As we begin our forty days in the desert of Lent, our Gospel reading gives us an account of Jesus’ forty day fast in the desert and the temptations that were visited upon Him by Satan. Since our season of Lent seeks to model itself on the fasting and prayer of Jesus, we should pay close attention to the things the Devil tempts Jesus with – because they are in fact the same root temptations we all face – and we should also understand the point of Jesus’ desert journey and of our being tested as well.
St. Luke makes the point, at the very beginning of today’s Gospel, that the Holy Spirit is with Jesus and leads Him into the desert. It is in accord with the designs of the Spirit that Jesus, and that you and me, are allowed to experience times of temptation and testing. Why, because God is playing games with us? No, because it is through trial and testing that we discover the truth of who we are.
We say as much about athletes, or artists or political and military leaders, who face some adversity or challenge, some temptation to come off course, to give up on the mission they have laid out before them. Their greatness lies in overcoming such temptations and trials, discovering their true strength, and fulfilling their high calling.
So what is it that Jesus discovers about who He is when He is tempted in the desert? What is it that we are meant to learn about ourselves when we undertake our Lenten fast, and strip away the distractions of food, or alcohol, or video games or whatever it is that we fast from and are in turn tempted by?
The clue lies in the fact that St. Luke says: Jesus “returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert.” Well, what had happened at the Jordan? Jesus had been Baptized by John and had heard His Father’s voice from Heaven saying, “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”
That’s who Jesus really is, and by virtue of Baptism, that’s who we really are as well. The Spirit leads Jesus into the desert, and calls us to our yearly Lenten fast, so that we can put away those things that keep us from hearing the Father’s voice in our lives – so that we can overcome the temptations of the ego, which convince us that we can rely on ourselves, and we recommit to following God’s will for our lives, and accomplishing the mission He has for us.
It’s in that light that we can examine and understand the three temptations that Jesus must overcome in His battle with Satan in the desert.
After forty days of fasting, in which St. Luke says, “He ate nothing,” Jesus is terribly hungry. So the first test the Devil offers is tempting Jesus to use his power to provide food for Himself: “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
This is the temptation that all of us face to be obsessed with taking care of ourselves and looking out for number one – the temptation to root our lives in the physical and bodily pleasures that we sometimes imagine can sustain us and make us happy.
But in the first of His three responses to the Devil, all of which are taken from Deuteronomy, Jesus says, “One does not live on bread alone” (Dt. 8:3). Elsewhere in the Gospels Jesus also adds: “but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” It is not our taking care of ourselves that completes us; or food, or drink, or creature comforts, or the things we have that define us or give us happiness. It is the word of God’s love; it is His will for our lives that makes us who we are and gives us fulfillment.
Jesus is then shown all the kingdoms of the world in all their power and glory. The Devil says, “I shall give to you all this power and glory . . . if you worship me.” This is the temptation to power and to prestige – the desire to control others and to have others be so impressed with our achievements, so amazed by our talents, that they admire us and worship us.
Jesus responds with “the most fundamental affirmation of Israel’s faith:” the words of the Shema, “You shall worship the Lord, your God, and Him alone shall you serve” (Dt. 6:13).
The power and glory of this world have indeed been handed over to the Evil One, and they are passing and fleeting. The only lasting power and glory is for us to admit our weakness, to be truly dependant as all children are, to worship and serve God alone, and to rely on His power at work in us, thereby being taken up into His everlasting glory.
Finally, atop the Temple in Jerusalem, Satan once again challenges Jesus to prove that He is the Son of God by miraculously demonstrating His power: “throw yourself down from here” and have the angels of God save you.
This is, perhaps, the most fundamental of all the temptations, which is why St. Luke records it last. It is the temptation; as old as the snake in garden; to make ourselves God, to control God and have even Him serve us as we see fit. Jesus again quotes Deuteronomy (6:16): “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” And having failed to lure Him off course, St. Luke says that Satan departed from Him, “for a time.” Of course, the Enemy returns, tempting the Lord again in much the same ways, as Jesus nears the completion of His mission in the Cross.
In the face of each temptation, Jesus corrects the Tempter and reminds us that the heart of righteousness consists in knowing who we really are, and living out of that identity. It is living as the beloved children of God: in total commitment to God’s will. It is serving Him alone and relying, not in great deeds of our own, but on God alone.
Our culture so often tempts us into believing that we can achieve personal fulfillment through material success. Our Lenten fasts remind us that we cannot live “by bread alone.” Our culture tries to convince us that we are self-sufficient islands. Our Lenten penances remind us that we are weak and must rely on God’s strength.
During the season of Lent we go into the desert with Jesus and mediate on the mystery of our Baptism and we face the challenge of remaining true to who we are in the face of the world’s temptations. We confess the ways we have sometimes fallen prey to temptation and failed to live as beloved children of God. Now we celebrate this Eucharist as nourishment for our desert journey and prepare for the renewal of our Baptism in the waters of Easter.
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