Lent is a time when those catechumens (“elect”) who are preparing for Christian initiation at the Easter Vigil, become more visible. During Lent there will be the rites of Election, three Scrutinies and the presentation of the Creed and Lord’s Prayer. These rites will take place in the presence of the praying assembly, but not just for the benefit of those involved in the R. C. I. A. process. These are public rituals and are for the benefit of all the gathered faithful. The presence of the “elect” reminds us that Lent is a time for each of us to reflect on the quality of our commitment to Christ and where we are at this stage of our lives on our Christian journey.
We are not on our own during our Lenten reflection, self-denial and prayer. Just as Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert, so does the Spirit accompany us these weeks when, at the Easter Vigil service, we will renew our baptismal commitment to Christ and be blessed by new Easter waters.
Lent always begins with the account of Jesus’ temptation in the desert. We are told the Spirit led him there. Don’t you find it consoling to know that God didn’t exempt Jesus from what we experience all the time in the world? Jesus wasn’t play acting, he really was tempted. The Letter to the Romans tells us that what happened to us because of Adam, was reversed in Jesus. Adam’s sin brought death into the world– we all die, “in as much as all sinned.” But, Paul reminds us, through Christ, sin has been overcome and we are all put in right relationship with God, “the many will be made righteous.”
What does “righteousness” look like? We could discuss it and enumerate its characteristics, but God teaches us in a more concrete way–we see who and how a righteous person behaves in Jesus Christ. Today’s gospel narrative (in fact all the gospels) shows us how a righteous person rejects temptation and chooses to be faithful to God and the mission God has given him to accomplish. The temptations in the desert weren’t once-and-for all; they also represent the temptations Jesus would face throughout his ministry.
Jesus overcame the temptations that threatened his very identity as a faithful child of God. His strength against these temptations came from the Spirit who was with him in the desert and from the Word of God, that kept him focused and able to detect truth from falsehood. Both helped him keep faithful to the mission God had given him.
What were these temptations about? They certainly were real temptations because they offered possibilities to Jesus for how he could draw people to himself and his message. He could have nourished himself with bread, not only in the desert, but through all his life. After all, he would need strength for his mission and, if he were God’s “beloved Son” (3:17), why would God want him to go hungry? What way would that be to treat a beloved child? In addition, just think of the vast following he would have had, if he had taken the tempter’s suggestion, turned stones into bread and fed the desperately hungry crowds.
Will Jesus rely on himself and his own powers or trust in God to care for him? Is God’s Word enough; is it reliable? Can we invest our lives in it? Jesus’ answer: “One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” Can we also trust that God will give us the bread we need for the many struggles and needs we face? Or, to put it more basically: does God love us enough to feed us in our desert places all through our lives? Jesus certainly thought so. We hope receiving him in Eucharist today will also help us to trust in God with the faith of the righteous Son of God.
Jesus would not throw himself off the parapet of the Temple to land unharmed, because he would not force God’s hand to protect him. He would not be a flashy miracle worker and gain followers by means of a splendid show. But wasn’t he sent to draw people to himself and the message he bore? Yes, but people would need to put their faith in him, not the spectacles he might display. We don’t always get reassuring signs or big displays of God’s power that will draw us to Jesus. Instead, we are called to respond to the word he speaks to us, his invitation, “Come and follow me.” Do we trust him enough to accept him and his word even in the hard times when there is no easy escape mechanism from our problems; when we have to struggle in our personal deserts with only God’s Word to assure and sustain us?
The tempter offers a final choice to Jesus. He shows Jesus the powers of the world and offers them to him if he would just, “prostrate yourself and worship me.” Now isn’t that an indictment against the kingdoms and worldly powers, suggesting they are under the devil’s control? Jesus refuses to use worldly powers to accomplish his mission. Again, he can resist because God’s Word resides in his heart and is quick to his lips.
Matthew depicts Satan trying to plant doubts in Jesus’ mind. But Jesus is clear about how he will fulfill his mission. He will be led by the Spirit and have the Word of God as his sure foundation. His is not the “common sense” wisdom of the world. God’s wisdom, which Paul tells us the world considers foolishness, will guide Jesus. Even at the end of his life, when all seems to have failed; his followers have deserted him and he is facing his death, Jesus will not take Satan’s suggestions and convince people of his legitimacy through power and spectacular acts. Instead, he will continue to do what he did in the desert and through all his life–trust God and rely on the promise God made in the Word, to be faithful to him–and to us.
Right before today’s gospel passage Jesus is baptized and the voice is heard from the heavens saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Then he is led by the Spirit into the desert, the place people believed the demons roamed. The desert was also the place where the Israelites sojourned and, when they were tempted, they gave in. Like the Israelites in the desert, Jesus will be tempted to rely on himself and not on God’s loving care–but the outcome will be very different. Because of his victory in the desert and the example he set for us, we too can have vision to see our true identity as God’s beloved children — and more–we will be given what we need to stay in the life-giving and life-sustaining relationship we have in God.
No, this was no pretend-temptation. Jesus couldn’t just brush aside the choices placed before him, not if he were, as the Scriptures tell us, “fully human.” But Jesus comes out of the desert as the one who could overcome Satan; he faced real temptations and rejected them in favor of God and God’s ways–as mysterious as those ways can seem at times. We pray today for a renewed gift of the Holy Spirit, so that we can remain faithful to our calling and, as Jesus puts it today — worship “the Lord your God” and serve God alone.
Who among us hasn’t struggled with temptations? In our struggles haven’t we considered choosing other ways to live–ways that accept the temptations set before us? We sense in today’s gospel Jesus’ own vulnerability. Matthew tells us that Jesus has been fasting “forty days and forty nights.” What were those long dark nights like for him, with his growling stomach keeping him awake and the options offered by Satan dancing in his imagination?
Jesus didn’t just face temptations once at the beginning of his ministry; he faced them all the way up to the end of his life. How much did it cost him to make the choices he made; what were the consequences of his priorities? Eventually his life and teachings cost him: the support of the religious leaders; his popularity among the crowds; the disillusionment and loss of his friends; his suffering in the garden; his abuse by the soldiers and conviction to death and then his final agony on the cross.
Yet, after the sufferings caused by his fidelity and convictions, Jesus was raised from the dead — God’s confirmation of his life and all the choices he made up to and including the cross. New life, we learn in Jesus, comes because we have been tempted by the fruits of the forbidden tree (cf. our first reading from Genesis) and, instead, have accepted Jesus’ life.