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    Other Temptations of Jesus
    Other Temptations of Jesus
    Other Temptations of Jesus
    Ebook105 pages2 hours

    Other Temptations of Jesus

    By John Henson

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    The Christian life is not about giving up, but taking up. The call of Jesus to discipleship is a positive one-love God and your neighbour. It's not about being serious, but happy and loving. It's not a constant battle against small temptations. It's because Jesus didn't spend all his energy fighting the temptations of the world that he was able to withstand genuine temptation. This series of studies of his life takes a look at stories from the gospels which illustrate the way in which temptation came to Jesus in his ministry-the temptation to stay where he was comfortable and known; to divide people into friends and enemies; to avoid confronting problems, and many others. They are the serious temptations we all face, and which Jesus answers.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJohn Hunt Publishing
    Release dateMay 27, 2013
    ISBN9781780990569
    Other Temptations of Jesus
    Author

    John Henson

    John Henson is a native of Cardiff and a son of the Manse. He graduated in history and theology at the universities of Southampton and Oxford (Regent's Park) respectively and was ordained to the Baptist ministry at Carmel Baptist Church, Pontypridd, Wales in 1964. He was responsible for a union between his own church and the United Reformed Church in 1969 (now St. David’s, Pontypridd) and has since given assistance to other churches seeking to make similar unions at the local level. He taught history in Cardiff High School from 1970 - 1973 and then resumed ministry at Glyncoch, Pontypridd in cooperation with the Anglican Communion. During this time he was also the organizer ('Admiral') in Wales for 'Pilots', the children's movement of the United Reformed Church, which included summer holiday camps. Since 1980 he has been largely freelance, acting as pastoral befriender to people in minority groups while continuing to assist in the conduct of worship in the churches. His interests include music, left-wing politics, penal reform, peace, the quest for truly contemporary and inclusive worship, and gender issues. A member of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement from its early years, for many years he assisted the movement as the contact person for the South Wales group and as a counsellor. For five years he was chairperson of 'ONE for Christian Renewal' which has now been succeeded by The Progressive Christian Network (UK) of which John continues to be an active member. John has lectured on faith and gender in Strasbourg and Oslo at the invitation of the European Union and the World Student Christian Federation. He has lectured in the U.K. at universities, ecumenical conferences and retreat centres, at Greenbelt, and at St. Michael's Anglican college Llandaf, Cardiff. He is also a member of the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptist Churches of the USA. John has been happily married to Valerie, his partner for fifty years. They have three adult children, Gareth, Iestyn and Rhôda, and nine grandchildren- Aidan, Bleddyn, Carys, Gwenllian, Dyfrig, Iona, Isobel, Tomos and Ffion-Medi.

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    • 4/5
      John Henson has a way of writing that makes you want to meet him. He's opinionated but not overbearing. Humble yet interesting. I think it's just the way John is, amusing and serious at the same time. Either that, or he has a great editor.In twelve chapters, Other Prayers of Jesus rolls conversationally through the settings and words of Jesus as he "talks to God." Do not imagine that this book will give you instructions for how to pray, like a checkbox you can work your way through to get God's attention. John is not much for long prayers, certainly not long public prayers. He just describes what Jesus felt and said—sometimes aloud, sometimes in quiet contemplation—in the presence of his daddy.The insinuation, of course, is that we would do well to live in the presence of God as casually as Jesus. There are a number of interesting anecdotes and thoughtful opinions sprinkled throughout, but I'd say the flavor of the book is really more inspirational than exegetical or instructional. Part of the charm is the Bible translation. Henson quotes scripture using his own favored "Good as New" translation, which is very down-to-earth, if a bit assuming. (See Good as New: A Radical Retelling of the Scriptures by Henson.) Personally, I like it! You'll pick up on its idiosyncrasies as you go. Rocky: Peter. Bart: Bartholomew. John the Dipper: you can guess that one.A good book for moderates, both conservative and liberal.

    Book preview

    Other Temptations of Jesus - John Henson

    Canterbury

    PREFACE

    This volume represents the first of a trilogy, but is being published second. The other parts of the trilogy are (2) Other Communions of Jesus (pub.1994) and (3) Other Prayers of Jesus (yet to be published). All three began as the substance of devotions on three consecutive Lents for the Anglican communion at Glyncoch. Other Temptations was also delivered at other Anglican churches in the Pontypridd neighbourhood.

    As in Other Communions a scriptural study led to alternative insights into what is meant by the Lord’s Supper, so Other Temptations leads by means of a similar study to an alternative understanding of the place of temptation in the Christian life.

    The author wishes to thank the rank and file Christians who first inspired and heard these studies in whole or in part, especially the congregations of several churches in Pontypridd. He wishes to thank his own minister, Rev. Dr Mary Cotes, for her inspirational preaching and conduct of worship, which gave him the spiritual energies to carry on with the work, and Archbishop Rowan Williams for his support and encouragement.

    This book is dedicated to Russell Howells, the leading elder in his church for many years, and to his late wife Doreen who were together true and helpful friends to John and his family, as Russell continues to be. They will not mind their names being joined by that of Douglas Davies, John’s friend and theirs, also for a long time a leading elder in the same church and a saint.

    1

    The Fourth Temptation

    After getting God’s Spirit at the river Jordan, Jesus felt ready for the task ahead. But first he was moved to spend some time in the desert. This gave him the chance to get clear in his mind which direction his life should take. (Luke 4:1–2, Good as New)

    When the devil had finished every test, he departed from Jesus until an opportune time. (Luke 4:13, NRSV)

    A few years ago I was sitting in a Cardiff pub, chatting to some friends over my drink of pineapple juice, being one of the dying breed of teetotallers. Two separate topics of conversation intertwined. One topic was our least favourite food. I had no difficulty in identifying my pet hate - cheese. I had been unable to eat it since my childhood days and the least suspicion of it in a dish would cause me to heave. The other topic was Lent and what each of us intended to give up. Some wag came up with a brilliant idea. Instead of giving up something we enjoyed doing, why not take up something we didn’t enjoy. I could take up eating cheese! Before the night was out, without any alcohol to weaken my wits, I had vowed to have a go. I started with the tiniest bit of toasted mild cheddar and worked my way up. By the end of Lent I had learnt to nibble a variety of cheeses, including Stilton. Lasagne is now one of my favourite dishes. I don’t know how I managed without it all those years. The following year I learnt how to eat beetroot and enjoy it. I was less successful the year after with onions. I now eat them, but they are not a favourite. The day I learn to eat a pickled onion I will have reached a rare peak of holiness! I soon ran out of new things to eat, though I have yet to sample raw oysters, caviar or paté de foie gras. Less frivolously, you may think, well beyond my fiftieth year, I used one Lent to take up cello lessons and achieved a grade 5 (not in one Lent!), and another Lent I commenced driving lessons and passed my test first time. Then my family suggested that if I really wished to impress I should take up something I really loathed - sport. Not only do I not enjoy sport, I help this aversion along with the conviction that sport was invented by the controlling classes to do away with play. Play is natural, spontaneous and therapeutic. Rules and competition are the death of play. I happen to believe that obsession with rugby football is the worst thing that ever happened to Wales. (At this point a proportion of my readers will wish to read no further!) However, I accepted my family’s challenge and took up playing badminton with my son-in-law. I have found it enjoyable and healthy. Instead of keeping score, we pay homage to the principle of Lewis Caroll, ‘All have won, all must have prizes!’

    I have discovered, in company with others, something very important about the Christian life. It is more a matter of what you do than what you don’t do. It is not about ‘giving up’ but ‘taking up’. I was brought up on a version of Christianity that seemed largely to do with a series of naughty musn’ts. Don’t drink, don’t gamble, don’t swear, don’t put the washing out on Sunday, don’t even think about sex, etc. Some had a longer list than others. There are things a Christian should not do. A Christian should not judge others! But the call of Jesus to discipleship is based on two maxims, both positive - Love God and Love your neighbour. Anything we decide, as individuals, we should not do, whether in Lent or at any other time, should be based on that positive call, and not on pious ideas of holiness and self-sacrifice or the desire to be spiritually one up. There are too many miserable Christians and we have given the world the impression that religion is to do with being depressingly serious. Jesus said, ‘I want you to have a life packed with good things’ (John 10:10, Good as New). Even in Lent we should remember not only the Jesus who took up the cross, but the Jesus who supplied the wine at a wedding, who enjoyed parties and being invited out to lunch, who put up his feet in the home of Mary and Martha, and went for an evening’s cruise across the lake with his friends. Jesus was accused by his enemies of over-eating and drinking and of keeping company with extremely unholy people. The great German theologian Karl Barth said, ‘Puritans should remember it is possible to be a non-smoking, teetotal vegetarian, and still be Adolf Hitler.’

    The ministry of Jesus begins in Matthew and Luke with the story of the temptations of Jesus in the desert. How many temptations did these Gospel writers record? At first glance there appear to be three. We know them well. Turn stones into bread, jump from the top of the temple, employ the enemy’s methods - bribe, show off, bully. We shall return in the concluding chapter to the question of a personal devil. Enough to say at this point, that the choices facing Jesus were the same, whether it was some malign spiritual being, or social pressures and influences which beckoned him in the wrong direction.

    Luke hints at a fourth temptation. The devil departed ‘until an opportune time.’ That is, the life of Jesus would not be a constant, continual battle with temptation. The experience of testing would come and go. There were communities of monks in the desert, the Essenes among them. Perhaps some of these were the angels who looked after Jesus at the end of his fast. They were people who had turned their backs on the world and society in order to spend their lives sharpening up their holiness. Their life was, by choice, a non-stop struggle against temptation. The devil was always present, urging them to compromise their standards, to ease up on this or that ascetic exercise. They were convinced that they and they alone were God’s true people, doing God’s will. If Jesus had joined them we would never have heard of him!

    The fourth temptation was the temptation to see the whole of life primarily as a battle against temptation. Jesus was being tempted to spend all his time playing the

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