First Sunday of
Lent C [Lk 4:1-13]
06.03.2022
The
Temptations of Jesus
1. Theme in brief:
Striving
to win a victory over our basic drives
2. Focus Statement:
In this Lenten Season, just like
Jesus, we too are called to fight against satanic forces such as our desire to seek
total security in material things, to worship power and wealth, and to seek
cheap popularity, and win a victory over them in order to grow in faithfulness
to our baptismal call.
3. Explanation of the text
Today’s passage of Jesus’ temptations is not a drama in three
acts, or an isolated event that happened just once in his life. At the end of
this passage Luke clearly tells us that after putting him to every test the devil left him only
to return in an opportune time (4:13). These temptations kept on troubling Jesus till his
death on the cross and came in different forms such as desire to become a
political king when people wanted to crown him (Jn 6:15), to listen to Peter’s
advice and avoid suffering and cross (Mk 8:31-33), and to come down from the
cross (Lk 24:35-37).
After his baptism probably Jesus
had a strong desire to prepare himself for his public ministry with prayer and
fasting. Therefore, the same Spirit who anointed him at baptism led him to wilderness
(4:1)
where he could spend time in solitude and reflection to get further
strength for his mission. But where the Spirit of God is
active, there the opposite force, namely the evil spirit (the devil) is active
all the more. Surprisingly, even when he was praying he was tested by the opposite
spirit. Probably while the Holy Spirit was prompting him to remain faithful to his mission, the
devil was prompting him to take it easy.
Wilderness was popularly
considered a place haunted by demons. Naturally, it was in
that place the devil tempted him for fourty days – symbolizing Israel’s
fourty-year period of tests, and Moses’ fast of fourty days and nights (Ex
34:28). Thus, the temptation story in today’s gospel vividly portrays how
Jesus’ faithfulness to his mission was severely put to test by the devil. This is
a story of how he was strongly tempted to choose the ways of the world – of power, glory and popularity – instead of the way
of the cross. It gives us a glimpse of the inner
struggle
or a mental conflict that must have been going on inside of him to be or
not to be. Finally, this is a story of choices which Jesus made for God and his
mission.
Jesus’ temptations pertain to the basic
drives
in all human beings. The first temptation of making bread out of stone was to
use his miraculous powers to satisfy his own hunger since he felt severe hunger after fourty days of
fast (4:2-3). In fact, the devil was challenging Jesus to misuse his powers for
personal gain, and to seek total security in material things only (symbolized by
bread). The second temptation was about compromising with evil. The devil must have
been telling Jesus not to be so rigid in following God’s standards but bend a little
and compromise with the standards of the world where power and wealth are worshipped (4:5-7).
He was promising to give Jesus the glory of all the kingdoms of
the world and authority over them if only he could worship “him” (meaning, power
and wealth). The third temptation was about sensationalism. Satan was advising
Jesus to test and see whether God would come to his rescue if he would jump from
the pinnacle of the
Jesus neutralized all the three
temptations by quoting the Scripture: the first one, by saying human beings can
never find total satisfaction and fulfilment in material things alone (4:4); the second one,
by stating his firm resolve to worship God alone and nobody or nothing else (4:8);
and the third one, by his decision not to test God’s faithfulness or
providential care in order to gain popularity (4:12).
4. Application to life
Temptations are a part of human life, and as it happened to
Jesus, they haunt all people throughout their life. All the three temptations mentioned in today’s text
correspond to the basic drives in all of us: for material security (symbolized by bread),
for power (symbolized by kingdoms)
and for popularity and fame (symbolized by
jumping down from the pinnacle of the Temple). Hence, this passage places
before us the model of Jesus to deal with our basic drives or natural
inclinations towards evil throughout this Lenten Season. It is an example
showing us how to resist evil, how to decide for God and how to be faithful to our baptismal vocation
and mission.
Why was Jesus tempted? Today’s
gospel tells us how he too was exposed to the cunningness and tricks of the
devil in order to teach us how we can win a victory over his designs. The temptation
story of today’s gospel shows how Jesus proved himself to be God’s beloved Son
who always did his Father’s will and not the devil’s will. This proves what the
Letter to the Hebrews says that Jesus had “become like his brothers and sisters
in every respect so that he might be merciful” towards those who are
tempted like him (Heb 2:17). Since he himself was tested in every respect as we are, he is
able to “sympathize with our weaknesses” and help us
when we face the same ordeal (Heb 4:15). Just like Jesus, we too are constantly or
ceaselessly tempted from the time of our baptism until death to abandon our faith and
baptismal call, and to accommodate to the worldly standards,
The first temptation is to use our God-given
resources and power for selfish purposes; to find total security in material things; and not to trust in God’s providence. Satan was telling Jesus
that it was not needed for him to suffer hunger since he was the Son of God. He
could use his almighty power to change stones into delicious bread. Satan was
asking him to drift away from God’s will by using his divine power for his selfish
purposes.
We too are quite often tempted to misuse our powers. Like Jesus we have to
decide between proper use of our powers for service of others or misuse them
for our selfish purposes. Following the example of Jesus, instead of using our power
for selfish purposes the text invites us to trust in God that he will meet our
needs in his own time and his own way.
The second temptation is to pay homage to (or to trust in) power,
money, pleasure, success, military might, weapons, fame, etc., instead of trusting in God. When we listen to the devil, we begin to
worship idols of seven P’s:
possessions, power, prestige, position, prosperity, popularity and privilege. To
put it in modern terms, probably the devil was telling Jesus to abandon his
strict principle such as right is right and wrong is wrong; white is white and
black is black. Just as many companions tell us today, he must have told him
that his rigid stand will not work in the modern world and he
should bend a little to mix a bit of black with white. This is what
is meant by compromising with the standards of the world. The devil, who
sometimes comes in the form of ‘well-meaning’ companions and colleagues makes
us believe that it is enough to worship God for an hour or two on Sundays; but
on other days of the week it is necessary to worship business
and work, money and wealth, power and honour. The devil would say: “Otherwise, how
are you going to manage in today’s world.”
The third temptation is to expect God to save us
miraculously
from all suffering, pain and even death. This means making God dance to our
tune and expecting him to even upset the natural order to serve our cause. We
plan everything rationally, calculate the result meticulously and then say:
“O God, if you really exist, if you really love and care for me, you must do
this particular thing for me.... You must miraculously save me (or my dear
ones) from this particular illness. Otherwise, what kind of God you are!’’ What a subtle manipulation of God! Should we not be
sorry for the times we manipulated God to make him bend to our own will?
A temptation in itself is not a
sin. It is only a mental test we undergo to do an evil act.
Only when we give consent to the evil desire and allow it
to get settled in our minds or act according to it we commit sins. The word ‘Devil’
or ‘Satan’ has a number of connotations in the Bible. Those of us who do not
like the Bible’s understanding of devil as a person have the choice of another
understanding of him as a powerful symbol of the inner struggle or a mental conflict that goes on inside of every
human being to choose between good and evil. It is a struggle to choose between
God and his ways, or world and its ways. The word ‘test’ need not be taken with a negative
connotation. Just as modern industries test their products and put a mark it
with a “tested” seal to prove their real value, we too are often tested to prove
whether our love is genuine, and whether we are faithful to God or not. When we
pray the “Our Father” we pray that God may not lead us to temptation or bring
us to the test. It does not mean God will preserve us from all temptations.
What it means is that he gives us the grace not to yield to temptations but win
a victory over them.
How did Jesus overcome his
temptations? Today’s gospel tells us that Jesus used at least four
spiritual weapons to overcome temptations: The text says (1) he was “full of the Holy Spirit” (4:1) which implies
his total reliance on the Spirit’s guidance; (2) he made use of the Word of God to resist the
devil’s temptations by quoting the Scripture each time: “It is written…”; (3)
he spent time in prayer and solitude since the word ‘wilderness’ is also used in the
Bible as a place of solitude; and (4) he fasted for fourty days because the text
mentions that he was famished or very hungry at the end. Satan uses the weapon
of temptation to defeat us, but God uses it to build us or strengthen us in
faith, if only we make use of the spiritual weapons used by Jesus.
The season of Lent is the most opportune time for us to come
back to the Lord by making use of these spiritual weapons more than other times.
We notice in
today’s text how the Scripture is quoted both by the devil and Jesus. The devil
makes use of it for his own evil purpose whereas Jesus uses it as a driving force for his total commitment
to God and his mission. The devil is a wrong example of how human beings are
capable of making use of religion and spiritual matters for their selfish
purposes: to earn money, to further their business interests, to gain power,
name, popularity, and recognition. Anyone of us can undergo these tests. We
need the power of prayer and penance so that we do not fail in these tests. We
also need to undertake voluntary fast (instead of sticking only to two days of fasting
and abstinence in Lent fixed by the Church) to gain self-mastery over our basic
inclinations towards evil.
These
spiritual means will motivate and energize us to take the following decisions
against temptations as Jesus has set an example:
(1) Not to “live by
bread alone” (4:4); that is, not to live
only to eat, drink and make merry but to live for God and his values; to live
on God’s Word; to live for love, friendship, listening to others, fellowship,
etc. Yes, there is much more to life than mere satisfaction of material needs.
(2) “To worship the Lord and serve him alone” (4:8);
that is, not to worship worldly standards of money, wealth, power and position; and not
to use our power to dominate or to exploit others but to serve them.
(3) Not to “put God to the test” (4:12); that is, not to expect
God to rescue us from all natural and man-made calamities and sufferings, but
to remain faithful to him even in those situations when our faith and
faithfulness are severely tested.
5. Response to
God's Word
Are we faithful to our baptismal promises? Do we
make compromises with the worldly standards where we are called to stand firm
by Christ’s standards? Do we live only to eat, drink and enjoy, or by God’s values also? Who/what
controls and leads us: money/wealth/power, or God? In times of trials and
suffering (even when we feel the absence
of God), do we trust in his
6. A Prayer
Lord Jesus, just like you we too are often tempted
not to be faithful to our baptismal promises as well as the mission which you
have entrusted to us. We too are often tempted to use our powers to satisfy our
selfish needs; to distrust our heavenly Father’s providential care to satisfy
our material needs; to demand miracles from you as a proof of your love for us
and avoid our responsibilities; to crave for power, prestige, honour and wealth
and to make compromises with the worldly standards. We believe that you are with
us and give us the strength to face these temptations because you too were
tested like us. Give us the grace to make decisive choice for your values and
always to say ‘no’ to the ways of the world. Amen.
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