The Desert Trials episode 5 - the world trial: what the devil said

We’re going through Lent spending time every day, not alone but with Jesus in the desert, not empty but full of his Spirit, not resting but wrestling with the things that get between us and God, not relying on ourselves but trusting in God to win every battle thanks to what Jesus did.Matthew 4:8-9Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. ‘All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘if you will bow down and worship me.’What if someone offered you a shortcut straight to something you’ve been working to achieve for ages?What if it wasn’t just an obvious scam, but a real, tempting offer with just one string attached - it would get written up as an achievement owned by someone you didn’t trust and didn’t think was good for the world?In Jesus’ time, popular stories which weren’t written into the Bible described widespread beliefs that God had given Satan power to rule the world, which explained its painful, broken state.What if Jesus could do a deal with this power, brokenness and evil personified?What if that is similar, in any way, to how we might let our good intentions and righteous ends justify any means of getting what we want?How would we answer the call to do a deal like this?We're inviting you to spend a few days reflecting on this before we look at Jesus’ reply in our final episode.