The Christian life is not about giving up, but taking up. The call of Jesus to discipleship is a positive one-love God and your neighbour. It's not about being serious, but happy and loving. It's not a constant battle against small temptations. It's because Jesus didn't spend all his energy fighting the temptations of the world that he was able to withstand genuine temptation. This series of studies of his life takes a look at stories from the gospels which illustrate the way in which temptation came to Jesus in his ministry-the temptation to stay where he was comfortable and known; to divide people into friends and enemies; to avoid confronting problems, and many others. They are the serious temptations we all face, and which Jesus answers. Quotations from the gospels are taken from GOOD AS NEW, the new translation of early Christian scriptures to be published later in the year. "John's presentation of the Christian gospel is of extraordinary power simply because it is so close to the prose and poetry of ordinary life.
Instead of being taken into a specialised religious frame of reference-as happens even with the most conscientious of formal modern translations-and being given a gospel addressed to specialised concerns-as happens with even the most careful of modern "devotional books-we have here a vehicle for thinking and worshipping that is fully earthed, recognisably about our humanity." Rowan Williams