THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS (PART I)

“From Unconscious Ignorance to Conscious Ignorance”

By Akin Ojumu

In 1923, Thomas Earl Pardoe, the man credited with developing the concept of stages of learning, noted that knowledge is the process of passing from the unconscious state of ignorance to a conscious state of ignorance. That is to say, knowledge is about being cognizant of what you don’t know, rather than simply acquiring new information. In essence, true knowledge involves recognizing your limitations and the vastness of what you don’t yet know.

From time to time, people ask for my thoughts on this Bible passage or that Bible passage. Friends and acquaintances alike, who are sincerely seeking answers, often come to me wanting to know my opinion on one Christian doctrine or the other.

In such God-sent instances, rather than spitting out the first thing that pops into my mind, what I try to do is to pause, take a deep breath, and scratch my bald head. Because I have a natural predilection to let out my opinion often in an instant retort, I always try to pinch myself to resist the urge to respond to these inquiries without first giving them much thought and contemplation. As it were, I put a hook on my tongue that pulls it from spitting out a response without first thinking it through.

First and foremost, the reason I suppress the impulse to immediately rattle out a response to questions about Scriptures is to acknowledge to myself that my knowledge of Scriptures is limited. Admitting the inadequacy of my knowledge of God’s Word serves as an impetus for me to seek to know more and know better.

When I concede to my limitations in the understanding of Scriptures, and then I apply myself to diligently study God’s Word, the result is a continuous improvement in my comprehension. Gradually, I progress from an unconscious ignorance through conscious ignorance and knowledge, and then finally arrive at a point where, without even realizing it, I have attained a level of mastery where my knowledge of Scripture becomes an unconscious knowledge i.e., I instinctively know what the Bible says and means about one subject or the other.

A.W. Tozer it was who said, “Of all forms of deception, self-deception is the most deadly, and of all deceived persons the self-deceived are the least likely to discover the fraud.” 

For me to presume that I know the answer to every Scripture-related question that’s asked of me is to assume a position that bothers on self-delusion. And that’s a place I never want to be.

I said all that as a way of framing the backdrop of what prompted this commentary series. It was over a month ago now, March 28th to be precise, when one of my social media suscribers reached out to me asking for my thoughts on the significance of the temptation of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Devil in the wilderness. The specific question my friend posed was:

“Bro, let me ask you a Bible related question. The story of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness is well documented in the Gospels. What is the lesson to learn from that story? Are we as readers of the Bible missing the big point of the story?”

My response to the inquiry was:

“That’s a great question. Such an important subject requires a detailed response, beyond the scope of this message app. If you don’t mind, I’ll write something up and share it with you as soon as possible.”

As I said earlier, that was more than five weeks ago. The “as soon as possible” has almost turned into “forever and ever.” It has taken this long to gather my thoughts and put this commentary together not only because my friend’s question requires a much thought-out response. The delay is a combination of extraneous factors including the distractions of this world. I’ve been pre-occupied dealing with the upheaval brought upon my work life by the power that be in the White House.

After a long and protracted delay, this commentary series is my response to the thoughtful question from my inquiring friend. While I do not yet know how long the series is going to be, my prayer is that whatever I say as we go along would be inspired by the Holy Spirit. It’s my hope that this commentary series would enrich the soul of everyone who reads it.

Immediately following His baptism by John in the Jordan River, the Lord Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness where He would be for the next forty days and forty nights fasting, praying, and communing with the Godhead. 

Matthew 4:1-2

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”

One thing that immediately jumps out at me in this story is that the temptation of the Lord Jesus Christ by Satan is preceded by the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ by John at the Jordan River. As soon as the Holy Spirit descended on Him in form of dove and the voice was heard from Heaven declaring Him the beloved Son of God, Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil.

Matthew 3:16-17

“And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.””

While it may not be patently obvious, what’s happening here is that the glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ is immediately followed by temptation. Right after He received an adoration and veneration by the Godhead, the Lord Jesus was driven into the wilderness to face temptation from the knucklehead. At the height of his coronation as the beloved Son of the Almighty God, Jesus faced an attempted deposition by the archenemy of God.

Therein lies a lesson in the temptation of the Lord Jesus. You’d have to wait till next time to learn the first lesson I see in the testing of the beloved Son of God.