Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over, he was hungry.
The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”
Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. The devil said to him, “I shall give to you all this power and their glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish. All this will be yours, if you worship me.”
Jesus said to him in reply, “It is written:
‘You shall worship the Lord, your God,
and him alone shall you serve.’”Then he led him to Jerusalem, made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said 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 guard you,’and:
‘With their hands they will support you,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”Jesus said to him in reply, “It also says, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’”
When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.
-LUKE 4:1–13
How Does Jesus Fight The Devil?
In today’s epic Gospel scene, Jesus relives in His flesh the history of Israel. We’ve already seen that, like Israel, Jesus has passed through water and been called God’s beloved Son (see Luke 3:22; Exodus 4:22). Now, just as Israel was tested for forty years in the wilderness, Jesus is led into the desert to be tested for forty days and nights (see Exodus 15:25).
He faces the same temptations put to Israel: Hungry, He’s tempted to grumble against God for food (see Exodus 16:1–13). As Israel quarreled at Massah, He’s tempted to doubt God’s care (see Exodus 17:1–6). When the devil asks for His homage, He’s tempted to do what Israel did in creating the golden calf (see Exodus 32).
Jesus fights the devil with the Word of God, three times quoting from Moses’ lecture about the lessons Israel was supposed to learn from its wilderness wanderings (see Deuteronomy 8:3; 6:16; 6:12–15).
Why do we read this story on the first Sunday of Lent? Because, like the biblical sign of forty (see Genesis 7:12; Exodus 24:18; 34:28; 1 Kings 19:8; Jonah 3:4), the forty days of Lent are a time of trial and purification. Lent is meant to teach us what we hear over and over in today’s readings. “Call upon me, and I will answer,” the Lord promises in today’s Psalm. Paul promises the same thing in today’s Epistle (quot- ing Deuteronomy 30:14; Isaiah 28:16; Joel 3:5).
This was Israel’s experience, as Moses reminds his people in today’s First Reading: “We cried to the Lord . . . and he heard our cry.” But each of us is tempted, as Israel was, to forget the great deeds He works in our lives, to neglect our birthright as His beloved sons and daughters. Like the litany of remembrance Moses prescribes for Israel, we should see in the Mass a memorial of our salvation, and “bow down in his presence,” offering ourselves in thanksgiving for all He has given us.
Ironically, the devil believes in God. He even has the Scriptures at his disposal. Those who have reasonable access to the Good News may have a hard time justifying unbelief if and when the time comes to do so. Even those with no substantial resources other than the natural light of human reason, though, can come to know God—largely by observ- ing His creation.
The Church teaches that the one true God, our Creator and Lord, can be known with certainty from his works, by the natural light of human reason (cf. Vatican Council I, can. 2, § 1: DS 3026). (CCC 47)
Jesus’ Jewish upbringing sensitizes Him in a specific way to this second temptation. Above all else, God is the One to be worshiped. More than kingdoms, more than all principalities and powers, we are to worship the Lord our God, and Him alone are we to serve.
The first commandment summons man to believe in God, to hope in him, and to love him above all else. (CCC 2134)
Reflect
How do I usually handle temptation? What might enhance my ability to handle it?
In my own way do I seek kingdoms, power, and glory? What is my response to the second temptation?
St. Michael, glorious archangel, you know well the wiles of the tempter. Defend me, protect me, and pray for me, O prince of the heavenly host, that my faith in God remains strong , my hope in Him provides comfort, and my love for the Almighty leads me to salvation. Amen.
Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christ_in_the_Wilderness_MET_DT200983.jpg
