By Valerie Teets
For The Catholic Messenger
This Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 4:1-13) is an intense one. Throughout Scripture and in our daily lives, the devil rarely appears and speaks as brazenly as he does this one time in the New Testament. Still, we must not suppose that he is any less active today than he was in this Gospel.
It seems a bit pointless for the devil to tempt Jesus, who is fully God. If there’s one thing the devil knows, it’s how to tempt a human. In his arrogance and contempt for Jesus’ full humanity, he couldn’t help trying. Jesus, who is full of love for us and understands our human weaknesses, endures this temptation. He “was led by the Spirit into the desert … to be tempted by the devil,” to show us the path through temptation.
The first temptation is an interesting one, because feeding yourself when you’re hungry is not an inherently bad thing; in fact, it’s very important. What the devil is tempting Jesus to do is break his discipline of fasting, which is to break his focus on the Father. The devil is tempting Jesus to turn away from that which endlessly satisfies our deepest hunger for that which temporarily satisfies a surface-level hunger. I love how succinctly Jesus responds, “One does not live on bread alone,” a simple statement to remind us that, though we do need food, we need God most. Fasting is our time to turn away from the things that oftentimes we give primary importance to over God. The physical hunger we experience during the prescribed Lenten fasts should remind us of our much greater spiritual hunger and urge us to seek God, who alone can satisfy.
The second temptation is an important reminder that the devil is cunning and ready to promise people anything they may desire, but his promises are empty. Jesus, being infinitely powerful and existing in a perfect communion of Trinitarian love, is not susceptible to anything the devil could offer him but we are because in and of ourselves we are unfulfilled.
Anything the devil might promise us in exchange for worshipping him instead of God would be a temporary fulfillment resulting in eternal torment; Jesus knows this and again states quite plainly that we are to worship God and serve him alone. Anything less than that will result in our own destruction.
The subject of destruction brings us to the third temptation. The devil can’t create, so he relishes destruction and will do everything he can to lead humans to it. Here he recites Scripture in an attempt to convince Jesus that the destructive action of throwing himself off the parapet of the temple wouldn’t be that bad.
The devil quotes Psalm 91 (anyone else have the hymn “On Eagle’s Wings” stuck in their head?), which speaks of the protection God provides to those who “dwell in the shelter of the Most High.” When God provides us with safety from the plentiful dangers we face, we do not make light of that provision by straying toward or seeking out danger. This is precisely why Jesus says, “You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.” It would it be illogical to do so and would lead to a deadly combination of mistrust, arrogance and ingratitude, some of the biggest pitfalls of sin.
We certainly have our work cut out for us. Lent is an excellent time for spiritual growth and the devil knows this, so he is prepared with his temptations, lies and tricks. We, as Christians, know how powerless the devil is in the face of God. To combat temptations, we follow Christ’s example given in this week’s Gospel, which, put simply, is: turn to God, serve God and trust in God. Easier said than done, but to have life in the fullest, it is necessary. Though we are weak, God’s grace is sufficient.
(Valerie Teets is a member of St. Mary of the Visitation Parish in Iowa City.)
