Term Paper on "Temptations of Jesus"

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[EXCERPT] . . . .

Temptations of Christ

The temptation of Christ is a complete story with an introduction, three trials, and an ending. The temptation is mentioned in several other texts. The temptation is a short passage, but has many layers that can be revealed upon analysis. By comparing and contrasting texts regarding the temptation, we can gain a better understanding of the spiritual and literal meanings behind the text. The following will serve as an analysis of Matthew 4: 1-11 in light of the other instances of the temptation in other texts. It will support the thesis that the temptation serves as a means to authenticate Jesus for the rest of the stories found in the Gospels.

Mark 1: 12-13 mentions the temptation, but this only gives a summary of the ordeal. This mention of the temptation does appear to only deal the physical manifestations of the temptation without regards to the deep spiritual issues of the text. However, its reiteration serves to remind the audience of the credibility of Jesus' true identity. Luke 4: 1-13 gives similar account of the temptation to that found in Matthew. However, in the Luke 4: 1-13 version the third temptation and second are reversed. One must then ask the question if this makes a difference in the interpretation of the story as a whole.

The literary style of the story treats each temptation as its own mini-story within the whole. Each temptation has its own beginning, middle and conclusion. The order of the temptations would not effect the interpretation of the whole, if one considers each temptation to be a complete story by itself. The writer in Luke would have received the story second had through Paul. The writer of Luke w

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ould have been writing for a different audience than that of Matthew as well.

In the version found in Luke, Satan presents a vision of the Kingdoms of the world. This detail is left out in the Matthew version and the reader assumes that it is the physical length as far as the eye can see. In Luke we find that Satan has offered so much more. We also find in the Luke version that Satan claims to have been given the kingdoms of the earth. However, he never tells from whom he acquired them. We do not know if Satan is lying at this point, or if this is another expression of the supremacy of heaven, the Kingdom of God, over the physical kingdom, the Kingdom of man. One might also note that Satan offers Jesus the kingdoms (plural) rather than the Kingdom (Singular). This implies divided nations full of strife and conflict, rather than a unified nation living in harmony. This is an important detail in understanding the state of the world at the time.

The structure of the story is simple. There is an introduction which set the scene. There are three temptations with three different answers and then the aftermath of the three attempts. The first thing to consider is that God led Jesus into the wilderness. Jesus did not go of his own accord, but under the direction of God. The second is that Satan used every means possible, but was defeated on each account by Jesus. Regardless of what Satan attempted, he could not overpower the faith of Christ. In the end, the angels gave their blessing on Christ and his decision. Throughout the story God showed his supremacy over Satan and prevailed every time.

Throughout the Gospel Satan tries to undermine God's authority and supremacy in the physical and spiritual world. This accomplishes several literary objectives. The first is its resemblance to a classic myth. Jesus, has been placed at a disadvantage and is weak physically and mentally from fasting forty days and forty nights. That is an exceptionally long time to fast. This makes Jesus into position of a hero who must face a foe that is fresh and has a decided advantage over him at this time. Satan is the typical antagonist who wishes to show his strength and supremacy over God.

Satan attempts to destroy the perfection of the God's reign by defiling his perfect image. In this sense, God serves as a co-protagonist in addition to Jesus. However, God is in the background and has little action in the story. God participates vicariously through his creation of Jesus, a symbol of his perfection. Jesus defeats a seemingly insurmountable foe to receive his just reward, just as protagonists in other mythology such as Gilgamesh, David in David and Goliath, and Homer..

The first temptation is of the purely physical realm. Satan offers to quench Jesus' physical needs. However, Jesus triumphs over the physical needs with spiritual strength. In the end, the reward is spiritual rather than physical. This also shows the supremacy of spiritual matters over the physical realm. The best that Satan has to offer is the physical world. However, Jesus This dichotomy clearly establishes a hierarchy and order between the physical and spiritual realms. Satan tries to tear down this order and create chaos.

Symbolism

There are several similarities between the temptation and other Biblical stories of equal importance, such as Genesis. The first is that Satan approaches Jesus during a time of weakness, while he was alone and without the support of anyone else. The devil in Matthew is the same as the serpent in the story of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were God's creation, but the devil was able to defeat them. However, Adam and Eve were also humans. The Devil could not defeat God's perfect son. Adam and Eve existed purely in the physical world. Satan's ability to defeat them symbolizes the supremacy of the devil in the physical world. However, his inability to defeat God in the temptation story demonstrates the supremacy of the spiritual world over the physical world. Satan could defeat man, but not the Son of God.

Forty days and forty nights appears many times throughout the Bible. Forty appears as the number of days required for spiritual tests and cleansing. In the story of Noah, it rained for forty days and for forty nights. During this time period the world was being cleansed of all the sin and imperfection that was in it before the flood. Fasting was a ritual way of cleansing the body. Fasting for forty days and for forty nights was a way for Jesus to spiritually cleanse all of his imperfections. When this was complete and he was supposedly spiritually clean, Satan came to test how spiritually clean Jesus had become.

The placement of this story is just before Jesus left to begin gathering his followers. The placement of this story attests to the spiritual purity of Jesus and adds credibility to the lessons that follow in the remaining chapters. Its placement sets the stage for the stories of Jesus' preaching. The temptation of the story gives us an important detail about the character of Jesus. It was not enough to say that he was spiritually pure. The story of the temptation places Jesus on a different level of purity than the rest of the human population. It gives him a larger than life quality that is necessary for the epic hero. It is important not only to look at the components of the temptation story, but also what it adds to the entirety of Matthew's text.

After the temptation Jesus then goes into the world of the Gentiles to spread his message. He will face great physical danger. The temptation foreshadows the spiritual strength that Jesus will use to defeat each and every one of these physical challenges. The superiority of the spiritual realm over the physical realm is an important detail for understanding Jesus up through the crucifixion. It is an important literary and symbolic contribution to the understanding of the meaning behind Jesus' life and teachings.

The Challenge

There is an underlying meaning in the wording of the temptations that is not apparent to the casual observer. In the Greek language, sentences that begin with "if" are called conditional sentences. This means that they can have different meanings. Some of the meanings are contrary to the facts and some are not. There are many implied meanings within Greek "if" sentences. For instance, one might say "If you had been there" with the implication, "but you were not." The fact that they were not there if inherent in the word if. The opposite of this is implied causality, "Because you were there." "Because" implies that the person was present whereas "if" implies that they were not present.

Knowing this places a different meaning to Satan's first challenge. In verse three Satan says, "If thou be the son of God" which, when taken as a direct translation from Greek has an entirely different meaning than an English speaker mightacknowledge. This is a challenge by Satan and suggests doubt in the authenticity of the clam of Jesus that he is the son of God. This further supports… READ MORE

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First of all, I ordered the 39.95 option and would like to cancel that order and proceed with custom research service. The Receipt Number is: 4474-9333-0304-4359. Please send me an email confiming cancellation of the aforementioned option.

The paper should analytically discuss the Temptations of Jesus Christ and must be 5 pages long (doubled-spaced, without counting title page and bibliography). Do not worry about creating title page.

Please Do not write a personal reflective essay or a sermon. You must interpret the scripture passage (Mt. 4:1-11) assigned for the topic in its historical and literary context, dealing with critical issues pertaining to the interpretation of the passage. The excessive use of the personal stories, applications, or illustrations should be avoided.

Use at least 4 written sources for the paper, not counting the Bible. You must use the Bible as the primary source, but do not list the Bible in the bibliography.

Use good academic sources. Devotional or popular sources should not be used for an academic paper. Sermons are not good sources either. As a general rule, do not use any source that does not provide documentation (footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical references). Since you will deal with a passage (s) in the New Testament, I strongly encourage you to use good Bible commentaries. Please do not use, however, devotional or homiletical (sermon-like) commentaries, or non-published commentaries only available over the Internet. You may use some good study Bibles, but use them sparingly.

Do not rely on the Internet sources too heavily. Many Internet sources are non-academic and not well documented, thus often not reliable. Most of the important books are copyrighted and not available over the Internet.

Form of the Paper

This will be an analytical paper

In Introduction

State your scripture passage; identify the exegetical and theological issues related to your passage; and limit your scope.

In Body

Describe the historical and literary context of the passage.

Make an outline of the passage by analyzing the literary structure of the passage.

Analyze the passage. Explain what the verses meant in the original historical setting. Use insights from different translations, theological dictionaries, and commentaries.

Explain what the verses mean today as you understand the application of these verses.

In Conclusion

Summarize the historical setting and the literary structure of the passage, what it meant then, and what it means now.

Formats and Page Layouts:

Margins: Leave at least one inch margin on all four edges of the page. Two inch margin is required on the top of the beginning page that contains the title or the major chapter headings. For a short paper, do not divide into chapters.

Indentation: Indent five to eight spaces (or half an inch) for the first line of each paragraph both in text and in footnotes.

Spacing: The text should be double-spaced except block quotations, notes, captions, and long headings.

Pagination: Number pages with Arabic numerals centered or flush right at the top of the page. For the first page that contains the title or a chapter heading, place the number at the foot of the page.

Rules of Quotation:

(1) Two rules of thumb: Quotations must be kept short and they must be merged into the text if possible.

(2) Some mechanics of quotation:

A quotation is introduced and closed by double quotation marks. A quotation within a quotation carries single quotation marks.

The omission of a word, phrase, or sentence is shown by three dots. If that omission comes at the end of a sentence, add one more dot to indicate the end of the sentence.

If your own word or phrase is added to the quotation, enclose it in square brackets.

The spelling, capitalization, and punctuation of the quoted passage must be faithfully reproduced.

If more than two sentences are quoted, make it a block quotation. The block quotation needs to be indented rather than enclosed in double quotation marks.

Footnotes:

Uses: Notes have four main uses: (a) to cite the authority for statements in text–specific facts or opinions as well as exact quotations; (b) to make cross-references; (c) to make incidental comments on, to amplify, or to qualify textual discussion–in short, to provide a place for material the ***** deems worthwhile to include but that might interrupt the flow of thought if introduced in the text; and (d) to make acknowledgements. (a) and (b) are regarded as reference notes while (c) and (d) are considered content notes (Turabian, 8.3).

Position: Footnotes must be placed on the page where they are referred to. The text and footnotes are separated by a short line, or separator, usually 2 inches long.

Format: The form and style of footnotes vary depending on one's adopted writing style. When referring to a written source, however, the following basic information is required of all styles:

Sources:

Use academic sources. Academic sources normally have footnote or endnote references and provide a bibliography.

Use variety of sources. Use both books and articles that reflect different views.

Limit Internet sources to minimum. Do not use Internet sources if you do not know the author.

Suggestions for Writing and Composition:

Avoid "the present *****" and other personal references.

Avoid homiletical flourishes.

Generally, stick to simple declarative sentences. They may appear "choppy," but they will be clearer than complex sentences.

Generally, try to maintain the same subject within a paragraph. Where this is done, it will improve the clarity of the argument.

Avoid the passive voice.

Generally, avoid using participial and infinitive clauses as subjects and objects.

Avoid the subjunctive mood: "would," "should," "could."

Avoid the excessive use of pronouns. They should be used only when the antecedent is absolutely clear.

Constantly use a good dictionary of synonyms or thesaurus (1) to select the right word and (2) to avoid the repetitious use of one word.

Avoid jargon. Use clear English understandable to a general reader not in the field.

Thanks!

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