Gluttony is showcased when the adversary urged Him, “Say that these stones may become bread”; vanity when he taunted, “If Thou art the Son of God, cast Thyself down”; and pride when he displayed the kingdoms of the world and their splendor, claiming, “All these things I will give Thee, if, falling down, Thou wilt worship me” (Matt. 4:3, Matt. 4:6, Matt. 4:8, 9). The Saviour permitted these temptations to teach us how to overcome the adversary by following His example in repelling him. Both figures are referred to as Adam. The first resulted in humanity's fall and death, while the latter is associated with resurrection and life. Through one, all of humanity faces condemnation; through the other, all may find salvation. The former was created from the unrefined earth, and the latter was born of the Virgin Mary (1 Cor. 15:22, 45, 47). Therefore, it was essential for Jesus Christ to endure these specified temptations, without the necessity for additional trials. The second Adam, Jesus Christ, had to confront and triumph over the temptations of gluttony, vanity, and pride, which ensnared the first Adam and led to his fall. It was vital that Jesus did not yield to additional temptations such as carnal lust—something the first Adam encountered in his innocence. Overcoming gluttony would render Him impervious to lust, which stems from excess and would not have tempted Adam had he not first indulged in gluttony, seduced by the devil's flattery. Hence, it is stated that the Son of God came “in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Rom. 8:3) rather than in flesh marked by sin itself. Although He possessed genuine humanity—eating, drinking, resting, and enduring real suffering on the cross—He lacked the sinful inclinations that can lead one into transgression. He did not experience the intense pangs of carnal lust that often overpower human desire; He took only the form of our nature. Having completely fulfilled His earthly responsibilities and bearing the frailties of humanity, He was mistakenly thought to share in this passion, giving the impression that He bore the roots of this sin within Him. The devil's temptations were directed only at those passions where he had previously ensnared Adam, under the assumption that, as a man, Jesus could also be led into other sins in the same way. However, upon being vanquished in the first encounter, the devil could no longer ensnare Him with that second temptation—lust—stemming from the original vice of gluttony. The adversary recognized that the Saviour possessed no means for this vice to take root and thus did not expect to reap the consequences of sin, having no basis in Him for such seeds or roots. Luke the Evangelist identifies the final temptation in these words: “if Thou art the Son of God, cast Thyself ... down” (Luke 4:9), a testament to the temptation of pride. The devil, by displaying to Him all the kingdoms of the earth in an instant and promising them to Him (Luke 4:5-7), suggested the sin of covetousness. After failing to tempt Him through lust, the adversary now turned to covetousness, recognizing it as the root of all evils. However, upon being defeated in yet another attempt, he refrained from inciting any vices that emerged from covetousness for fear that they too did not stem from anything within Him. He ultimately resorted to pride, a temptation that can ensnare even the most virtuous, recalling that even he, in his former state as Lucifer, and many others, fell from grace due to this very vice without the previous temptations leading to it. Thus, the sequence noted by Luke and the techniques employed in tempting both Adam and the second Adam, Jesus Christ, remain consistent. To the first Adam, he proclaimed, “Your eyes shall be opened”; to the second Adam, he revealed all the kingdoms of the earth and their splendor; there, he promised, “You shall be like gods”; and here, he taunted, “If You are the Son of God.”
THEOSIS