In preaching a sermon on the Temptation narrative, Fred
Craddock makes an interesting observation.
He points out that the common perception of the devil is that of a being
with horns and a red suit, pointy tail and sharp goatee. If you look up the temptation of Jesus on
Google, many of the images have the bat-winged, almost cartoonish figure that
goes with the stereotype. Even allowing
for the symbolic representation of some of these pictures, the overall effect
is a bit much. Craddock says that, given
this appearance, most of us would be on our guard and would be prepared to resist
the Tempter.
My image comes from the Bible story books that used to be in
the doctor’s office when I was a child.
The devil was a bit sinister in appearance, to be sure. But he wasn’t a caricature. He was gesturing in a welcoming fashion while
Jesus was turning away and holding up his hand in a resisting posture. That might prove a bit more daunting. Or at least convincing.
Craddock, though, says that when he pictures Jesus in this
setting, he pictures him alone. He is
after all in the desert. He has been there some time. He has not eaten for over a month. What more powerful ordeal might there be
than to face the wilderness alone?
That gives me something to conjure with. It is the kind of perception that used to
make radio so powerful. If you listen to
“War of the Worlds” or “Dracula” from the Mercury Radio Theater, these works
can be much scarier than storytellers depict on any movie screen. The imagination is the greatest narrator in the world. In that light, a temptation without
physical presence, a temptation guided by the psyche, might be the most
persuasive of all.
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