Readings
I - Deu. 26: 4-10
II - Rom. 10: 8-13
III - Lk. 4: 1-13
THE TEMPTATIONS OF JESUS
Two incidents are vital in the life of Jesus before he could begin his public ministry: One, the Baptism and two, the temptations. In the baptism, God affirms that Jesus is His beloved Son and in temptations, Jesus aligns with the will of his Father. Today’s Gospel passage is on the temptations of Jesus upon which we shall place our reflection.
In the first temptation, the devil says Jesus to change the stones into bread and satisfy his hunger. It might seem a quite normal proposition. But hereby the evil one tempts Jesus to use His power upon himself that is supposed to be utilised to accomplish the will of God viz. empowering, uplifting, liberating and saving the humankind. We too are bestowed with various gifts and talents by God for a purpose. Often times we are tempted to utilise them only for personal benefits and gratification without even having a second thought about the needy brethren about whom God is very much concerned.
In the second temptation, Satan promised to give Jesus the authority and power if only he worships him. To the one whom belongs all authority, glory, honour and power the devil tries to deceive promising to entrust his authority. Will the beloved one in whom the Father is well pleased be taken up by such a deceit! Today people are ready to do anything to gain power, popularity and fame. Everyone wishes and wants to be trending, famous and popular - the amount of videos regularly posted on the social media, the publicity created for a very small act of charity and the number of false statements made to people will testify to this fact. We always take delight in projecting ourselves as someone great and important, a temptation so difficult to resist.
In the third temptation, the devil tempts Jesus to fall from the pinnacle of the temple so that God might command His angels to bear him up so that he doesn’t get hurt. Jesus does not yield to the evil one for he knows well the Father and therefore no test is required. For anything and everything we either ask sign from God or condition Him to accomplish for us, an evincing sign of our ‘no trust’ and thereby yielding to the temptation of testing God.
Temptations are quite common and natural but how are we going to either resist or overcome depends on our trust in God. Jesus refutes all temptations with the Word of God. The Word of God is power. It strengthens, saves and uplifts. During this season of lent, let us take some time every day to read the Word of God with the sole intention of searching and accomplishing the will of God. May our mind and hear resonate with the prayer: “Lord Jesus, give us the grace to be victorious in all temptations like you”
