The Gospel reading
for this First Sunday of Lent presents two questions. The first is: “Why was
Jesus tempted by the devil? He was the Son of God. Consubstantial with the
Father. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God. Why did Jesus
have to struggle with Satan?
Jesus was tempted by
the devil for the same reason that He was baptized by John: because, although He
was God, He was also a human being. When Jesus came from Nazareth to be
baptized in the Jordan by John, it was in order to be obedient to the Law, and
to the will of His Heavenly Father. He obviously didn’t need the remission of sin--He was sinless. But, Jesus was human,
and He wanted to be seen and known as sharing the human experiences of ordinary
people. Insofar as it was possible for Him, Jesus wanted to be just like
everybody else. After all, He was teaching us how to live; what better way than
by example?
Jesus being one like us, in all things but sin, is why
He allowed Himself to be tempted by Satan. Every human being has experienced
the lure of evil. Every human being has been invited by Satan to turn his or
her back on God and walk the path of self-indulgence and arrogance--beginning
with Adam and Eve in the garden. One would not really be human if he never had
any contact whatsoever with the attractiveness of sin. That’s why Jesus went
off to the desert: to give the devil his chance, to experience the appeal of
evil that infects every human being.
The Gospels of Matthew and Luke tell us about Jesus’
temptations in greater detail than does the Gospel of Mark. Jesus is tempted
three times; to turn stones into bread for food, to throw Himself down from the
temple so that the angels will save Him from any harm, and finally, the devil
offers Jesus all of the kingdoms of the
world if He will just bow down to him. And Jesus resists them all—even in His
weakened state. Jesus was tempted by the devil because He was a human being…and
because He allowed it. That’s the answer to our first question.
The second question is: why does the Church give us
the narrative of the temptation of Jesus every year on the First Sunday of
Lent? Because the Church is teaching us that, during Lent, we are supposed to
do the same thing Jesus did; that is, we are supposed to go to meet the devil
head-on, and face the evil that threatens us. We are supposed to acknowledge
that the devil is real, and that he is indeed after us—after our immortal souls.
And finally, and most importantly, we then need to respond, resist,
and ultimately reject, the devil’s temptations. And there’s no better
place to start than at the beginning.
For most of us sitting here, acknowledging that the
devil is real isn’t an issue. But, Satan
has succeeded in convincing an ever-growing number of people that he doesn’t exist, which is his most devious
and dangerous plan of attack. What’s
more, he has convinced them that neither does God—or at least that He’s not
important or relevant, and that they themselves should decide what is acceptable
and not acceptable, what is right and not right, what is good and not
good. They are the sole judges
of how to live. This is called moral
relativism, but it could just as easily be called “Satan’s Law.” It is just this sinister ploy
that we must fend off at all costs. And
the season of Lent is meant to arm us with our shield and sword for this
never-ending battle—truly of life and death.
By giving us the narrative of Jesus’ temptations at
the beginning of each Lent, the Church is calling us to come to grips with the
temptations that afflict each one of us. Lent is a spiritual desert that we
enter each year, a place where we engage the evil that afflicts us from the outside
as well as from the inside. Unlike Jesus, we…are sinners. We have given in, in great things or small, time
and time again, to the self-destructive attractions that Satan lays at our feet.
We need to first acknowledge that, and then we need to do something
about it.
Dealing with our sinfulness is not something we take
on gladly; it’s not something we do with enthusiasm. To admit that there is
evil in our lives is distasteful enough. To try to eliminate it is harder
still. Yet unless we are realistic about our condition, we will remain detached
from the life that God wants us to live; we will remain weakened in our sharing
in the life of Christ. It’s like when people are addicted to drugs or
alcohol—the first step is to admit that there’s a problem. We are all sinners…period. Every single one of us, save one, was born with
the stain of original sin. And that one human being, our loving, glorious
mother Mary, is a shining example for each of us on how to live our lives. Mary had total devotion to her son, and
obedience to His will and the will of His Heavenly Father--even when it meant
personal suffering on her part; from the very beginning, when it was revealed
that she was with child out of wedlock, to the bitter, agonizing end, as she
stood by her son during his scourging and horrible death on the cross. Hers
is the life that each of us is called to imitate—a life of devotion to, and
unconditional love for, Jesus.
The first reading today, and psalm response, are about
a covenant—one between God and His people.
Covenants are not contracts.
Contracts are about stuff. Covenants are about people, about relationships. God and his people. A man and his wife. Lent is also about relationships. It’s not
about stuff. It’s not about the
chocolate or soda or even the meat that we give up—it’s about our relationship
with Almighty God, and how, when we deny ourselves these creature comforts, we
are spending time in our spiritual
desert, along with Jesus, purifying ourselves, preparing ourselves, for our
ultimate goal—everlasting life with God, and all the angels and saints. If you haven’t entered your desert yet, please start today. Deny yourself, reject Satan, strengthen your
relationship with God. Repent, and
believe in the Gospel. The ends will
truly justify the means.
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