‘This was not going well, thought the devil.’ Photo: Study for ‘Christ in the Desert’, by Jan Toorop, 1923
Speak of the devil: Tony D’Souza’s Thought for the week
‘Constantly satisfying the desires of the body keeps humans caught like fish in a net.’
It was an inconspicuous entrance, raising hardly a speck of dust, but it was him alright. The prince of darkness: tall, handsome and well dressed, standing at the cave entrance.
Inside the cave, the man was very hungry; he had not eaten for forty days. He looked up.
‘I know who you are,’ he said.
‘And I know who you are,’ said the devil. ‘You look hungry.’ He bent down to pick up a small stone, rounded by the desert wind. He weighed it playfully, then suddenly held it out to the man in the cave.
‘You are the Son of God. If you are hungry, why don’t you turn this stone into a freshly-baked loaf of bread?’
The man in the cave stood up. ‘No!’ he said, ‘The Scriptures say that people do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’
The devil smiled thoughtfully. Encouraging a preoccupation with the physical world was a key part of the plan. Constantly satisfying the desires of the body keeps humans caught like fish in a net. It was disappointing that the Son of Man had seen through this so easily.
Then he took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple. ‘If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, “He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.”’ But Jesus replied, ‘The Scriptures also say, “You must not test the Lord your God.”’
This was not going well, thought the devil. The religious-minded were well known to fall for a bit of scriptural literalism, especially if they were hungry. My speciality has always been using religion as an excuse for inciting the most outrageous irreligious behaviour, but the Son of Man was not falling for that either.
‘Come with me,’ he said, taking him to the peak of a mountain and showing him all the kingdoms of the world. ‘I will give all this to you,’ he said, ‘if you will kneel down and worship me.’
‘Get lost, Satan,’ said Jesus, ‘the Scriptures say, “You must worship the Lord your God and serve him alone.”’
Well, that did it. Satan looked down and regarded the highly-polished toes of his designer shoes. The Son of Man had a point. The sole reason I can offer the kingdoms of the world is because they are mine to give. It’s always been about money, sex, ego and power – and what’s wrong with that? It’s worked well for centuries, and it’s been an easy sell as long as people remain ignorant. I give humans instant, cheap satisfactions so they crave more, and I never give them time to appreciate that these don’t last very long; this is why nothing in the world can satisfy. Whatever they manage to acquire is never enough, and each new thrill soon fades. I offer the world and everything in it, but humans can’t get satisfaction until they find that which is beyond the world. Don’t worry about that now though; my job is to keep you searching.
