Then the devil led him up and showed him in an
instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I
will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me,
and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be
yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and
serve only him.’”
Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed
him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God,
throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels
concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so
that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is
said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When the devil had finished
every test, he departed from him until an opportune time. (Lk 4, 1-13)
Today is the first Sunday of
Lent. Lent is a
time during which we are invited to make a spiritual journey. Like
Israel, the chosen people, we
have to go on a journey from
slavery to freedom. Slavery to the chosen
people was to live and work
in a place
of exile away
from home, in
Egypt, and freedom
was to reach the land that God had promised them. To all of us slavery is
that we are sinners, and freedom is to reach
the promise of resurrection to live in
the house of God for
eternity in paradise.
Israel’s journey was full of
problems. They suffered hunger and thirst. They suffered from snakes and heat
while traveling through the desert. Our own journey is full of difficulties
because, in addition to the usual problems we face in life, we have to fight
the devil and his temptations.
Today's Gospel tells us of Jesus' temptations
in the desert. He gives us an example of how to resist the devil.
After His baptism in the
River Jordan, "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit came into the desert, where
for forty days he was tempted by the devil". Why did the devil tempt
Jesus? Because through baptism, a person is cleansed of his sins to become
aware that he is actually a child of God. The devil does not like to lose these
persons and he goes after them with many temptations.
Therefore, the first question we need to ask is: do we
know that we are sons and daughters of God? Are we grateful that we are
children of God? Or do we think that it is easier and more pleasant to be a
friend of the devil? It is true, Jesus asks us to do things that are difficult.
But he is a true friend! Of course, the devil is always our enemy; it’s in his
DNA!
I do not want to talk about the temptations with which
Satan tried to deceive Jesus; they show the wickedness of the devil. I want to
think about the words with which Jesus answered the devil; they show God's
wisdom.
Christ’s first word is: "One does not live on
bread alone". Of course, we need food. Jesus himself teaches us to ask our
Father for "our daily bread". And we must take care of our bodies.
Let's think about what St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "Don’t you know
that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"
(1 Cor 3, 16). Therefore we need to cater for the house (our body), and to be a
friend to him who dwells in it (the Holy Spirit). So when Satan tempts us to
care only for our body, we must consider whether we want to welcome what is bad
in a place that is very precious, our body and our soul. We must resist this
temptation by the words of Jesus: "One does not live on bread alone".
The second word of Jesus is: "Scripture says,
'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" The power and the glory
that Satan offers Jesus as the second temptation, in fact, do not belong to the
devil. They belong to God alone. So, the devil cannot give them to anyone.
Let's think back to Adam and Eve. The book of Genesis reminds us what the
serpent (Satan) said to the woman (Eve): "There is no way you will die.
Even God knows that whenever you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you
will be like God, knowing good and evil ". Eve had told the serpent that
God had commanded them not to eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the
middle of the garden, “lest we die". The temptation of the devil was to
awaken the desire to "become like a God", in other words: "I
will give you power and glory". We know what kind of power, what glory! It
is the power to do evil, war and violence of all kind. Satan gives us a glory
that is short-lived. But since we are the children of Adam, we want power and we
use it even in the small family environment; and we want glory.
Jesus teaches us that real power and glory belong to
God alone. We receive God's gifts with which He shares His power and His glory with
us in the form of co-workers with Him in service to others. For this reason,
together with Jesus we must resist this temptation with the words of Jesus:
"Scripture says, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"
And let us remember that when God commands us: "Do not do this", in
fact he is telling us, "Beware! Do not hurt yourself", because God
loves us sincerely and for all eternity!
The third word of Jesus is: "Do not tempt the Lord
thy God." Satan tempted Jesus saying, "Throw yourself down from the top
of the Temple, because angels will protect you and you will not injure
yourself." It's a very common temptation especially now when many people
look for trouble and risk their lives for pleasure, to experience different
emotions, or to show their courage. Now is not the time to present a list of
these temptations. It is enough to mention drugs, sexual abuse and texting
messages or phoning while driving. There are many other things that can lead us
down the path of evil, which we want to try because they look good. But they
are full of poison which kills the soul or the body, and often kills them both.
Jesus teaches us to ask our Father in heaven: "Let
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil". If indeed we seek the
help of God we must resist temptations as much as possible, otherwise we will be
tempting God. We should remember what Jesus said: "Do not tempt the Lord
thy God."
Finally, we must decide if we really want to be
"children" of God.
May the Virgin Mary help us.
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