First Sunday of Lent (C): Luke 4:1-13
Temptation.
We all experience temptation in one form or another. Each one of us knows that we are more vulnerable to certain temptations than others. Some temptations seem to be too much for us. We look for help and guidance as to how to cope with temptation and remain faithful to the Lord.
We are reminded in our Gospel reading for this Sunday that Jesus, too, experienced temptations. The Letter to the Hebrews picks up on this: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with out weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15).
This assures us that Jesus is not like a general who sends troops into battle but remains safely ensconced in “command central”, far removed from the actual combat and danger. Jesus has assumed our full humanity, along with its vulnerability to temptation. He knows what temptation is like. He Himself has been tested, and so He can fully sympathize with us as we face our own temptations.
Knowing that Jesus, too, was tempted, we then want to read about His temptations, in the hope that we might draw from them some wisdom and encouragement. At first glance, however, we may find it hard to connect the temptations of Jesus to our own experience. For one thing, we generally don’t literally hear the devil speaking to us. For another, we won’t be tempted in the exact same way that Jesus was. Why? Being the Son of God, He could do much more than we can. Therefore, He could be tempted in ways that none of us could be.
We look at our temptations, and they seem to be on another level altogether. They are often rooted in basic cravings – for food, for drink, for possessions, for someone’s body, or for revenge when we are hurt. We feel competitive with others at times. We want to get ahead of them. We resent their success, as though it cost us something. We feel tempted to gossip, to put others down, as though that will make us look better by comparison. We seek influence and power over others in some manner or another. There are many other temptations that people encounter.
The temptations that Jesus encounters seem to be on a different level altogether. Can the temptations of Jesus, and His response to them, help us in our own? If so, how?
The temptations of Jesus unmask what is really going on under the surface in any temptation we experience. They show us that every temptation, in its core, is all about one question. We might put it like this: “Who’s your Daddy?” In other words: who – or what – do you trust with your very heart, soul, and being? Who is the true Father who gives us every good gift?
Let’s explain this by seeing how this plays out with the three temptations that Jesus encounters in the wilderness. As St. Luke sets the stage, Jesus has been fasting for forty days and, we are told (with definite understatement) that after those days He was hungry. Jesus is now at His most vulnerable, in terms of temptation, and the devil wastes no time.
“If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
From our youngest days, we experience basic cravings: for food, for water, for touch. As very young children, we wanted those cravings to be satisfied NOW. At times, we still feel that impatience. And yes, there are times when we need to satisfy these cravings in some way. We need food, water, and human touch. But not every time. Every craving has its time and place. Sometimes, we say ‘no’ to a craving for our own good. Saying ‘no’ will not kill us. It is a ‘no’ that flows from a deeper ‘yes’. It is the realization that all our instinctive cravings remind us of a still deeper spiritual craving that only God can satisfy. Moreover, in faith, we know that God wants to satisfy these deepest cravings for love and truth and joy that the world cannot give. There are times when our surface cravings can get in the way or when we feel tempted to think that they are the only cravings we have. So, we trust in the Father’s guidance. We say ‘yes’ to some cravings but no to others, as God directs us, trusting that we cannot live by our surface cravings alone, but only by every word that comes to us from our Father in heaven. Who’s our Daddy? The cravings we feel at the moment, or our Father in heaven?
“I shall give you all this power and their glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish. All this will be yours, if you worship me.”
If we manage to negotiate the ‘cravings’ temptations successfully, the devil has another trick for us. As we learn of God, discover His love for us, and seek to be like Him, we encounter His love for all humanity and, indeed, for all creation. We wish to serve God in this world and to serve others as God would have us do. We discern a calling from God to serve Him in a specific way, and we begin. The needs we meet are enormous. Our resources seem totally inadequate to meet these needs. The temptation is to draw the wrong conclusion from this. We feel tempted to believe that the Father’s love and gifts will not be enough. We feel tempted to believe that we need something else – material wealth, political power, credibility in certain circles – for us to fulfill our calling. God seems to be no longer enough. The problem here, of course, is that once we begin to do this, we then want still more wealth or power or credibility. Our focus shifts to these things and moves further and further away from the Father’s love and goodness to us. We can become part of the problem instead of part of the solution. Jesus’ response to this is short and to the point: “You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve“. God Himself will act through our faithful service. He will accomplish His will through us, no matter how small we may feel in the face of so many needs, pains and challenges. He alone is worthy of all our trust. Let nothing else get in the way. Let nothing else compromise our fundamental faith in the Father’s love and presence. He, and He alone, is our true ‘Daddy’.
“If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here.”
If we manage to remain faithful to God through the previous two kinds of temptations, the devil has yet another trick up his sleeve. The most dangerous one of all: his “nuclear option”. It has been said that the most dangerous lie is the one that is closest to the truth. The danger in this temptation is this: it offers us a parody of our Christian calling, a parody that feels so close to the truth that we can easily be deceived by it.
After all, don’t we speak of Christian life as a leap of faith? Aren’t we called upon to sacrifice ourselves for God and for others? Aren’t we invited to trust that, if we make that leap of faith, God will be there to protect us? Can’t we, like the devil, quote Scripture and Church teaching to support all this?
We are, in fact, called upon to do all these things. Jesus’ mission was, ultimately, to offer His life to the Father for us on the Cross near Jerusalem. But what’s the temptation here? It is this: to offer this in a way or in a time other than what the Father wills for us. It is to make this sacrifice for someone or something other than God.
Let’s explain this with an example from human relationships. A young man meets a young woman he finds attractive, and he decides to seduce her. As a Christian, she wants to wait for marriage before she makes that kind of self-gift to a man. The young man begins by finding out what she likes, and doing his best to do these things – seemingly, for her. Finally, when he senses that her resistance is weaker, and that she may have feelings for him, he points out all he has done for her and says, “If you really loved me, you would do this for me”. Now the “love” this man has offered is a parody. He doesn’t love her at all; he wants a conquest. But he uses the language of love to try to deceive her that he might get what he wants. He has no qualms about her sacrificing her conscience and her soul for his desires. “Throw yourself down from here, if you love me.” This is a parody of love, not the real thing. But how many are deceived by the parody? How many lives are damaged by it?
This can happen to us in other ways. It could be a parent, a spouse, a friend, or someone else who offers us a parody of God’s love in order to deceive us in some way into making the ultimate sacrifice for someone or something else – and not for God.
Yes, life does involve a leap of faith. Yes, we often find ourselves sacrificing our wants and desires for the people we love. The difference is this: we do so out of obedience to the Father. It is God who leads us to our true calling. It is God who gives us people we are to serve. It is God who shows us what we are to sacrifice, and what we are not to sacrifice, in fidelity to Him. Our hearts and lives belong to God, ultimately. Our loving service is guided, not by others’ wants, but by God’s will for us. It is God we serve in serving others. God is our “Daddy”. No one else. We love others as God directs us.
Ultimately, every temptation we experience – however great or small it may seem – has one goal in mind: to place a wedge between our hearts and our God. To make us trust someone or something else, and not God. It is God, and God alone, that we worship. Whenever we face any temptation, we would do well to recite and reflect on the prayer that every Jew is called upon to recite every day. It is a prayer that Jesus quotes; a prayer that makes a fitting end to this post:
“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)
Appendix: Reclaiming the Body
In my priestly ministry, I often meet people who are struggling with sexual fantasies, pornography, and masturbation (which is often the result of the first two). There are a number of factors that contribute to the power that these temptations have over many people. Many people feel afflicted by or addicted to such temptations and do not know what to do. I offer these few words in the hope and prayer that they will prove to be a means of God’s grace for anyone so afflicted who desires forgiveness, healing, and freedom from such temptations.
We are all sexual beings and so we all experience sexual desire in some form or another. Combine that with a culture that seeks to exploit this sexual desire at every turn, and to turn the human body into a means to sell something to us, and it is easy to see how many people can feel great temptations. However, the human body – every part of it – was created good, and pronounced so by God Himself. Humanity’s first sin, portrayed in the story of Adam and Eve, has damaged us and made us vulnerable to various temptations. Yet, the basic goodness of creation, though damaged, is not taken away.
The idea is to help ourselves to see the human body not merely as an object of sexual desire or fantasy, but to see the body as God does. This can open us to the grace we need to overcome our temptations and break their power.
How do we do that?
Let me offer you this suggestion. When you find yourself fantasizing about someone else’s body, or looking at pornography – or any sexually suggestive photos – stop for a moment. Shift gears. Bless the body you are seeing. Bless this person’s eyes – for, through them, that person can see the beauty of creation and, through it, the Creator. Bless this person’s heart – for, through it, this person can love other people and ultimately, God. Bless even this person’s genitals – for, through them, this person makes the ultimate gift of love to his/her spouse and becomes the means through which new human life enters the world. And so on. By your blessings, reclaim this person’s body for God. Do this every time you feel this temptation. You may find that you begin to feel a love for this person that will make it very difficult for you to see him/her as only an object off sexual pleasure for you.
You may ask if you have the ability to bless in this way. Yes, because it’s not your ability at all that is at stake here. In blessing someone else’s body, you are merely saying “yes” to God’s primordial blessing of His creation. You become a means for this person – and yourself – to receive the blessing and be transformed by it.
I would take this further. I would suggest that newly-married couples bless each other’s bodies on their wedding night, just as they go to bed together. I would suggest that married couples do this on their anniversaries. I would suggest that single or celibate people imagine God blessing their bodies in this way.
What would happen if we made this blessing and reclaiming of our bodies for God a habit? It could change how we see our bodies, and the bodies of others. God could, in this way, break the power of fantasy and pornography over us. It could change how married couples perceive the gift that each one is to the other. It could open the door more widely to God’s grace, so that He can make of our bodies temples of the Holy Spirit, and drive out any money-changer still lurking in the shadows.
Come, Lord Jesus! Pour forth your Holy Spirit into our hearts! Break the power of illusion and delusion. Help us to see the true goodness and beauty of all You have made, including our bodies and the bodies of others. May we praise You for the beauty we find there, and see only the beauty You have given them. May we rejoice in such splendor!
Amen!