FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT 09 03 25
OLD TESTAMENT READING: Deuteronomy 26:1-11
NEW TESTAMENT READING: Romans 10:8-13
GOSPEL READING: Luke 4:1-13
We observe lent for forty days from Ash Wednesday till Easter. The forty days is based on what we have just heard in the Holy Gospel, that Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness.
The Forty days for Jesus was a time of preparation before he began his ministry.
Being in the wilderness is not a very happy or pleasant experience. There not even a blade of grass and there is no water. Jesus fasted all through the forty days. As the period of fasting was coming to an end Jesus was famished and was very tired that is the time the devil began to torment him with three temptations.
The first temptation was ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone.” Why should you fast and be hungry. You have the power to command a stone to become bread. Jesus can change a stone into bread but he said man need not live by bread alone but by the word of God. Bread is for the body the word of God is food for the soul and here Jesus was feeding on the word of God and finding inner strength to begin his ministry.
The second temptation was posed by the devil, asking Jesus to worship and submit to the devil so that the devil will give the riches of the world. The Devil is a liar, nothing belongs to the devil, The world and its fullness belong to God. Jesus rejects the devil by asserting that he will worship God alone. And serve God alone. Even if he does not have anything Jesus will still worship God alone and serve God alone.
The devil was not going away, the devil took Jesus to a pinnacle and suggested why don’t you jump, if you are a son of God, God will command his angels to come and hold you. Jesus dismissed the devil stating, I will not test the love God has for me. The Devil departed.
The Three temptations were aimed to destroy Jesus’ spirituality, his purpose and his relationship with God.
Lent is a time for us to see the temptations and the trials that we encounter in our lives and examine how much are we yielding to temptations and how much are we able to resist temptations. The Temptations that the devil poses to us is to destroy and nothing but to destroy. Destroy our identity as a child of God, destroy the sense of the purpose of our lives and ultimately destroy our relationship with God.
The way Jesus faced his temptations is a source of great inspiration to us. Even at the point of starving for forty days and being alone without a friend or family for forty days Jesus was very clear who he is and what is the purpose of his life and what is his relationship with God.
The Devil was suggesting, test your ability, test God’s love for you, why deprive yourself get whatever you want by whatever means possible. Jesus said no, a big no to all the suggestions and said a big yes to God and a huge yes to what he was meant to achieve.