First Sunday of Lent - Temptation of Jesus in the Desert

First Sunday of Lent 2012, 2015, 2018, 2021



Temptation of Jesus in the Desert

“The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him. After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:12-15)

The first part of this Sunday’s Gospel from Mark, a much shorter version of the Gospel of Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13, is succinctly summed up in one sentence, “The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan.”(Mark 1:12)

It may be hard to image Jesus being affected by temptation, but he was. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)

Temptation is simply something that tries to divert us from doing God’s will. One does not have to be bad to be tempted.  Rather, it is how we respond to temptation that determines if we are bad, good, or somewhere in-between.

Jesus who is all good was tempted in the desert and again at Gethsemane. Satan will do the same to us. He will tempt us and try his best to get us to choose our own will over God’s will. You know, like when you start rationalizing something that you know is wrong but, just this once doesn’t sound so bad. Well maybe I am the only one Satan uses that tactic on. If he can’t get me to rationalize myself into sin completely he is so patient, oh so patient, he is satisfied (at least temporarily) with getting me to make one small choice that will little by little lead me away from God’s will. And before I know it I have fully chosen sin over goodness.

“The whole of man’s history has been the story of our combat with the powers of evil, stretching, so our Lord tells us, from the very dawn of history until the last day. Finding himself in the midst of the battlefield man has to struggle to do what is right and it is at great cost to himself, and aided by God’s grace that he succeeds in achieving his own inner integrity.” (Catechism #409) God does not leave us without help in this battle. Through His temptation in the desert, Jesus has given us a road map. Following the example of Jesus, my recourse - our recourse, is to repel the enemy, fight him. We are aided in this battle through prayer, perseverance, the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the precious Word of God.








In the second part of this Sunday’s Gospel Jesus begins his public ministry by proclaiming, “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)

What is meant by the “kingdom of God?” The phrase occurs 122 times in the New Testament, 99 times it is uttered by Jesus himself. We pray for this every time we pray the Our Father, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)

In chapter three of his book “Jesus of Nazareth, From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration”, Pope Benedict XVI writes, "The core content of the Gospel is this: The Kingdom of God is at hand...And the answer to this gift is demanded of man: conversion and faith (page 47)....When Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of God, he is quite simply proclaiming God, and proclaiming him to be the living God, who is able to act concretely in the world and in history and is even now so acting. He is telling us: "God exists" and "God is really God," which means that he holds in his hands the threads of the world (page 55)...."the Kingdom of God is at hand" (Mark 1:15), it "has already come upon you" (Matthew 12:28), it is "in the midst of you" (Luke 17:21)(page 58)...” There is also the “idealistic interpretation, which tells us that the Kingdom of God is not an exterior structure, but is located in the interiority of man (page 60)…” And finally Pope Benedict XVI writes, “Through Jesus' presence and action, God has here and now entered actively into history in a wholly new way. The reason why now is the fullness of time (Mark 1:15), why now is in a unique sense the time of conversion and penance, as well as the time of joy, is that in Jesus it is God who draws near to us."(page 61)

A precise definition of the “kingdom of God” does not appear to fit into a few short sentences, but Mary Healy summed it up (if it can be summed up) in her book “The Gospel of Mark,” as “The kingdom of God is wherever God’s will is done. This already takes place in heaven, but begins on earth in every heart that surrenders to God’s will. As Paul observes, whoever chooses to live in this kingdom, experiences 'peace, and joy and the Holy Spirit'.”

I like that definition. So today, the first Sunday of Lent, I will do my best with God’s grace to “repent, and believe in the gospel,” and enter into the "Kingdom of God".

Dear Lord please help me to change my way of thinking, my attitudes, and my choices and conform them to Your Holy will. Help me to imitate Christ, and make Him Lord over my life instead of sin, greed, pride, selfishness and worry. Help me to believe in the Gospel, Your Word which is Truth, Life and Love.  Help me to let your precious Kingdom in to touch the interiority of my soul.  Amen

Maybe Lent should be longer than 40 days. Blessed be God, that He is patient and merciful. “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Hebrews 4:7

For devotional items related to the Catholic faith, please visit Lynn's Timeless Treasures.  
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Art
Temptation of Christ (mosaic in basilica di San Marco)
Temptation of Christ - Eric Armusik
Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness - James Tissot
Sermon on the Mount - Fra Angelico
Sermon on the Mount - Cosimo Rosselli (Sistine Chapel)

First Sunday Lent - Temptation of Christ - Gospel of Matthew

First Sunday of Lent Temptation of Christ

March 13, 2011
March 9, 2014
March 5, 2017
March 1, 2020 
February 26, 2023

“The Lord allowed the devil to tempt him so that we would have his example as well as the power of his help when we face temptation.” Saint Leo the Great

Why do we spend forty days in our own spiritual desert every year during Lent? Why forty? In the Old Testament Noah stays in the ark forty days; the Israelites wander in the desert forty years eating manna; and Moses resides on Mount Sinai forty days conversing with God.

What is so important about this number? The normal length of gestation of a baby in the womb is forty weeks. Before Jesus began his earthly ministry he was led by the Holy Spirit “forty days in the wilderness,” where he fasted and was tempted by the devil. Forty days, weeks, years, a long time for some, but is it enough? Maybe that is why we are brought back to the desert every year for forty days – as a reminder.

In today’s gospel, Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus is asked by the devil to misuse the power he has been given by his Father. He is tempted three times, encouraged to think of himself and his own comfort at the expense of others. Satan’s reasons even sound reasonable or logical. After all Jesus IS God, he can do anything.

In the first temptation the devil demands Jesus perform a self-serving miracle. Jesus is fasting, he must be hungry, there is no food, Jesus is God and capable of turning the desert stones into bread. Not submitting, Jesus draws strength to continue his fast by reciting the Word of God, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

In the second temptation the devil suggests that Jesus prove he is God by amazing the world with a dazzling exhibition; jump from the top of the temple and survive. If you need help, don't worry the Angels will catch you. Again Jesus calls on the Word of God, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”

In the third temptation Satan took Jesus to a high mountain, showing him all the kingdoms of the world he suggests Jesus sell himself out. "All these I shall give you, if your will prostrate yourself and worship me." At this Jesus responds, "Get away, Satan!  It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.”

During Lent we are reminded that we are sinners, in need of repentance. Though try as we might we cannot rid ourselves of temptation or sin on our own. This is only accomplished by the grace of God, who is always there to pick up the pieces when we meet difficulties, always willing to forgive, always ready with a second chance. 

This Lent put your trust in God and do as Jesus did when warding off temptation keep the Word of God always on your mind, on your lips and forever in your heart. 


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Art
Temptation of Christ - Botticelli
Temptation of Christ - Rubens
Temptation of Christ - Botticelli

First Sunday of Lent - Forty Days in the Wilderness

First Sunday of Lent
Our Lenten Journey

Forty Days in the Wilderness
February 21, 2010
February 17, 2013
February 14, 2013 

Just as Noah spent forty days in the ark, the Israelite's wandered forty years in the desert, Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai, a baby spends forty weeks in a mother's womb, and Our Lord spent forty days in the desert, we are brought back to our own spiritual desert each lent for our journey. 

What does it mean for us to embark on our Lenten journey every year?  Pope Benedict XVI answered this question in his Angelus Message the First Sunday of Lent 2010.  His message was entitled, “On the New Adam’s Obedience, The World Improves Beginning with Ourselves.”  Here are the words of Pope Benedict XVI on today’s Gospel Luke 4:1-13 (Mark 1:12-15, Matthew 4:1-11):   

"The Gospel of this First Sunday of Lent illustrates it [our Lenten Journey], with the account of Jesus' temptation in the desert.  The evangelist St. Luke tells us that Jesus, after having received baptism from John, "full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert for 40 days and was tempted by the devil"  (Luke 4:1-2).

It is evident that there is an insistence on the fact that the temptations were no accident but the consequence of Jesus' choice to carry out the mission entrusted to him by the Father, to embrace completely his reality as beloved Son, who hands himself over entirely to the Father.  Christ came into the world to free us from sin and the dangerous fascination of planning our lives without God.  He did it not with high-sounding proclamations, but by personally struggling against the Tempter, right to the cross.  This is an example for all:  The world improves beginning with ourselves, changing what is not right in our lives with the grace of God.

Of the three temptation that Satan proposes to Jesus, the first has to do with hunger, that is, material need:  "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."  But Jesus answers with sacred Scripture:  "One does not live on bread alone."  (Luke 4:3-4; cf. Deuteronomy 8:3).

Then the devil shows all the kingdoms of the earth to Jesus and says:  All this will be yours, if you will fall down and worship me.  It is the deception
of power, and Jesus unmasks this temptation and rejects it:  "You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve"  (Luke 4:5-8; Deuteronomy 6:13).  Power is not to be worshiped but God alone, truth and love.  

Finally, the Tempter proposes that Jesus perform a spectacular miracle:  He should throw himself from the high walls of the Temple and make the angels save him so that everyone would believe in him.  But Jesus answers that God must never be put to the test (cf. Deuteronomy 6:16).  We must never try an experiment in which God is supposed to respond and show  himself to be God:  we must believe in him!  We must not make God "material" for our "experiment"!  Referring again to sacred Scripture, Jesus opposes to human criterion the only authentic criterion; obedience, conformity with God's will, which is the foundation of our being.  This too is basic teaching for us:  If we carry the World of God in our heart and in our mind, if it enters into our lives, if we have confidence in God, we can reject any sort of deception of the Tempter.  Moreover, from the whole story there clearly emerges the image of Christ as the new Adam, Son of God, humble and obedient to the Father, unlike Adam and Eve, who in the Garden of Eden gave in to the seductions of the spirit of evil to become immortal without God.

Lent is a long "retreat," during which we return to ourselves and listen to God's voice to overcome the temptations of the Evil One and find the truth of our being.  It is a time, we could say, of spiritual "contest" to live together with Jesus, not with pride and presumption, but using the weapons of faith, that is, prayer, listening to God's Word and penance.  In this way we will be able to celebrate Easter in truth, ready to renew the promises of our baptism.  May the Virgin Mary help us so that, guided by the Holy Spirit, we live this time of grace with joy and fruit."  (Pope Benedict XVI Angelus Message, First Sunday of Lent, February 21, 2010)

Our Lenten journey is a reminder that we are sinners, in need of repentance. Try as might we cannot rid ourselves of temptation or sin on our own, but only by the grace of God. The Church encourages us to seek spiritual renewal during the forty days of Lent. It is a time to trust in God, and pray for the grace to change what is not right in our lives, what is keeping us from God, so that when we exit the desert in forty days, we might just be able to improve the world a little bit - beginning with ourselves. 

For items related to the Catholic Church
please visit Lynn's Timeless Treasures

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Art
Temptation of Jesus by Duccio di Buoninsegna
Temptation of Christ by Ary Scheffer
Temptation of Christ by Eric Armusik
Temptation of Christ by Peter Paul Rubens
Temptation of Christ by Boticelli