On Temptations and Trials

As we all know, a desert is a dry, parched land… The desert – in a manner of speaking – is also that time in a person’s life when everything stable seems to be coming loose, which many people are now experiencing… being unemployed, financial insecurities, health not going well, promises broken, dreams crushed, depression, hopelessness. Have you been there? Are you there now, in a desert time – parched place - of the heart and soul?

The desert is the place of testing. It is in the desert of our lives – when we are at our weakest and are most vulnerable - that we are confronted by the strongest and most seductive faces of temptation.

And it is in such a place, such a desert, that we find Jesus in our Gospel reading today. Jesus is in the desert because the Holy Spirit led him there! You see, our times of testing and trial are not necessarily signs that we have strayed from God, or that God has left us.

The desert can also be a place of intimacy with God… quite a paradox.

Of course – often times we bring some of our sufferings on ourselves by our own failures and sins. But there are times our desert experiences are part of the great mysterious design of God – that we need - for us to mature. God – in His great wisdom – has allowed even seemingly “bad things” to happen – even to good people - but we need to always remember that things happen only to the extent God allows them to happen….

God is in control – we need to always remember that – even when He may seem to be absent or silent at times. God is in control.

… and the fact that God has allowed things to happen, if we persevere and remain faithful, good will come out of our desert experience. That’s how powerful God is.

Pleasant experiences make life delightful. Painful experiences lead us to growth especially in terms of trust in God and compassion and mercy towards others.

And so our desert may not necessarily be the graveyard of our soul, so to speak. God may intend the desert to serve as a kind of incubator of the soul.

Temptations come or appeal to us at areas and times of our lives in which or when we are most vulnerable.

“Satan is the father of all lies…” To avoid giving into temptation – we need to understand its nature – that temptation is very subtle. Meaning - temptation does not come clearly or obviously as a serpent crawling on the ground or as a devil with horns on his head… telling you to do something evil.

The devil knows that we would resist it if we knew it was the devil. The problem is when we are not sure or not aware whether it is a temptation from the devil or not.

What we are tempted to do can seem reasonable, so necessary, even so beautiful – like how the devil put it to Jesus.

Satan told Jesus - “If you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread.” What is wrong with that? Jesus was hungry himself – after forty days in the desert and Jesus also saw the physical hunger in others and so what is wrong with providing bread to those who are hungry? But Jesus saw through the temptation.

Jesus recognized that “man cannot live by bread alone.” …. That there is a higher and holier purpose in life – which is - meeting the deeper spiritual needs of people… feeding on the Word of God is ultimately infinitely much more important than feeding on bread… more important than focusing life - on material things and satisfaction of sensual desires.

The temptation was also a temptation for Jesus to depend on himself… to use His own power to serve His needs… to rely on his own which we also face in our lives.

The second temptation - The Devil offered Jesus a short-cut (we all like short-cuts) to world power, wealth and honor and glory. Many people want to get rich easily and quickly. The devil tempted Jesus: Why even suffer on the cross?

In dealing with temptations - we need to always remember also – “The end does not justify the means”. Meaning – no matter how noble or good our purpose or goal does not justify how we achieve it. We should only use godly means to pursue our goals in life…- not by any means whatsoever – not by compromising our values, our faith, our relationship with God.

The third temptation – “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…”

It is a temptation to test God – to use God, to manipulate God – to test God to prove to us that He really loves us or that He is real… making ourselves the center of the universe.... making our lives revolve around our own selves, around our own needs… that even God serves our needs.

We often hear people say – that they try to make a deal with God - when they really want something so bad or when they are in big trouble. “Lord if you do this, or if you save me from this - I will do this and that.” If you let me win the Lotto, I will give half to charity. That is testing God.

In our Gospel reading, it may seem Jesus won his battle with the devil so easily - with little or no effort… It may seem it was so easy for Jesus to do good and to avoid evil.

And so, this is a temptation - we may be tempted to think that Jesus was able to resist the temptation and that He was able to bear the sufferings of his Passion and Crucifixion - because He is God all along. You may be thinking that Jesus knew all along that He was God and that He knew everything that His sufferings would soon be over and then He would be raised from the dead and be glorified…

- but - that is basically saying that Jesus was not really one of us, that he was not really fully human.

But you see - if Jesus did not really fully share in our humanness – if Jesus did not experience being in the dark or being in the cloud of not knowing - if He did not have to deal with uncertainties in the midst of human weakness and sufferings – if that were the case, Jesus would not really be able to relate to our own struggles in this life. We can tell Jesus: “You do not understand, you are not one of us.”

But you see the Gospels actually proclaim that for Jesus - it was actually a real life-and-death struggle with evil. Jesus had a real battle. Jesus really suffered - which means - Jesus can really relate to us in overcoming the temptations and struggles we face in our daily lives...

Admittedly, that is much easier said than done; that is quite too much for our human mind to fully grasp and understand – yet - our faith tells us that Jesus is fully God and fully human at the same time – that blows our mind - and that is why He is the perfect mediator between God and man; the perfect bridge between heaven and earth.

The Gospel is basically telling us that Jesus lived his life in the same strength which is available to you and me.We are called to share Jesus’ absolute faith in a God of love….that God can always be trusted… He will never let us down… He will never leave us alone.

We believe that during Jesus’ darkest hours – Jesus found strength and even peace beyond understanding - because of His absolute trust - strong unwavering faith in God…

And so, the question to us is this: “When trials come to us – when temptations come – which surely will come - may be even right at this moment – Are we going to trust in God, rely on God (as Jesus did) to face the temptations and trials?

We Christians are called to walk with the Lord throughout the journey of our lives, the journey to complete the will of the Father for us. The forty days of Lent remind us of this journey and during Lent – we are invited to examine how well we are traveling towards God.

Let us pray that during this Lenten season, that we grow deeper in our understanding of who we are: Not IF we are “Sons and Daughters of God”, but that - we - truly are - sons and daughters of God… what it really means…

And therefore, as St. Paul said, we may rejoice and give thanks always regardless of the circumstances we might find ourselves in, knowing God loves us because we are His Beloved Children.

Amen.

1st SUNDAY OF LENT – CYCLE C – March 6, 2022

The Text: Luke 4:1-13