First Sunday of
Lent (C) [Lk 4:1-13]
09.03.2025
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 defeat these evil forces in order to be faithful 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, worship power and wealth). The
third temptation was about sensationalism. Satan was advising Jesus to test God
and see whether he would come to his rescue if he would jump from the pinnacle of the
Temple (4:9-10). He was tempting Jesus to deliberately put himself at a great risk and
expect God to send his angels to protect him or save him from any accident
(4:10-11). In other words, the devil was challenging him to seek cheap popularity
by showing his divine/spiritual power.
Jesus
neutralized all the three temptations by quoting the Scripture three times: 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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