Like us, Jesus was subjected to temptation
March 9—First Sunday of Lent
Readings: Deuteronomy 26:4-10; Psalm 91, R. Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.: Romans 10:8-13; Gospel—Luke 4:1-13
The Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent, the Temptations of Jesus, gives us three important considerations for our Lenten journey when there is a more intense desire for repentance and conversion.
The central purpose and grace of Lent is that it prepares us for a renewal of the grace of the Paschal Mystery in our life, leading us to a choice of entering our relationship with God or staying in the periphery.
Here are three considerations to help us in our Lenten journey. One, be aware that the evil spirit will heighten its efforts to tempt us as we come closer to doing God’s will. Two, be aware of the different tactics the evil spirit will employ to tempt us to veer away from fulfilling God’s will. Three, see how Jesus overcame the temptations by going back to the core of his relationship with God, his Father.
The story takes place after Jesus’ baptism and right before he is to begin his ministry. Scholars believe the story must have come from Jesus himself because of the details.
St. Ignatius of Loyola pointed out that whenever we come closer to doing God’s will, the evil spirit will do anything and everything to prevent us from doing so.
Bookends
We saw this clearly in Jesus’ life. We saw it first in the temptations in today’s Gospel. Then we witnessed it again, perhaps even more intensely, on the eve of his fulfilling his mission, in the Agony in the Garden.
Some scholars point out that these are like bookends in Jesus’ ministry and mission.
This is a reminder that Jesus was fully human and was subjected to temptation like us, and it is also an assurance that we can overcome temptation.
Jesus struggled with temptation just as he started his ministry and again on the eve of his fulfilling it, he struggled even more intensely.
The Gospel gave us the tactics of the evil spirit. Deception was on the top of the list.
“If you are the Son of God …,” is used twice to deceive Jesus who just had a beatific vision with the Father telling him “you are my Beloved Son.” So, the evil spirit tries to deceive Jesus into either doubting or proving he is the Beloved Son.
Then there is the play on weakness, here biological weakness. After 40 days of fasting, Jesus was hungry, so there was the temptation to do marvelous deeds contrary to the nature and spirit of Jesus’ ministry and mission.
Sin of idolatry
Then you have the lure of wealth, the power, and the glory, eventually trapping us in the sin of idolatry.
Then the evil spirit goes back to “if you are the Son of God” tactic, and this time he even uses Scripture (Psalm 91:11-12) to “legitimize” his challenge.
Overall, we saw how relentless the evil spirit is to prevent the good and the fulfillment of mission, of doing God’s will. This is the nature of temptation for all of us.
How did Jesus, and how can we, ward off temptation? Jesus countered with Scripture in all three instances. It was not just the use of Scripture, but he used it to define his relationship with God, his Father.
This story showed to us that faced with challenges, temptations included, how we respond can define our character and integrity, or ruin us.
This part of the story of Jesus’ life showed us what would be his final triumph over the evil spirit, over sin, and death.
As earlier mentioned, the Temptations story and the Agony in the Garden story (again probably coming from Jesus himself) are bookends. The former prefigures the latter and the latter brings to perfection what was begun in the former.
Jesus’ warding of temptation in this Sunday’s Gospel comes full circle and bears perfect fruit in the Agony in the Garden where he overcomes temptation, sin, and the evil spirit with perfect obedience, loving obedience to the Father in his mission.
“Not my will, but your will be done.” (cf. Agony in the Garden in Luke)
This led to the Cross and the Resurrection, the definitive victory over temptation, sin, and the evil spirit.
In this season of grace, let us prepare to enter the core of our relationship with the Lord and live out the pattern and grace of the Cross and Resurrection in our daily life.
