
Christ's Three Weapons to face the Three-Fold Temptation
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Have you ever noticed how predictable temptation can be? Despite the infinite variety of human experience, the fundamental patterns of temptation remain remarkably consistent across time and culture.
I wrote about this in yesterday's meditation. If you missed it, you can find it here.
Here's the Cliff's Notes version of yesterday's meditation:
Throughout Scripture, temptation follows a recognizable pattern. In Genesis 3:1-6, the serpent tempted Eve through three avenues: physical appetite ("good for food"), aesthetic desire ("pleasing to the eye"), and existential ambition ("desirable for gaining wisdom"). This same triplet appears in 1 John 2:16 as "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life."
What if Jesus provided specific spiritual practices designed precisely to counter these persistent temptations?
In examining Jesus' teaching on spiritual disciplines in the Sermon on the Mount, we discover a profound theological framework for combating the three-fold pattern of temptation. Just as temptation manifests consistently throughout Scripture—in Eden, in Christ's wilderness testing, and in our daily lives—Jesus provides three corresponding spiritual practices as divine antidotes: fasting, almsgiving, and prayer.
These three things are often associated with Lent, but they're not reserved for one time of the year. Lent, rather, is meant to be a time of intense focus to cultivate a deeper spiritual life, to learn to practice these things all the time in our battles against the evil one.
Christ's Three-Fold Solution in Matthew 6
In Matthew 6:1-18, Jesus presents three spiritual practices that directly counter these temptations. The Greek text reveals significant connections that English translations often obscure.
1. Almsgiving: Countering Material Desire (Mt 6:1-4)
Jesus begins with a general principle: "Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them" (Mt 6:1).
The first specific application is ἐλεημοσύνη (eleēmosynē) – almsgiving or mercy-giving. Jesus instructs:
"When you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full." (Mt 6:2)
The Greek term for "reward" here is μισθός (misthos), which appears repeatedly in this passage. When done for human recognition, the only reward is that fleeting recognition. Jesus continues:
"But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (Mt 6:3-4)
This practice directly counters "the lust of the eyes" – the covetous desire for possessions. By giving away material goods secretly, we practice detachment from both the goods themselves and the social status they might bring.
The imagery of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing presents an impossible physical scenario that underscores a spiritual reality: true giving happens without self-consciousness or calculation. This giving flows from genuine love rather than self-promotion.
Almsgiving trains us to value heavenly treasure over earthly recognition. When we give secretly, we cut the cord that ties our generosity to our ego. We learn to give simply because giving is right and good, not because it benefits our reputation.
2. Prayer: Countering Pride (Mt 6:5-15)
Jesus next addresses prayer, contrasting ostentatious public prayers with authentic communion with God:
"When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others... But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen." (Mt 6:5-6)
The Greek term translated "room" is ταμεῖόν (tameion), which denotes a private chamber or storeroom – a place of solitude. This practice directly counters "the pride of life" by eschewing public performance for private communion.
Jesus then provides the Lord's Prayer as the model. Notably, the prayer begins with acknowledging God's transcendence (ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου / "hallowed be your name") before any personal requests. This humility directly counters the prideful tendency to exalt ourselves.
In private prayer, we stand before God without pretense. We cannot impress God with eloquent words or dramatic gestures. The closed door creates a space where we can be utterly honest—about our needs, our failures, and our dependence. This honesty dismantles pride by bringing us face-to-face with our true condition before God.
The Lord's Prayer itself embodies this humility, beginning with God's concerns (his name, kingdom, and will) before moving to our needs (daily bread, forgiveness, and protection). This pattern reorients us away from self-centeredness toward God-centeredness.
3. Fasting: Countering Physical Appetite (Mt 6:16-18)
Finally, Jesus addresses fasting:
"When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting... But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen." (Mt 6:16-18)
The practice of fasting directly counters "the lust of the flesh" by disciplining bodily appetites. The Greek word νηστεύω (nēsteuō) means to abstain from food, but this discipline extends beyond mere physical hunger.
Jesus instructs fasters to maintain normal appearances—washing their faces and anointing their heads with oil (a common practice in that culture)—rather than advertising their spiritual discipline. This secrecy prevents fasting from becoming a badge of spiritual superiority.
Fasting trains us to subordinate physical desires to spiritual priorities. When we voluntarily deny ourselves something good (food), we affirm that our relationship with God is even better. We declare through our bodies that "man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Mt 4:4).
The Secret Pattern: ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ /
A striking linguistic pattern emerges in the Greek text. For each practice, Jesus emphasizes that it should be done "in secret" (ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ / en tō kryptō) and promises that "your Father who sees in secret will reward you."
This repeated phrase establishes a profound theological principle: authentic spirituality is oriented toward God, not human approval. The Greek construction emphasizes not just secrecy but hiddenness – a complete reorientation of motive away from human recognition.
Jesus invites us into this hidden reality where true transformation occurs beyond human observation. The secret place becomes the true arena of spiritual formation.
"Never forget that God dwells within your little castle (your soul). If I had understood as I do now that in this little palace of my soul dwelt so great a King, I would not have left Him alone so often." - St. Theresa of Avila
Practical Applications
How might we apply these ancient spiritual disciplines today?
1. Almsgiving: Beyond financial giving, consider how you might share your time, talents, and resources without public recognition. The Greek ἐλεημοσύνη encompasses all acts of mercy, not just monetary donations.
In our social media age, the temptation to publicize our generosity is stronger than ever. What would it look like to give regularly without documenting it online? How might we practice mercy without seeking the validation of likes and comments? There's certainly some reason to show acts of generosity that we might be an example to others, but the greatest acts of generosity are done for the sake of love, for the love that God has for other people, that flows through us. Even if well-intended, posting about our charity work (even if to inspire others) has a tendency to come from a place of pride, rather than love. In other words, insofar as this is a weapon to combat pride, publicizing our almsgiving has the opposite result. What could do great things to countering this temptation becomes another occasion for our ego to indulge in it.
2. Prayer: Create a dedicated space and time for private prayer. The ταμεῖόν Jesus mentions need not be a literal closet but any space where you can focus entirely on God without performing for others.
Finding a special place to pray is both practical (minimizing distractions) and spiritual, so we aren’t tempted to use prayer as a way of drawing attention to our own holiness, to impress others. I’d also suggest leaving your phone somewhere else, or at least, turning off all your notifications. We can talk more about different biblical ways to pray in the future: e.g. verbal prayer, mental prayer, meditative/contemplative prayer. There are also some Christians in history who we might consider “masters” of prayer with great advice, so I’ll try to bring some of that out over the next few days.
3. Fasting: This is a tough one. It’s also not easy to do it without complaining. “Ugh, I’m so hungry!” “Don’t offer me food, don’t you know I’m fasting today?”
There are both health reasons/benefits and spiritual benefits to fasting. You don’t need to divorce these things, but you should also make decisions that take into account the advice of medical professionals. Even if you have medical reasons why you can’t do a traditional fast, there are surely other things that “please the flesh” that you could fast from. Traditionally, Christians often fast in Lent on Wednesdays and Fridays, and some continue fasting on Fridays throughout the year. This doesn’t have to be a total abstaining from food, but it shouldn’t be “softened” so much that it becomes easy. Like, for some, simply fasting from meat on Fridays is challenging enough. For others, if you don’t eat a lot of meat anyway, it’s not much of a sacrifice. Remember, fasting is about learning to control our bodily passions. If you struggle with another fleshly temptation, (e.g. lust?) how can you possibly expect to conquer those temptations if you can’t so much as skip a meal? This is a biblical approach that Jesus Himself taught as a way of battling against the temptations of the flesh.
Chances are, if you're facing temptation and struggling to fight against it, you're neglecting one or more of these "weapons" Jesus gave us to fight back. Temptation can be insidious, and the three-fold temptations often work in concert. Simply because we pray doesn't mean that the passions of the flesh will go away on their own, or merely fasting without almsgiving or prayer may subvert the initial temptations of the flesh, but when tempted in another way, we find that those same passions of the flesh return.
In other words, standing against temptation isn't purely diagnostic. It's not just about figuring out which of these methods we need, then ignoring the others. In truth, we need all three. If you add to this the Word of God, which should be a part of our "prayer," we'll stand even stronger. But in my own experience, prayer is something most of us know very little about.
So keeping in our tradition of "threes," the next part of this little series will look at the "three ways" of praying according to the Bible (and according to those Christians who we might call the masters of prayer, who've prayed most effectively and with fervent dedication in the history of Christ's Church). So, more on that tomorrow. :)
God Bless,
Judah