Save to your Calendar
Jesus is Tempted
We shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word
that proceeds from the
mouth of God.
Matthew 4.4
O Come. Let Us Worship.
Scriptures:
Genesis 2.15-17, 3.1-7
Psalm 32
Romans 5.12-19
Matthew 4.1-11
-
OR View Digital Worship @ Christ Church Cathedral Victoria 10:50 a.m. HERE.
Art Work:
Jesus is Tempted - Matthew 4:1-11
Jesus Mafa 1973
JESUS MAFA is a response to the New Testament readings from the Lectionary by a Christian community in Cameroon, Africa. Each of the readings was selected and adapted to dramatic interpretation by the community members. Photographs of their interpretations were made, and these were then transcribed to paintings.
In this painting, Jesus has been taken to the top of a mountain in the final temptation described in Matthew 4:1-11 where the devil whispers in his ear the promise of all the kingdoms of the world. Jesus is confronted with the temptation to seize power—to live by the rule(s) of the world. We know from this one gospel story that he refuses every temptation, but we know from the remaining narrative that the temptation to be the messiah people expected must have haunted him to his death on the cross. Jesus instead is a new kind of messiah, one who exemplifies non-violent resistance, trusting in the love he embodies.
Fr: Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.
