Observations placeholder
Jesus - Luke 4 - And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost
Identifier
000529
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
I found this particular part of the New Testament to be oddly out of sync with the rest of the life of Jesus, but I have included it anyway.
- In the first place Jesus appears to have been naturally gifted and had no need to go to the desert in this way - if we accept a literal interpretation.
- In the second place, given what a good man he was, he was very unlikely to have had ‘demons’.
- In the third place his entire preaching was based on suppression not overload, the use of gentle practises and mild techniques – much as the Buddha advocated and this particular story is almost the opposite of what he advocated.
On the other hand, it could be entirely symbolic, which would make a great deal more sense.
A description of the experience
Luke 4 - King James Version (KJV)
4 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered
3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread
4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God
5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time
6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it
7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine
8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve
9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:
10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee
11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season
The source of the experience
JesusConcepts, symbols and science items
Science Items
Activities and commonsteps
Activities
Overloads
Being in extremely inhospitable surroundingsFasting
Loneliness and isolation
Nutritional deprivation