesses, no one will ever know anything.

But Jesus, of course, understands: one bow, and the Kingdom being built will cease to be itself. It will no longer belong to God but to the one before whom the bow was made, and it will be built not according to God's law but according to the law of the fallen world, on the basis of which one can build an empire of evil, but certainly not the Kingdom of God. The compromise is rejected: it is not merely unethical; it is impossible in principle, spiritually and ontologically.

"Well then," the evil spirit says to Jesus, "if that is how it is, only personal authority remains. A guide is needed, a leader, a spiritual head. If You want," the devil says to the Savior, "let Your Kingdom be like that." But authority does not come by itself; it must be earned. And what impresses a crowd more than a miracle performed before its eyes? So perform a miracle, demonstrate levitation, throw Yourself down from the roof of the Temple, and when they see You floating in the air, everyone will follow You.

It is hard to argue: fallen human nature is drawn to miracles. But only to those that do not require inward, essential change. Of course, the Kingdom is also a miracle, the main miracle of our days. And there, in the Kingdom, the resolution of all real problems can be found. But on one condition: a person will have to change, be renewed, and change his life, outwardly and inwardly. Fallen man would like all problems to be resolved without any changes, at least without changes that touch his own deep essence. And of course he will follow a leader who promises such a resolution, especially if that leader has supernatural abilities, because such abilities guarantee the fulfillment of what was promised.

But Jesus, of course, does not want to be that kind of miracle worker. He wants to open the Kingdom to people, not amaze them with supernatural abilities. And He again says "no" to the devil. Only now, when all the main seductions and temptations connected with the Kingdom have been offered and rejected, does Jesus begin His preaching.