There are some countries the United States State Department has warned American tourists to avoid — much too dangerous. Many Americans seem to be heeding the warnings and turning their tourist eyes to other, safer lands. They don’t want to be among tourists caught in a country when violence erupts and they have to be taken out by helicopter for their safety.
Today’s gospel takes place right after Jesus’ baptism and his genealogy. He is about to begin his ministry; but first the Spirit leads him out to the desert to be tempted. Thus begins Jesus’ sojourn to Jerusalem where he will eventually be killed. From the start, beginning with the temptations until his death, it is clear Jesus did not come as a tourist to join us for a while, meet a few people, take in the sights and then be helicoptered out when the going got rough. Starting with his baptism in the midst of the people, Jesus is with us till the end — and that includes being tempted.
This may seem like a backward way to begin reflecting on this gospel… but did you notice the last line? “When the devil had finished every temptation he departed from him for a while.” Luke probably is referring to the tempter’s return at Jesus’ passion. But “for a while” also suggests the temptations weren’t only just a series of initial hurdles Jesus had to jump over to get on to the other things he had to do. He had to deal with similar temptations throughout his public life. We know from experience that temptation is not a once-only testing.
Jesus’ cross didn’t just come at the end of his life when he was tempted to accept or reject fulfilling God’s plan in God’s way. Rather, the devil in today’s story is an appropriate symbol of the powers and choices Jesus had to resist throughout his life. As we who face similar temptations know, they are not easily overcome or lightly dismissed.
What Jesus decides to do in the face of the temptations will shape his ministry and form his identity. We don’t know the whole story yet, but we do learn from Jesus’ confrontation with the devil what Jesus, in obedience to God, will not choose to do to accomplish his mission.
The Angel revealed to Mary that her child would be called “Son of God” (1:35). Jesus’ temptations follow immediately upon his baptism and genealogy. In both he is titled, “Son of God.” What does that mean for him? The devil’s probing and Jesus’ responses in the three temptation episodes will reveal how Jesus will live up to his identity as “Son of God.”
Jesus ate nothing for 40 days. The period of 40 links him to other “40-events” in the Hebrew Scriptures. Moses fasted 40 days on the mountain (Dt 9:9); Elijah fled 40 days to the mountain (1 Kings 19:4-8) and Israel wandered for 40 years in the desert.
The devil suggests Jesus feed himself by turning the stones around him into bread. That’s not a big deal, is it — taking nourishment after a punishing fast? He certainly had the power to do that. Jesus’ response, “One does not live on bread alone,” recalls Moses’ same reminder to the people in the desert. What a powerful reminder it is for us too: that even in the desert time, when our physical resources are stressed, God’s Word is still more important than bread. Jesus, resisting this first temptation, shows where he and his fellow devout Jews had their life anchored — in the Word of God.
The second temptation is about political power. Why shouldn’t Jesus use it to accomplish his noble ends? But Israel’s history reflected its political ambition to be like her powerful neighbors with their gods. This temptation also makes us wonder and scrutinize what alliances some political leaders make with lobbies and “special interests” to gain and hold on to political power. It’s also a temptation for each of us to gain power and use it over others. The church and those called to serve the community of believers sometimes has given in to this temptation: to use its authority to coerce people to observance and conformity. At the Last Supper Jesus bathed the feet of his disciples and showed us how power is to be transformed into service. Jesus will not compromise with any person or plan contrary to God’s ways, so he resisted the devil’s offer of power and glory.
Jerusalem and the Temple are motifs throughout Luke’s gospel. A major part of this gospel will take place during Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem (9:51ff). So it’s fitting that the final temptation should take place on the parapet of the Temple. The solemnity of the place suggests this is going to be a temptation even more significant than the first two. Once again Israel’s past is recalled. When Israel was concluding its desert sojourn Moses warned the people that in the future they were not to test God (Dt 6:16), as they had done so often in the past.
The devil uses Scripture (Ps 91:11-12) to try to get Jesus to force God’s hand and preserve him from all harm. The argument being that, if Jesus were the Son of God then God should protect him so he can accomplish what he was sent to do. The gospel will reveal Jesus’ fidelity to his call and he will teach us that pain and suffering are not signs that God is no longer on Jesus’ side, or our own.
We will journey through Lent and not try to force God’s hand, or look for signs we are doing the right thing. Instead, we will surrender ourselves to God’s will and allow God to be God. If we are to receive assurances and consolation through Lent they will come as a gift from God in God’s good time. We do take on special Lenten practices, but not to try to earn rewards from God for our hard work. Instead, they help us stay alert, we are like people traveling across the desert, who can more easily and with less distractions spot the bread God has prepared for us. When we discover that food, as we do at today’s Eucharist, we offer a Lenten prayer and say, “Thank you.”
The temptation accounts may offer us a perspective this Lent. Jesus didn’t just go to the desert, he was “filled with the Holy Spirit” and “led by the Spirit into the desert for 40 days….” We baptized are not just wandering aimlessly or superficially through these 40 days. The Spirit guided Jesus and can be our guide. We begin Lent by asking the Spirit to help us overcome temptation that threaten to sidetrack our Christian journey.
There is another guide for us to this season. The tempter puts three choices before Jesus and three times Jesus responds quoting Scripture. “It is written… It is written…It also says.” The story joins the presence of the Spirit with the guiding words of Scripture. Is that how we can face temptation and stay true to our Christian identity, through confident prayer to the Spirit and from the enlightenment and formation we can receive through Scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit?