Mount of Temptation

Some of the stories in the Bible sound weird. Now, if you’ve grown up in the church as I have, you forget how weird they sound to people who haven’t heard them a few dozen times. And this is one of the weird ones. It’s a wild, weird story … to people who aren’t used to the wild, weird stories of the Bible. And they read it, and they’re like … “Really?! Do you actually think that happened … literally? Do you actually think it happened … that way? I mean, there are so many head-scratchers in it, right?” It's a story of a skirmish between this “God-man” Jesus … and this supernatural being they called “Satan.” According to the Jesus stories in the New Testament, Jesus is young … about 30, maybe … just kicking off his “ministry” on earth, and he’s kind of tossed into this cage match with the devil, Lucifer, “the prince of darkness,” Beelzebub, Mephistopheles … you know, the guy we picture with red skin, teeth like some vampire, horns, a serpent-like tail, and, holding this pitchfork … for some reason. … Really?