Luke Chapter 4: Three temptations are recorded for us to know.

If you are the Son of God  turn stone to bread.

Observe [my] power and glory…  worship me and it is yours

If you are the Son of God  Scripture will save you (if you obey my word).

2 temptations are directed to Jesus attempting to make Him prove His being the Son
of God.
- By inviting Him to use His own “power”; first a miraculous power (very
divine) and lastly the power of ‘self abandon’ (very human).
- The last, though, follows the second; both of which invite Jesus not to use His
own power but to ‘obtain’ power/control by way of an act of worship
(service).
- The last however is also in an invitation to be served; if you do not seek to
obtain power, and will not use your own then let yourself be served “not
because I [the devil] say so” but because Scripture “guarantees” it. (but in the
end because “I” [the tempter] say so)
o This is the most astute of the 3 temptations because the attempt is to
convince Jesus with something which He already puts His trust in: the
Scriptures; being as He continually defends himself saying, ‘it is
written’. Yet, craftily, it is not an obedience to the Scriptures that the
devil proposes, but an obedience to his diabolical instruction, “throw
yourself down”.

The growing impatience of the tempter also becomes visible. First he asks for
a sign, then he shows his cards, then he hides his intention with an appeal; the
cunning of his argument increasing in every step, but also increasing in absurdity
and banality. The first appeal remains the most convincing because it addresses a
real and immediate urgency; Jesus needs to eat, He does not need world domination
and much less a fantastic stunt.

Where does the demand for power fall?

Temptation 1  upon Jesus  use your own power [serve yourself]

Temptation 2  upon the devil  obtain my power [serve me]
Temptation 3  Upon God  rely on His power [“God’s service”/be served by God]

It seems the tempter is confounded by Jesus’ refusal to use His own power.
Man perhaps has always been quick to give in on this point… This sort of thinking is
at the root of all utilitarianism. Choose the solution which satisfies the most urgent
need…but of course the tempter is not asking of man something that man can do
alone (turning stone into bread)…being that ‘man’ doesn’t take the bait, the tempter
follows with a power play; intimidation tactic. If the desire for infinite knowledge
was enough to persuade Eve, why not here the desire for infinite control? In fact, the
tempter, as in Genesis, is offering something that is already due to the one tempted.
Eve unfortunately ignored that Good News, the divine promises for which she was
created. Jesus on the other hand is Himself the Good News, and perceives well His
own purpose. Here, however, the tempter offers fullness to Him immediately. World
domination the Son of God will certainly receive, but He does not yet have it. For
now, by way of the power of death, all of mankind rests in the devil’s hands… The
pitfall of this temptation was perhaps that the price to obtain this offer was placed
too high: “worship me…then if you are not the Son of God”…could be added almost
as a silent echo. Here again, Jesus’ refusal is confounding to the tempter but perhaps
expectable…the ‘worship me’ ultimatum was all together too forward.
So the third try attempts to place ‘worship’ where it would be due;
1) the tempter takes Him to the Temple;
2) the tempter proposes obeying the Scriptures, with trust in God’s power.
How elegant. But as we already said, the desperation of this move made the demand
so absurd and irrelevant that in spite of the slyness with which it attempts to invite
to everything that is ‘good’, it just seems altogether superfluous and unnecessary. It
would only work if one already had doubts about God’s fidelity and felt the need to
put that relationship to the test. (…I think that sometimes though, we find ourselves
in similar situations. Sometimes we choose to pray for nearly impossible outcomes,
or we fling ourselves into dangerous situations of temptation with the excuse that
“God will catch us”… )
Thus, the last temptation contains a contradiction, for it presupposes full
trust, but its motivation would have to be doubt in that full trust. In this sense, the
question “if you are the Son of God” is used diversely than in the 1 st temptation
where said title recognizes divine power in Jesus, whereas in the 3rd the emphasis
falls upon the relationship of filial dependence. Upon this element, in fact, the
essential of Jesus’ identity is at stake, the tempter was in fact getting closer to the
answer about his inquiry, “are you the Son of God?”, but he leaves empty handed
because of his impatience on the matter. Impatience blinds him from hearing Jesus’
reply.
Jesus does respond, but He responds with silence. Or rather, one who has
ears knows how to hear, He is the suffering servant who does only what the Father
desires…but for those who have not ears, that is, for the disobedient, there is no
possible comprehension of what ‘strength in helplessness’ could possibly imply.

“The admonition of Jesus is always present: even today man constructs images of
God that prevent him from enjoying his real presence,” the Pope said during the
general audience Sept. 7.
“Some carve out a 'do it yourself' faith that reduces God in the limited space
of their own desires and their own beliefs. But this faith is not conversion to the
Lord that is revealed, in fact, it prevents him from arousing our life and our
conscience.” – source CNA
Tempter’s instruction deviation from place contingence/mortification realm of

Turn stone into bread (fasting) the desert frailty of the flesh (body)

Kneel and worship me (praying) the heights the image of worldly glory (mind)

Throw yourself down (serving God) the place of trumpeting wait upon Providence (spirit)

Domanda il tentatore deviarsi dal nel luogo il punto debole/mortificazione ambito di

Converti pietra in pane (il digiuno) il deserto la debolezza della carne (corpo)

Pròstrati e adorami (la preghiera) l’altura l’immagine di gloria mondana (mente)

Gèttati giù di qui (servire Dio) l’angolo della tromba attendere sulla Providenza (spirito)