Sunday Reflections
What did God say?
1. ✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (4:1-11).
At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.”
He said in reply, “It is written: One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth
from the mouth of God.”
Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you
and with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
Jesus answered him,
“Again it is written,
written, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”
Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” At this, Jesus said to him,
“Get away, Satan!
It is written:
The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.”
Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.
2. The three readings of this first Sunday of Lent speak of God’s wonderful plan for humanity and how we can profit from this plan by resisting temptations. The first reading (Gen2:7-9;3:1-7) is on how God created man and placed him in the garden of Eden and how man revolted against God and lost God’s favour. The second reading (Rom5:12-19) tells us that the negative consequences of man’s disobedience affected all creation. However, Christ, by his obedience has restored humanity to her lost glory. The Gospel is on the temptations of Jesus by the Devil and his great victory against the Devil. In this gospel we see that the Devil is no respecter of person. Just as he tempted Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, he now dares to tempt the Son of God. Adam and Eve failed because they ignored a direct instruction from God. In Jesus we see how holding on to what God says can push back the Devil. He tempted Jesus from three angles: his legitimate needs, his his religion and vanities of life.
3. The first temptation was on food. Jesus fasted and was hungry. He needed food. The Devil capitalized on this to ask him to turn stone into bread. “If you are the Son of God command this stone to become bread.” By asking himself a simple question: ‘What did God say about this?’ Jesus was able to undo the enemy by citing the Word of God: “man does not live on bread alone.” The enemy comes like a friend who knows Jesus’ need but he comes empty handed with no bread because his intention is to separate Jesus from God. We all need sustenance and our temptations will often come from there but, like Jesus, we must always guide ourselves with the Word of God.
4. The second temptation was on religious manipulation. The Devil took Jesus to Jerusalem, the holy city. He then took him to the temple, the house of God. He created a religious scene and began by quoting the Word of God to Jesus to give the impression that he is religious and godly. He asked Jesus to throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple. To prove his point he quoted psalm 91:12, that the angels of God will carry him up so that he will not be hurt. Jesus asked himself himself the same constant question: “what did God say?” The answer is “You must not put the Lord your God to test.” True religion cannot be divorced from reason. Faith and reason must always walk hand in hand. Nobody should allow himself to be deluded by those who induce them to actions that are irrational in the name of religion.
5. The last temptation was on vanities, things that are not really essential for life. Jesus was asked to bow down and worship the Devil and in exchange the Devil will give him wealth, honour and power. The Devil promises even what he cannot give because he is a liar(Jn8:44). He claims that the world belongs to him and makes this claim before the creator of the universe. Just as he lied to Eve in the first reading he dares to lie to Jesus. But Jesus asked himself: what did God say? The answer is: “you must worship the Lord your God, him alone will you serve.” Here again Jesus gives us the key to refusing to partner with evil for the sake of unmerited material gain. Jesus thus defeated the Devil three times. Unlike the case of Adam and Eve, where angels with flaming sword chased them away from the garden, here the angels came and ministered to Jesus.
6. Today’s message is clear. You have entered a battle field which will last for 40 days. Like Adam and Eve and like Jesus you will be tempted. The temptations will come from your genuine needs, then from your religious convictions and practices and finally from the things that you do not really need but which may add value to your life if you have them. We call them vanities. You see how Adam failed because he relativized the instruction from God and doubted God’s sincerity. You also see how Jesus won because he anchored himself on the Word of God. I place before you today Adam and Jesus. Chose Jesus so that your victory will be a resounding one, so that after this Lent you will have angels ministering to you, so that you will celebrate Easter with joy.© Vita, 25/02/23
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