“The devil made me do it!” We sometimes hear that quip when someone has been caught doing something wrong. Unfortunately, we don’t usually take it seriously – that is, the idea that the devil can tempt us to do something. In fact, I suspect that most of us don’t even think very often about the devil. And, yet, every year on the first Sunday of Lent, we hear the account of the devil tempting Jesus. And, just as he tempted Jesus, he tempts us. So, let’s examine this account. It begins with a line that we often overlook: “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.” This introductory statement is very significant. Jesus had just been baptized in the Jordan River. As the Holy Spirit descended upon him, his heavenly Father gave him great assurance, telling him, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” In the Old Testament, the title “beloved Son” was given to those who were faithful to God: Jeremiah, Isaiah and even all of Israel when they obeyed God’s commands.
And notice, it is the Spirit who now leads Jesus into the desert for 40 days. Certainly, the Spirit of God never parted from him in that lonely desert, but instead inspired his prayer and accompanied him in his time of temptation. Throughout the Gospels, we often hear of Jesus in prayer. It was his time to commune with his heavenly Father, to discern and obey his Father’s will, and to prepare himself for whatever lay ahead of him. That’s why Jesus taught his disciples to pray with the words we will say very shortly: “thy will be done, thy kingdom come.” That was Jesus’ daily prayer, I’m sure.
As we hear over and over again in Sacred Scripture, the number 40 speaks of preparation and purification. Remember, Noah spent 40 days in the ark before finding dry land. Moses spent 40 days fasting on Mount Sinai before receiving the Ten Commandments. The people of Israel spent 40 years in the desert before arriving in the Promised Land. Clearly, Jesus’ time in the desert was a time of preparation and purification as he readied himself for his public ministry.
And, as we hear this morning, the Holy Spirit led him into the desert “to be tempted by the devil.” Sustained by only grace and prayer, the Christ encounters the devil. Imagine – the devil tries to put God himself to the test! But remember, Jesus was also fully human. It is in his humanity that he would face these temptations. And, as we heard in today’s gospel, the devil tempts him three times. Knowing that Jesus is hungry after fasting for 40 days, the devil taunts him to turn stones into bread to satisfy his physical needs. Jesus refuses, admonishing the devil that “one does not live by bread alone,” quoting a well-known phrase from the Book of Deuteronomy.
We don’t hear it in today’s Gospel, but I’m sure we all know that that phrase ends with “but from every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Jesus may have been physically hungry but was filled with the life-giving words that he had received during his time of prayer. And so, he could withstand the devil’s temptation. The devil then asks Jesus to worship him, claiming that he will give him all the kingdoms of the world. Jesus again refuses, reminding the devil of the First Commandment that “you shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.” After all, even the devil only has the power that God has given him and Jesus wants to be part of God’s kingdom, not the devil’s. Finally, the devil invites Jesus to prove that he is the Son of God by throwing himself down from the highest point of the Temple because angels will guard him. Once again, Jesus refuses, countering, “you shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.” Each time, sustained by the Spirit and with a command of God’s revealed word, Jesus, human just as we are, can resist temptation.
As we begin, once again, this sacred season of Lent, I invite you to reflect on this important Gospel message. As I mentioned a moment ago, it’s so important that we hear it at the beginning of every Lent. Like Jesus, we have all been baptized and have received the strength of the Holy Spirit. We are the beloved sons and daughters of God. And, like Jesus, we have been and will be tempted by the devil – that’s his job! It’s so easy to be tempted to be concerned only with our physical needs that we forget to take time for prayer and reflection. It’s so easy to worship the devil or any other false god: wealth, comfort, success, power. And, who here hasn’t tested God by falling short of what we know he has called us to do only to think to ourselves that God will understand and even come to our aid.
Remember that one of the reasons why God became man was to give us an example of how we should live as we prepare to be with God forever in heaven. Like Jesus – God made man – we can resist the devil’s temptations by relying on the same things that gave Jesus strength against evil. Like Jesus, we need to cultivate an ever-deeper prayer life and a close communion with our heavenly Father. Like Jesus, we need to turn to sacred Scripture where we can hear God speak to us. Like Jesus, we know that we can rely on the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit for strength when we are weak.
The 40 days of Lent are given to us each year as a time of preparation and purification. As we prepare to join in celebrating our Lord’s Resurrection, let us purify ourselves through communion with God so that we can overcome the devil’s temptations – they are real and we all face them! Then, at Easter, we will sing ever more joyfully that Christ has conquered sin and death and given us the way to eternal life, to that place that Moses described so deliciously in today’s first reading, a “land flowing with milk and honey” – that is, heaven.