Tag Archives: Temptation

Battle of All Time

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Dear Folks,

The First Sunday of Lent we deal with Jesus in the desert getting tempted. It is worth noting that our first reading is about offering one’s gift to God. Let’s look at temptation as interfering with our giving ourselves to God as gift.

The first temptation, “If you are the Son of God command these stones become bread.” He was so hungry. It would have been so easy. No one would have known. The test was being able to say no to basic appetites. If we can’t say no to our appetites, they will rule us. Think of His ministry. How many times would He have been hungry, thirsty, tired, or stressed? Being completely faithful to His

mission, His gift to the Father would mean saying no to those desires. If, every time I feel a bit hungry I immediately grab something to eat. If, every time I eat, to keep eating until I’m full, how do I know this desire doesn’t rule me? Why would I expect that I would be able to refuse my stomach? If I can’t say no to it, what is really my god? Did Jesus experience sexual temptation? Our faith tells us He was fully human, so how could we believe He did not? That would certainly have interfered with the course He was on. Of course, there is meant to be great joy in giving oneself as gift in a full, free, faithful, and fruitful relationship. Things like pornography and hookup culture are ways of seeking the thrill without giving ourselves as gift. How much destruction has the pursuit of these appetites caused in our world? How this Lent should I practice saying no to my appetites?

“I shall give you all this power and glory…if you worship me.” Matthew’s Gospel makes this the last temptation, and I figure that it is to emphasize it because of his emphasis on right worship and Jesus as Davidic King. Luke puts it second. But imagine simply being handed over power and glory without having to work or suffer for it. This is the temptation to have power without giving the gift. Jesus would work incredibly hard and suffer incredibly much so that He could transform people and the world by the power of the Pascal mystery. Imagine Him just saying “Scribes and Pharisees, you’ve done a bad job. I’m putting you in prison.” That would have been so much easier than what He dealt with, but it would have only made superficial change. As a pastor, I know that anything I do with just my formal authority is going to be superficial and can be undone just as easily. If I’m going to make profound and lasting change, It requires informal authority, which cannot be given, only earned. It requires more work, enduring more frustration, and being more patient. I long ago learned that if we want to do good, we will need to work harder than we thought for longer than we expected to achieve less than we hoped. The prize belongs to those who do not then give up. We see those who try to force change by coercion. That does not require them giving themselves as gift. We are called to make change with service, witness and sacrifice. We see in our Gospels that is what Jesus did, and he had to face much frustration, and it required everything from Him. How might we give ourselves as gift for the work of the Kingdom.

“Throw yourself down from here” (the parapet of the temple). Luke portrays this as the final temptation, emphasizing that Jesus was facing the full pain of the human condition. The desire to be protected from harm is primal, and Jesus knew He was going to have to face horrific suffering. How do we avoid pain? Do we shy away from painful conversations that we need to face? Do we use drugs or alcohol to numb ourselves? Do we keep ourselves distracted to hide from the pain in our hearts? Do we refuse to leave our comfort zones for the sake of doing God’s work? How might we be called to face things we don’t want to face, but need to?

Have a fruitful Lent,

Fr. Jim

Facing Temptation in the Desert

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Dear Folks,

The journey of Lent has begun. As we look at our Sunday readings (and we shall be using cycle A readings for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Sundays), I’m suggesting focusing on how they show encounters with Jesus. Everything we do as Church can be summed up into two things: We encounter Jesus and we share Jesus. If we are doing something that does not serve encountering Jesus and sharing Jesus, why should we do them?

This week we see Jesus tempted in the desert. One might first think the encounter was Satan encountering Jesus, but I’m thinking in terms of Jesus encountering Jesus. In His humanity, Jesus faces His strengths and weaknesses, His doubts and fears, His hopes and dreams. He tests Himself. I heard of one Army sergeant who said that they never know how the soldiers with do in battle until they actually get there. Some, including some of the really big, tough guys drop their rifle and run, while sometimes the little mousy guy will step up and do the job. The courage of many Ukrainian people has been amazing and inspiring. Those of us who have never been there cannot say how we would do. When we are tested, we learn that perhaps how we imagined ourselves to be is not quite how we are.

I like to look at how the four Gospels compare, and when they are different, I get curious why. The Gospel of John does not include the temptation in the desert. John emphasizes Jesus’ divinity, and generally shows Jesus in control of the situation. John does not include the agony in the garden, and the only suggestion of Jesus’ struggle is “I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father save me from this hour?’ But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour (John 12:27).” Even when He is being arrested, it is clear that Jesus is in charge (see John 18). Mark is she shortest of the Gospels and will often give briefer accounts of events. Matthew has the dialog with Satan as well, but there is a twist. Matthew and Luke both begin with the temptation to command the stones to become bread (of course, Jesus could have commanded them to become prime rib if He wanted to). When we are really hungry, that is generally first and foremost in our minds. They switch the order of the other two temptations, and that makes me ask why? Matthew has the dialog culminate with the offer to worship Satan, while Luke has the last temptation be to fling Himself from the parapet of the temple. I’m thinking the last temptation would have been seen as the greatest and most important. Matthew, the most Jewish of the Gospels, would see the greatest issue as right worship, beginning with worshipping God, and Him alone. If we don’t get our worship in order, the rest of our lives will not be in order. Luke, however, culminates with the temptation to fling Himself from the parapet of the temple and have the angels catch Him. This is a temptation to be protected from the suffering of life, in particular the suffering of the cross. Luke emphasizes that Jesus shares in our condition. He delivers the sermon on the plain at people’s level, not from the mountaintop. Might this be why Luke is the one Gospel that doesn’t mention Jesus walking on water? I don’t know, but I wonder.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all mention Jesus telling us that we must be willing to pick up our cross and follow Him (Matt 16: 24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23) right after the first prediction of the passion. Only Luke mentions that we must do it “daily.”

During Lent, we test ourselves in different ways. Let us consider Jesus walking closely with us in this testing, and sharing our journey. May we encounter Jesus personally in these Lenten exercises.

Blessings,

Fr. Jim