Here we are in the first Sunday of Lent. It’s a time of fasting and prayer. So it fits right in that we’re given this remarkable reading from the gospels. So often in the gospels we hear about something the disciples witnessed firsthand. In this reading Jesus tells his disciples of an intimate and private encounter with Satan. We have to remember that Jesus is fully human and fully divine. His temptations were very much like ours.
How often have we fasted and prayed for something as sort of an assumed contract? In our minds we say, “Well, God, if I give up these things and pray I’m expecting a certain outcome at the end.” We expect to suffer a little during the fasting, but we expect a reward at the end. Temptation isn’t a new thing. It’s as old as Adam and Eve. What’s tempting us today? How does the evil one pull us away from offering ourselves to God?
Let’s go back to the way Jesus was tempted. In today’s gospel, Jesus had already fasted for 40 days. It was at that time when he was weakest and most vulnerable that Satan chose to tempt him. It came in three forms, bribery, compromise, and testing God.
1. The first was to turn stones to bread. Satan’s first temptation was to win Jesus by bribing him. This temptation was unique. You and I couldn’t turn stones into bread. Only someone with exceptional powers would be tempted in such a way. Extreme hunger can be used to get most people to do almost anything. We’re bribed with much simpler things.
2. The second was to offer Christ all he could see as his kingdom. It was the temptation to compromise. I’ll let you have all you can see. I’ll take the rest. He knew that Jesus created it all, but figured that he might get him to compromise since he was worn down. We fight the same battles. We get worn down by our work, our families, our kids, people we associate with every day. Have you noticed that Satan never gets tired? When we’re at our weakest, he’s more than happy to step in to help us compromise our beliefs, our hopes and dreams, and the desire to be closer to God. He’ll be happy to take our First Fruits.
3. The third was to go for the showy miracles and test God. Go ahead. See if God will protect you. Satan is a pretty crafty. He’ll take us under any conditions or circumstances. All we have to do is show up and be willing, but he asks us to question God’s love and care for us. ‘I’m already your best friend. Make Him prove it.’ So we buy into that and do it in so many ways. God, show me that you love me and I’ll start coming back to church. Make my business more successful. Stop my additions. Heal my family. Turn my kids around. Bring my family back to the church. Once you’ve picked up your end, I’ll consider working harder at picking up my end. I’ll be the best little Catholic you’ve ever seen. Just don’t drop the ball or the deal’s off. Why does God have to prove himself?
So where do we see ourselves in these temptations? I’m susceptible to bribery, compromise, and testing God. I’m not proud of it, but I’m not denying it either. How about yourselves? We’re in the season of Lent, a time of prayer, fasting, and watchfulness. Fasting and prayer isn’t a one time of year thing. Even in today’s gospel we heard, “When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.” Satan will not give up, and he’s incredibly patient.
Lent is a time to reexamine where we stand with God. During this season we spend time thinking of the sacrifice that our Savior was preparing to make out of pure love and obedience for our salvation and forgiveness of sins. As he prepared for such an awesome gift of himself as the First Fruits of God, he was tempted and tempted again. Satan was working overtime to get him to break. Jesus himself was tempted to forget it all. We’ll all be tempted. Together let’s make a commitment to stand together as one Christian family during this season of Lent, to promise our First Fruits. It’s a time of prayer, fasting, and watchfulness. It’s a time to reexamine where we stand with God. He knows what’s in our hearts, and he graces when we say, yes.