First Sunday of Lent (A) [Mt 4:1-11]
26.02.2023
The
Temptation of Jesus Regarding Basic Drives
- Theme in brief:
Victory
over our basic drives
- Focus Statement:
In this Lenten Season, Jesus invites
us to imitate him in overcoming temptations pertaining to our basic drives, and
make a definite decision to be faithful to our baptismal vocation.
- Explanation of
the text
Strikingly, all the first three gospels mention about the temptations of Jesus immediately after his baptism. Soon after making a decision at baptism to be obedient to the Father’s will unto death, and to be faithful to his mission, his battle with the forces of evil that are opposed to that mission begins – symbolized by temptations of the devil. Today’s gospel dramatically portrays the inner struggle that was going on in the mind of Jesus throughout his life to be or not to be faithful to God. It dramatically depicts how he was very much tempted like us not to be faithful to his mission, but won over this test by firmly rejecting the devil’s proposals and totally submitting himself to the will of God. Elsewhere also the NT says that he was tested (tempted) in every respect as we are, but did not succumb to it (Heb 4:15).
Since the
first two temptations brought to Jesus by the devil begin with the same words,
“If you are the Son
of God….. “ (4:3, 5), it is clear that his sonship which was
declared at the time of his baptism (Mt 3:17) is being tested severely. The
devil proposes to Jesus his own vitiated meaning of ‘Son of God’ – that which
means worshipping worldly power and pomp. The devil challenges Jesus to prove
that he is really God’s Son by changing stones into bread and jumping down from
the pinnacle of the
The devil is presented in this text as the one who tries to trap Jesus into his designs by catching the three basic drives in all human beings: (1) Temptation to convert stones into bread refers to challenging Jesus to misuse his divine powers for personal gain or to use them only to satisfy his own selfish needs (4:3). Obviously, the devil wants Jesus to seek total security in material things only and not to trust in God’s providential care. For Jesus, being the Son of God means to depend on God for daily bread or material needs. (2) Second temptation that challenges him to jump down from the pinnacle of the temple refers to asking him to deliberately put himself at a great risk and expect God to come to his rescue (4:6). The devil wants Jesus to demonstrate publicly God’s care for him or test and see whether God cares. In other words, he suggests that Jesus make God dance to his tune and even upset the natural order to serve his purpose; and thus seek cheap popularity. (3) Third temptation to show all the kingdoms of the world refers to giving Jesus political power over them, and the devil’s promise to give Jesus their “splendour”refers to all the wealth of those kingdoms (4:8). Of course, the devil has a condition: If ever Jesus could fall down and worship him, that is, worship power and wealth (4:9).
The
gospel text puts the temptations of Jesus in the setting of “wilderness”
(4:1) precisely because they represent the tests undergone by
When Jesus defeated the devil, the gospel text says that “suddenly angels came and waited on him” (4:11). This indicates God’s (represented by angels) approval of the stand taken by Jesus against the devil’s designs (4:11).
- Application to
life
On Ash Wednesday we
mentioned that Lent is a time for renewal of our baptismal grace and
commitment. We heard in the preceding textual explanation that Jesus was tested
by the devil with regards to his baptismal vocation as the Son of God. Like him we too
are tested
or tempted throughout our life to go against our baptismal promises to renounce
Satan and his pomp, and to be faithful to our commitment to serve God alone. In
other words, we are often tempted to deviate from our baptismal vocation and mission. Temptations
are an unavoidable part of human life. All of us have inner impulses
and tendencies
that pull us away from the path laid down by Christ in the gospel. There is a strong pull inside us and around
us (in our society) to abandon the principles of the gospel and to conform to a
socially
acceptable behaviour. How far are we struggling to resist these
pressures following the example of Jesus who firmly rejected the enticement
laid by the devil?
First of
all, as Jesus we too are often tempted to use our powers for self-interest, and to forget about others’
needs. With the grace of God we need to overcome this test and decide like
Jesus not to “live by bread alone” (4:4). Bread stands for all physical needs
and material things. Sooner or later we come to the
realization that all our needs are not or cannot be met by material things. In spite of having the latest gadgets and
comforts, we feel that there is emptiness in us which we cannot fill. Though food nourishes
our bodies, what really guides and moves our spirit is “every word that comes from the mouth of God” (4:4). We are not here on earth only to eat, drink and make merry but to live
for God and his values; to live for love, fellowship and for building up loving
communities. Lent is the opportune time to examine whether we have drifted away
from our life’s purpose or mission as Christian disciples.
Secondly,
as Jesus we too are tempted to shun (run away) from our responsibilities and then demand miracles
from God as proof
of his love or care for us. In other words, we expect God to save us
miraculously from all problems and suffering and prove his almighty powers,
while we escape from our responsibilities. It is like telling God something
like this: “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 from this particular problem/ illness/ calamity!’’
Even in prayer sometimes we pray
for “my will, my will, O Lord” or “my way, my way, O Lord” and want him to use
his almighty power to miraculously change our situation and fulfils our
demands. Like Jesus we must
decide not to put the Lord our God to the test (4:7) by using him to suit our designs.
We must remain faithful to God even when God does
not come to our rescue in all natural and man-made calamities and sufferings
for reasons known to him alone. Lent
is the time to realize that we are insufficient.
Thirdly,
as Jesus was tempted we too are tempted to misuse our powers, talents, position and wealth for
our own ambitions and to compromise with evil. Sometimes this tendency may go
to the extent of ‘worshipping’ power, position and wealth. Under
this category come temptations to pay homage to (or to put total trust in) our
capabilities, bank balance, military might, weapons, name and fame, etc. Lent is the most appropriate time to make a firm decision
like Jesus not to worship or serve worldly standards such as power and wealth,
but God alone (4:10). God should be the
only Master of our life.
All the three temptations are power-related: the first one is about misusing
one’s power to meet one’s material needs miraculously; the second one is about
misusing one’s power to work spectacular miracles to gain cheap popularity; and
the third one is about using one’s worldly power to establish a political
kingdom.
Who is this Satan or devil who tempted Jesus in the
wilderness? Without entering into any debate with the various meanings and
explanations given to devil or Satan by theologians and spiritual authors, for
our reflection in Lent we can take one meaning: He is the most powerful symbol
of an Evil Power that attacks a fervent believer in many ways: (1) the
Evil Power that infects our mind and
contaminates it by putting evil thoughts and desires into it to rebel against
God and his standards just as it happened to Jesus; (2) the Evil Power that appears
in the form of bad companions, or even well meaning family members, companions and colleagues, like
Peter who had advised Jesus not to walk the way of the cross, and to whom Jesus
had rebuked by saying, “Get behind me, Satan” (Mt 16:23); (3) the Evil Power
that enters through our God-given gifts and talents to make us feel too proud
of them to the extent of thinking
that we are indispensable to our family/
organization/ company/ religious congregation/ diocese/ parish and makes us
think: “Let me see, how they will run the show without me”; and (4) the Evil
Power that prompts in our minds not to accept responsibility for our failures;
instead, cover them up, make excuses and put the blame on others.
Traditionally, Satan’s role is described as seducing
or enticing people into sin. Sin is a virus
that infects the spirit in us and blocks our growth in divine life infused in
us at baptism and also growth into maturity of discipleship. All the
temptations of Jesus mentioned in today’s gospel fall under what spiritual
authors call seven basic drives or inclinations to sin
with which all humans are born: anger, pride, envy, lust, sloth, covetousness and gluttony. Selfishness is the father of all these seven. If we allow these basic drives to
take control of our minds and thinking pattern, they will lead
us not only to sins but also to unfaithfulness to our baptismal
vocation. Let us look at the spiritual havoc done by these basic drives when
they are left unbridled:
Anger may lead to bitterness,
hatred, judgmental attitude, condemnation towards our enemies/opponents; pride may
prompt us to become ‘unteachable’, arrogant and rebellious; envy may make us sad at
another’s good and joyful at their evil, or lead us to indulge in calumny, obsessive
desire to sit on somebody else’s ‘chair’ (position); and to put down better
performers than us; lust may lead to sexual
abuses, pornography, unhealthy friendships/ relationships, and misuse of
internet/ mobile phones/ TV; sloth may lead us to become
lazy, idle away time, neglect duties and engage in so much gossiping; covetousness may lead to crave for the “splendour” of worldly kingdom resulting
in craze to possess latest things, and to exhibit inordinate attachment to money,
things, persons and places; and gluttony may
lead to indulging in overeating and drinking when it is freely available, sometimes
even at the wrong time.
Today’s passage places before us the model of Jesus to battle with the forces of evil within and outside us during this Lent. Following the example of Jesus who fasted for fourty days (4:2), Lent is the most opportune time to
examine how our Christian faith and vocation are constantly battered by forces
opposed to the Kingdom of God or supportive of the kingdom of Satan and how often
we lose the battle. Lent is the best time to get rid of the virus that has
infected our spirit due to seven forces of evil by using an anti-virus programme – of prayer, fasting (penance), reflection on
God’s Word and reception of sacraments with fervent faith and proper
disposition. When we struggle to
resist temptations two things fill us with tremendous consolation: (1) If Jesus our High Priest was tested (tempted) in every respect as we
are (Heb 4:15), why not we? Neither in Jesus, nor in us, is temptation a
one-time occurrence, but a life-long ordeal. We are fortunate to have a High Priest (Jesus) who is able to sympathize
with our weaknesses (Heb 4:15). (2) In our test of faith,
we are not alone, but have the assurance, presence and supporting hand of Jesus
who says: “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). The
Church invites us to make a definite decision for God and his standards rather than world’s. She invites us renew
our promise made at baptism not to put God to the test, not to worship power
and wealth, but to live on God’s word and serve him above everything or
everybody else.
- Response to God's Word
Are we faithful to our baptismal promises of
renouncing Satan and his pomp – the worship of power and money, and becoming
slaves of evil habits? In what way do we misuse our
powers, distrust God’s care and compromise our values with that of the world?
Do we trust in God’s providential care for our material needs? Do we expect
miracles from God on our behalf without fulfilling our duties and
responsibilities? Do we consider power and wealth more valuable than real love? Are we willing to follow
the path of intense prayer, fasting, penance, Scripture-reading during this
Lent as means to resist evil and anti-Kingdom forces? What is our Lenten
programme to get liberated from its hold?
- A Prayer
Lord Jesus, just like you we too are often
tempted not to be faithful to our baptismal promises; to use our powers to
satisfy our selfish needs; to distrust God’s providential care to satisfy our
material needs; to demand miracles from God as a proof of his 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 God’s values and always
to say ‘no’ to the ways of the world. Amen.
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