1st Sunday of Lent – A
Matthew 4:1-11
This Sunday’s Readings
First Reading
1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9,12-13,22-23
David does not kill Saul.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 103:1-4,8,10,12-13
A song in praise of God’s mercy
Second Reading
1 Corinthians 15:45-49
As we bear the image of Adam, so we will bear the image of the one from heaven.
Gospel Reading
Luke 6:27-38
Jesus teaches his disciples to be merciful as God is merciful.
Background on the Gospel Reading
Today’s gospel reading is a continuation of the teaching that began in last Sunday’s gospel. We continue to hear Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain. Recall that in Luke’s Gospel, this teaching is addressed to Jesus’ disciples. This is in contrast to the parallel found in Matthew’s Gospel, the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus’ words are addressed to both the disciples and to the crowds.
These words from Jesus’ teaching are familiar to us. They constitute the crux and the challenge of what it means to be a disciple: Love your enemies, turn the other cheek, give to those who ask, do unto others, lend without expecting repayment, judge not lest you be judged.
There are several similarities between Luke’s and Matthew’s report of Jesus’ great teaching. Both begin with the Beatitudes. Matthew includes nearly all the content that Luke does; the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel is longer than Luke’s Sermon on the Plain. There are, however, differences in language and nuance. For example, Matthew presents this portion of the teaching as a contrast between Jesus’ teaching and the teachings of the law and the prophets. This is in keeping with Matthew’s concern to address his predominantly Jewish audience. It is likely that Luke omits this contrast because it was unnecessary for the Gentile believers for whom Luke is writing.
Another point of contrast between Matthew and Luke’s presentation is the terminology. In Luke, Jesus contrasts the behavior of his followers with the behavior of “sinners.” In Matthew, Jesus contrasts the behavior desired with the behavior of tax collectors and Gentiles. Matthew concludes the teaching about love of enemies with the admonition to be perfect as God is perfect; Luke concludes by emphasizing God’s mercy.
In both Gospels, Jesus’ words challenge those who would follow him to be more like God. God loves us beyond our expectations, beyond anything we can possibly imagine. In response to God’s love, we are to love as God loves, beyond expectations and with a depth beyond imagining.
Faithful to Jesus in temptations
José Antonio Pagola
Right from the start, the Christians of the first generation were interested in the «temptations» of Jesus. They didn’t want to forget the kind of conflicts and struggles that he had to overcome to keep himself faithful to God. It helped them to not lose sight of their sole task: to build a more human world by following Jesus’ steps.
The story is startling: in the «desert» you can hear God’s voice, but you can also feel the attraction of the dark forces that separate us from God. The «devil» tests Jesus, employing God’s Word and supporting himself in the psalms that were prayed in Israel: even in the interior of religion you can hide the temptation to distance ourselves from God.
In the first temptation Jesus resists the using of God to «change» stones into bread. The first thing a person needs is to eat, but «not just on bread does a person live». The desire to be human doesn’t end with just nourishing the body. We need much more.
Precisely in order to be freed from suffering, hunger, and the death of those who don’t have bread, we need to awaken the hunger for justice and love in the dehumanized world of those who are full.
In the second temptation, the devil suggests to him, from the top of the temple, that he seek God in security. He could live tranquil, «held up by their hands», and walk without stumbling or dangers of any type. Jesus reacts: «Don’t tempt the Lord your God».
It’s diabolic to organize religion as a system of beliefs and practices that give security. You don’t construct a more human world by each one seeking refuge in their own religion. It’s necessary to sometimes take on risky commitments, trusting in God as Jesus does.
The last scene is impressive. Jesus is looking at the world from a high mountain. At his feet are presented «all the kingdoms», with their conflicts, wars and injustices. There he wants to introduce the reign of God’s peace and justice. The devil on the other hand offers him power and glory if Jesus adores him.
Jesus’ reaction is immediate: «The Lord, your God, alone will you adore». The world doesn’t become human by the force of power. It’s not possible to impose power over others without serving the devil. Whoever follows Jesus by seeking power and glory lives «bending the knee» before the devil. They aren’t adoring the true God.
The temptations of Jesus and of the missionary
Romeo Ballan, mccj
The celebration of Lent, “a sacramental sign of our repentance” (opening prayer), strongly proposes the fundamental themes of salvation, and therefore of mission: the primacy of God, his plan of love for man, the redemption that is offered to us in the sacrifice of Christ, the permanent struggle between sin and life of grace, relations of brotherhood with and respect for other people and creation… They are fundamental issues which concern not only the Christians, but every human being.
The temptations of Jesus (Gospel) are another form of epiphany, or manifestation of his spiritual personality. Together with the Beatitudes, also the temptations are autobiographical elements to help us understand Jesus’ nature, his preferences, criteria, decisions, renunciations, methods… The garden of Eden (I Reading) and the desert (Gospel) are two settings full of divine presence: it is in that garden that “the Lord God fashioned man of dust from the soil”, making of him “a living being” (v. 7); and it is in the desert that the Spirit led Jesus, “to be tempted by the devil” (v. 1). With his cunning, the tempter had managed to obtain a certain result in the fall of the first Adam but, assures us S. Paul (II Reading), the vengeance of God was stronger by the grace of Christ, the new Adam, which was poured out again “in abundance for all”(v. 15).
Some people, due to false compassion or reticence, tend to undervalue the extent of the temptations against which Christ really fought; they feel that these are not worth mentioning or not possible for the Son of God. Instead these were true temptations for Jesus, not a game of fiction; they were real tests, as they are for the Christian and the Church. “If Christ had not experienced temptation as true temptation, if temptation had meant nothing to him, as man and messiah, his response could not be an example for us, since it would have nothing to do with our own. It would be an example only when, having truly faced the temptation, he has overcome it in himself. We do not care for a comedy or a stylistic exercise” (C. Duquoc). Jesus has been tempted in every way that we are, though he is without sin, so that he is able to help others who are being tempted (cf. Heb 2:18, 4:15).
Jesus has really questioned himself about the possible choices of method and way to achieve his mission. The possible ways were at least three: profit, prestige, power. All three had a common denominator: the manipulation of things, of God and of man. Each of the three temptations is a model of the Messiah: – 1. A “social reformer” (i.e., profit: by turning stones into bread for himself and for all, would ensure a popular success); – 2. A “miraculous messiah” (prestige: a showy gesture, although manipulating God, would ensure spectacularity; – 3. A “messiah of power” (power: based on the domain over people and things).
They are three types of messiah that are false or, at least, ambiguous, and which also threaten the mission of the disciples and the Church of every time and place. At times it was believed that power, money, domination, super-activism, ethnic or cultural superiority… were evangelical and apostolic ways. For the missionary are permanent temptations. Filled with the power of the Spirit, Jesus overcomes the temptations; opts for the Word of God as the only food that can fully satisfy man’s heart (v. 4); trusts the Father and his plan (see 7); chooses to respect the primacy of God, the only one worthy to receive the worship and adoration of man (v. 10). The practice of Lenten fasting, prayer and almsgiving also aims to achieve these objectives. If these practices are marked by a spirit of sharing and mission, greatly contribute to that moderation and restraint which are indispensable ways for the salvation of humanity. The temptations of Jesus were “three shortcuts for not going through the cross” (Fulton Sheen), but Jesus accepts the cross with love and dies on it to forgive. So he won! So he saved us!
In Jesus’ footsteps
Pope Francis
In this First Sunday of Lent, the Gospel introduces us to the journey toward Easter, revealing Jesus as he remains in the desert for 40 days, subjected to the temptations of the devil (cf. Mt 4:1-11). This episode takes place at a precise moment in Jesus’ life: immediately after his Baptism in the River Jordan and prior to his public ministry. He has just received the solemn investiture: the Spirit of God has descended upon him, the heavenly Father has declared him “my beloved Son” (Mt 3:17). Jesus is now ready to begin his mission; and as this mission has a declared enemy, namely, Satan, He confronts him straight away, “up close”. The devil plays precisely on the title “Son of God” in order to deter Jesus from the fulfillment of his mission: “If you are the Son of God” (4:3, 6); and proposes that He perform miraculous acts — to be a “magician” — such as transforming stones into bread so as to satiate his hunger, and throwing himself down from the temple wall so as to be saved by the angels. These two temptations are followed by the third: to worship him, the devil, so as to have dominion over the world (cf. v. 9).
Through this three-fold temptation, Satan wants to divert Jesus from the way of obedience and humiliation — because he knows that in this way, on this path, evil will be conquered — and to lead Him down the false shortcut to success and glory. But the devil’s poisonous arrows are “blocked” by Jesus with the shield of God’s Word (vv. 4, 10), which expresses the will of the Father. Jesus does not speak a word of his own: He responds only with the Word of God. Thus the Son, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, comes out of the desert victorious.
During the 40 days of Lent, as Christians we are invited to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and face the spiritual battle with the Evil One with the strength of the Word of God. Not with our words: they are worthless. The Word of God: this has the strength to defeat Satan. For this reason, it is important to be familiar with the Bible: read it often, meditate on it, assimilate it. The Bible contains the Word of God, which is always timely and effective. Someone has asked: what would happen were we to treat the Bible as we treat our mobile phone?; were we to always carry it with us, or at least a small, pocket-sized Gospel, what would happen?; were we to turn back when we forget it: you forget your mobile phone — ‘oh! I don’t have it, I’m going back to look for it’; were we to open it several times a day; were we to read God’s messages contained in the Bible as we read telephone messages, what would happen? Clearly the comparison is paradoxical, but it calls for reflection. Indeed, if we had God’s Word always in our heart, no temptation could separate us from God, and no obstacle could divert us from the path of good; we would know how to defeat the daily temptations of the evil that is within us and outside us; we would be more capable of living a life renewed according to the Spirit, welcoming and loving our brothers and sisters, especially the weakest and neediest, and also our enemies.
May the Virgin Mary, perfect icon of obedience to God and of unconditional trust in his will, sustain us on the Lenten journey, that we may set ourselves to listen docilely to the Word of God in order to achieve a true conversion of heart.
Lent 2017
The temptation of an illusory happiness
Fernando Armellini
Introduction
In common parlance, to be tempted means to feel attracted to the forbidden. It is little wonder that the great characters of the Bible, the patriarchs and Job have been tempted. A certain embarrassment is felt in front of the temptation stories of Jesus. The claims of the author of the Letter to the Hebrews are baffling. Speaking of Christ, he says: “Having been tested through suffering, he is able to help those who are tested” (Heb 2:18). “Our high priest is not indifferent to our weaknesses, for he was tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sinning” (Heb 4:15).
The Bible invites us to consider temptation in an original way: an opportunity to assess the soundness of personal choice, an opportunity for growth. In temptation, the risk of making a mistake is also inherent. This danger is inevitable for those who want to mature, to become ‘expert,’ ‘adept.’ These terms, in fact, simply mean ‘being tempted,’ subjected to a test, an ‘examination.’
The choice is either to accept or reject the Father’s plan. Two men are compared: one—Adam—decides to follow his misleading judgment; the other—Christ—makes constant reference to the Word of God. The first stretches out his hand towards an agent of death; the second becomes the author of life.
To internalize the message, we repeat:
“Create in me, O God, a pure heart, give me a steadfast spirit.”
First Reading: Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7
The Lord God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being.
Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God made various trees grow that were delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals that the Lord God had made. The serpent asked the woman, “Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?” The woman answered the serpent: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil.” The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
At first glance, this story seems quite simple and can be understood even by children. On this basis, conclusions on the ‘original sin’ were deduced. These conclusions appear problematic, fragile, and unfounded to many.
The proposition that a snake spoke, that the Garden of Eden existed somewhere in the world, that God walked in this garden cannot be taken seriously, nor can the ridiculous prohibition of not eating a fruit. It is difficult to accept that we should carry the consequences of an error made by the first man and woman. Why and by whom was it determined that the consequence of this fault has been the inheritance of all humankind? Who can still believe that all suffering is the direct consequence of the sin of Adam and Eve?
This is about serious objections that require a revision of a particular interpretation of ‘original sin.’ It asks if this is based on the biblical story or derived from understanding the literary genre used by the sacred author.
Are Adam and Eve two historical individuals? Are we their poor descendants, or are we Adam and Eve? In other words, is the story of ‘original sin’ the chronicle of a single fact, or is it the story of every man and every woman who today are tempted and seduced by proposals of illusory happiness? In the difficulties that we have alluded to, we encounter those who do not keep in mind that the passage is not a descriptive report of an incident that happened at the beginning of our history but a myth that explains what we are today. It is not a record but a wise reflection on the present condition of people. It is a tentative response to the riddles of our inner torment.
The time has passed in which the myth was considered a childhood moment of human thought, a rite of passage before the maturity that would have been achieved with rational thinking, abstract reasoning, and scientific positivism that everyone wants to define and quantify. Today it is undisputed that the myth is an irreplaceable literary genre. It serves to transmit truth that no rational analysis can express. The reasoning is cold and static. Myth, however, may continuously be updated. It provokes more profound insight and arouses more and new forms of thinking.
Reducing chapters 2–3 of Genesis to a simplistic story of an apple means not taking the myth seriously. It is equivalent to ignoring the fact that, in these chapters, something profoundly serious is being taught about the relationship between men and women and God. The desire to doggedly attribute historical content to a myth, arguing that nothing is impossible for God (even making snakes talk), is a risky process to be avoided. The problem is not ‘knowing what happened’ but capturing truth that fills our lives with meaning in the myth. So let us listen to the myth and understand the images to be involved in the story.
The passage presents a man and a woman in a garden where God has made all kinds of pleasant-looking trees grow with delicious fruit to eat. But, at the center of the garden, there are two plants on the untouchable list: one of life and one of the knowledge of good and evil. They belong to God, not to humans. They indicate two lines that cannot be crossed without courting disaster.
The first tree is simply a symbol of God, the giver of all life. Immortality is a fruit on which humans cannot lay a hand: this gesture would be equivalent to rejecting the human condition. The individual ‘must’ pass through this world, marked by numerous forms of death. It is extremely dangerous to dismiss this thought, to delude self by regarding themselves as immortal and build a human life as if they live in a permanent city (Heb 13:14). The psalmist prays to the Lord: “So make us know the shortness of our life that we may gain wisdom of heart” (Ps 90:12).
However, this condition is not the last and definitive one. One day, humans will have access to immortality because God will offer it to them. “To the victor, I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in God’s paradise”(Rev 2:7). It is an invitation to accept death and the pain of the present while looking towards a world where “there shall be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain, for the world that was has passed away” (Rev 21:4).
The second tree whose fruit cannot be touched represents knowledge of good and evil. If we take a quick glance at the Old Testament, we find that the ‘science of good and evil’ means ‘to be masters of their own decisions and actions.’ It indicates the will to be completely autonomous in deciding what is good and what is bad. It is a bold claim to want to establish such personal autonomy—defying God or ignoring his fatherly words, which are the correct moral choices! This tree belongs to God. When man forgets that he is a creature and makes himself like God, possessed of all knowledge of good and evil, he self-destructs. He indulges his worst instincts, guided by pride, wrath, envy, and lust. He easily “calls evil good and good evil; changes darkness for light and light for darkness, give bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter” (Is 5:20).
The serpent enters the scene and invites them to take possession of the forbidden fruit. For many centuries in Israel, no one remembered this ‘character.’ The Bible ignores it completely. Only in the century preceding the coming of Christ, the author of the Book of Wisdom identified it with the devil (Wis 2:23-24). It prompts us to wonder who this devil who seduces and deceives really is. The sacred text answers: the serpent is the most cunning of all creatures created by the Lord. It is the highest point of the work God has done: it cannot be but man.
Yes, the serpent is none other than the man himself who, reaching the full extent of his pride, becomes aware of his own ability. He builds his own moral code, laying claim to full autonomy. The serpent represents the will to revolt against God, coming to regard ourselves as God. It is the human image convinced of achieving happiness following its own craftiness. In short: it is that part of the human, which leads to doing without God. We note the characteristic of the serpent: it is the most cunning but not the most wise.
How to explain this rebellion? Everything starts with a false image of God, which penetrates the mind like a sneaky and sly serpent. It creeps into the fissure of a rock. It does not make a noise, is overlooked, but is a harbinger of death. It leads us to imagine God as a rival of man, as someone preventing him from achieving happiness.
The speech of the serpent is nothing but a passing thought from which each sin originates. It sees a God who does not want good for man, is jealous of his power, and is detestable because he does nothing but prohibits. As long as God exists, man will always remain small and immature. Only when God is eliminated will man become an adult, assert himself, grow, and progress.
The next step is sin. Distrust towards God leads us to make choices contrary to his directions. Sin is not born of a search for evil but for good and happiness. The trouble is that distrusting God, man points towards the wrong target, misses the goal, and self-destructs. It is a mistake, a lack of wisdom, and senselessly cunning.
The reading concludes by revealing the awareness of both the man and the woman of being naked. By the end of the second chapter, the sacred author has already mentioned the theme of nudity. “Both the man and his wife were naked, but not ashamed” (Gen 2:25). After their sin, however, they did not accept this reality serenely. They tried to hide it and felt the need to weave fig leaves to cover themselves (Gen 3:7).
In the context of this story, nudity is not the point—as some perhaps still believe—nor is it connected with sexuality or the perversion of instincts. It is simply a symbol of the human condition. “Naked I came from my mother’s womb”—is the expression used by Job to describe the reality of man (Job 1:21). Ecclesiastes refers to this same image: “Naked he came from his mother’s womb; he returns as he came” (Ecl 5:14). Stripped of everything that man can put on himself, man remains what he is, with all his limitations, weakness, and fragility.
The inability to solve all problems, moments of dejection and depression, physical and psychological weaknesses, disability, ignorance, disease, all of these are not a cause for shame. They are not a loss, but human nakedness as a natural condition.
A healthy person is not ashamed of nakedness. He recognizes and accepts it calmly. He loves and manages it according to the plan of God. The serpent lurks inside each person that drives him towards refusal to accept it and consider it a disaster, which instigates a claim to perfection without limits, as is the situation of God.
Second Reading: Romans 5:12-19
Brothers and sisters: Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned—for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world, though sin is not accounted when there is no law. But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam, who is the type of the one who was to come.
But the gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one, the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many. And the gift is not like the result of the one who sinned. For after one sin there was the judgment that brought condemnation; but the gift, after many transgressions, brought acquittal. For if, by the transgression of the one, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so, through one righteous act, acquittal and life came to all. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous.
The long and intricate argument that Paul makes in this passage from the Letter to the Romans seems to contradict the explanation we have given about the story of Genesis. Here the apostle appears to assume that Adam is a clearly identified individual and responsible for all evil. In reality, he is merely taking up (without canonizing it) the rabbinic interpretation of his time. He uses the contrast between Adam and Christ to explain the work of salvation accomplished by Jesus.
Adam wanted to be lord of good and evil and met death as a result. Christ, on the contrary, recognized his dependence on God. He was always faithful and obedient to the Father and became the Lord of life. All those who follow him and imitate his obedience will be made righteous.
Between these two ways of being, people are invited to make their own choice.
Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11
At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” He said in reply, “It is written: One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”
Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you and with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone. Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.” Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.”
Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.
During a Bible study held in Africa, a catechist asked me, ‘When Jesus was led up to the pinnacle of the temple to be tempted, who was walking in front, Jesus or the devil?’ A series of other questions may follow this question: where is the high mountain from which somebody could see the world’s kingdoms? How could Jesus go so long without eating? What appearance had the devil assumed? Who told Matthew how the event took place? How can we consider Jesus a brother “like us in every respect” (Heb 2:17), even in temptation, if he undergoes tests that are so different from ours?
The list of difficulties could continue, but these are enough to understand that we are not faced with the track record of Jesus but with a theological text. Mark, the first evangelist, only remembers that “the Spirit drove him into the desert. Jesus stayed in the desert forty days and was tempted by Satan” (Mk 1:12-13). Using the biblical language and imagery, he infers that the whole life of Jesus, represented by the number forty, was a dramatic confrontation between him and his tempter.
In the following years, the reflection of the Christian community continued. The disciples remembered especially the most dramatic of his temptations, that on the cross when he cried out to the Father: “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?” (Mk 15:34). These words might sound blasphemous to those who do not understand that, at that time, Jesus was praying. He was reciting Psalm 22. As he had done throughout his life, even during the agony in the garden, he hearkened back to the Scriptures.
How to summarize in a page of catechesis this experience of temptation, lasting a lifetime and ending on a gradated path towards the cross? The Christian community knew the Old Testament well. They soon noticed the parallelism between Israel—the son that God had called out of Egypt, but in the desert responded with infidelity to the tenderness of the Father (Hos 11:1-4)—and Jesus, the beloved son who, rather, was always obedient. Using a literary genre often used by the rabbis, the ‘Midrashic Haggadah,’ Matthew recorded their reflections keeps three frameworks in which the temptations took place
Jesus’ answers to the tempter refer to three events of the Exodus: the murmurings of the people over the lack of food and the gift of the manna (Ex 16), the protests over lack of water (Exodus 17), and the idolatry represented by the golden calf (Exodus 32). Jesus, therefore, relives the history of his people. He is subject to the same temptations and overcomes them.
Let us examine each of these three ‘parables’ that represent, in a schematic way, the wrong way of dealing with this three-part story: with things, with God, and with people.
The first: “Order these stones to turn into bread” (vv. 1-4). You cannot live without bread. ‘Eating’ is one of the most used verbs in the Bible. It occurs 910 times in the Old Testament. This shows how important it is to God that every person has something to eat.
In the desert, the Lord said to Moses: “Now I am going to rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to gather what is needed for that day. In this way, I will test them. Moses said to the Israelites:‘Each one gathers as much as he could eat. Let no one leave any of it till morning.’ But they did not listen and some of them left it till morning. It bred worms and became foul” (Ex 16:4,19-20).
It is a typical case of pedagogical temptation: God has placed Israel in front of the manna to educate the people using earthly goods and trust in His providence. God wanted to rescue his people from the frenzy of desire to possess wealth and accumulate food by teaching his people to control their greed. He failed: the seduction of the goods of this world is almost unstoppable. It is difficult to settle for the ‘daily bread’ to allow everyone to have enough to live on.
Jesus was tempted to use his ability to produce ‘bread’ for himself. He reacted by referring to Scripture: “One does not live on bread alone, but also from everything that comes from the mouth of God” (Deut 8:3).
The only one who considers his life in the light of the Word of God, like Jeremiah, “devours it with greed”and makes it “the joy and gladness of his heart” (Jer 15:16) can give as balanced value to material objects of this world. They are not to be despised, destroyed, or rejected and not to be considered idols. They are fleeting and transient creatures, not absolute reality.
In this first scene, the wrong way with which to interact with the material reality is identified. The selfish use of accumulated wealth for oneself is living on the work of others, luxuriating in opulence, while others lack bare necessities, is behavior dictated by the evil one.
For Christians, Lent is a time of life’s revision and conversion. Faith in the Risen Christ cannot be reduced to a solicitation of alms to drop a few substantial crumbs from our laden dinner tables. It is instead a provocation to radically revise our way of handling the goods of this world. We can ask, for example, if we have a clear idea of the line of demarcation between the Biblically sighted and the avaricious, we can begin with some expenses, leisure travel, bank and investment accounts, fabulous sums left as legacies to children that are not compatible with any evangelical choice or Christian perspective. It is in this world that we live, but extraordinary wealth can be classified as ‘dishonest’ (Lk 16:9) if it is not managed by taking into account the recommendations of the Master: “tell you not to be worried about food and drink … The pagans busy themselves with such things. Do not worry about tomorrow” (Mt 6:25-34).
The second temptation: “Throw yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple” (vv. 5-7). The diabolical proposal is even based on the Bible: “It is written …” says the tempter. The most insidious wiles of evil present themselves with an attractive face, assuming a prayerful image, using the same word of God—but a crippled and foolishly interpreted version that leads people astray.
The ultimate goal of evil is not to cause some moral subsidence, fragility, or weakness but to undermine any relationship with God. This is achieved when, in people’s minds, doubt casts a shadow over whether the Lord keeps his promises or not. People misinterpret his word that ensures protection instead of distrust over whether he abandons those who trusted him at critical moments.
The need ‘to demand proof’ arises from this doubt. In the desert, the people of Israel, exhausted by thirst, succumbed to this temptation and exclaimed: “Is the Lord among us or not?” (Ex 17:7). They demanded a sign from God, saying that if he is on our side, if he really accompanies us with his love, he would manifest himself by giving a sign, performing a miracle! Israel challenged God to see if He really loved her.
Every person experiences similar doubts. Every person must face this temptation. Even the prophet Jeremiah was not spared. One day he felt betrayed by the Lord. At the height of his anguish, he cried to him: “Why do you deceive me, and why does my spring suddenly dries up?” (Jer 15:18).
Even Jesus was subject to this test, but he did not budge. Unlike Israel, even in the most dramatic moments of his life, he refused to ask the Father for proof of his love. He did not ever doubt his loyalty, even on the cross, confronting the absurdity of what was happening to him; he could have been misled into thinking that the Lord had forsaken him.
We give in to this temptation every time we demand signs of his love from God when we ask him for the grace and even a miracle to be freed from difficulties, controversies, or disasters. In every happy or painful situation, we pray to him not to be granted privileges or ask him to change his plans or adapt them to our own, but that they may give us light and strength to come out of each test more mature. We should not expect God to deal with us differently from his beloved Son.
The third temptation: “All this I will give you if you kneel down and worship me” (vv. 8-11). It is the temptation of power, of domination over others. The choice is between these opposing realities: to instruct or serve, compete or be supportive, overwhelm or consider themselves servants. This choice is manifested in every attitude and every condition of life. Anyone who has attained some learning or has reached a prestigious position can help those less lucky to grow. However, they can also use it to humiliate the less gifted. Those who have power and are rich can serve the poorest and most disadvantaged or lord it.
The greed for power is so overwhelming that even poor people are tempted to wield it over the weaker. Authority is a charisma and is God’s gift to the community so that everyone can be in their place and feel fulfilled. However, power is evil, even if it is exercised in the name of God. Where dominion is exercised over others, where people struggle to prevail over others, where someone is forced to kneel or bow down in front of another, the logic of evil is at work.
Jesus did not lack the talent to prosper in worldly affairs, to climb all the steps to religious and political power. He was intelligent, lucid, and courageous. He charmed the crowds. He certainly would have been successful, but on one condition, that he ‘worshiped Satan’—to comply with the principles of this world, to compete, to resort to the use of force and oppression, to ally with the powerful, and to use their methods. He made the opposite choice: he made himself a servant.
The people of Israel in the desert got tired of their God and worshiped a golden calf: the material idol, the work of human hands. Jesus never bowed down before any idol. He was not seduced by political power, money or weapons, friendship with the great of this world, and proposals for success and glory. He listened only to the Word of the Father. The voice that excites the thirst for power in us and invites us to promote a personality cult is insistent and insidious.
The latter part of the Gospel is an invitation to reconsider our lives and make us aware that privilege, title, honor, the kissing of hands are not offered by God but by the tempter. To his children, the Father of Jesus presents only service humbly rendered to the sisters and brothers.
READ: Life may bring temptations. Pay attention to the three great temptations: pleasure (bread), power, and failure to accept responsibility for one’s actions (tempting God by jumping off the pinnacle of the temple).
REFLECT: These temptations affect everyone. Which temptations affect me, and what do I do about them?
PRAY: The Holy Spirit assists us in dealing with temptations. With prayer, we can overcome any temptation, even if it takes a long time and with much effort.
ACT: Recognize the temptation (pleasure, power, and the failure to accept responsibility for your action) that causes you the most trouble and take steps to deal with it.
