TURNING TO THE FATHER

Reflections on the First Sunday of Lent: Deuteronomy 26:4-10, Romans 10:8-13, Luke 4:1-13

“Jesus was led by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil”, proclaims Luke in today’s gospel. Matthew and Mark also agree that it was the Holy Spirit (with whom Jesus had just been baptized) who led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted! Mark even adds that the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness (Mark 1:12)! And yet, Jesus teaches us to pray in The Lord’s Prayer, “Lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13). Why would the Holy Spirit lead Jesus to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil? The Holy Spirit did not tempt Jesus, the devil did. However, the Holy Spirit guides him to the test not only because it is an important chapter of Jesus’s life but an important part of every disciple’s life too.

French theologian and Christologist Bernard Sesboüé, who had reflected in depth on the humanity of Jesus writes, “It wasn't enough for Jesus to be a real man, sharing everything of our human condition, to be recognised as God in His humanity. He also had to be a true man” and he adds, “The temptations of Jesus are indelible pages of the gospels. The point here is to show the unique excellence of his earthly existence, behaviour, gestures, voice, gaze, etc., and to recognise its full relevance to our human vocation”. We seem to have an inordinately idealised or spiritualised idea of Jesus, who lived in a garden of happiness and perfection, free from any hint of temptation or suffering. While in truth, Jesus was a true man in every way, including temptation. Hebrews 4:15 reads, “We have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin”.

The truth of the Incarnation confirms that Jesus was tested in every way. Augustine would even argue that without temptation in the desert, the Word-made flesh (Jesus) would not have assumed our entire human condition. He writes in a Homily on Psalm 6 that our lives cannot escape the test of temptation, for our progress is achieved through our testing; no one knows himself without having been tested, and cannot be crowned without having conquered, cannot conquer without having fought, and cannot fight if he has not encountered the enemy and temptations. The Holy Spirit leads Jesus to the wilderness, where Jesus will go on to show us that he is truly human by partaking in the temptations. At the same time, Jesus also shows that he is truly divine by demonstrating how to win in this battle.

The three temptations seem to have a similar focus: “If you are the Son of God”, command this stone to become bread”; “All this will be yours, if you worship me”; and “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here”. The temptations target the identity of Jesus, asking him to prove his divine sonship. The devil tempts Jesus to make the imminent beginning of his public ministry all about himself, his title, his power, and his personal glory. Jesus is tempted to use his power and identity for himself. He is asked to take charge, control everything, and act on his own and for himself. This is something that Jesus consistently refuses to do in the gospels. Never had Jesus ever done a miracle for his benefit. His ministry extensively prioritises others’ good and betterment (especially those in need).

In response to the devil’s temptation to turn the focus to his identity and power, Jesus shifts the spotlight to His Father. The scriptural passages that Jesus quotes to reply to each of the three temptations highlight the centrality of His Father: “One does not live on bread alone” (Deuteronomy 8:3); You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve” (Deuteronomy 6:13); He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you (Psalm 91:11-12). While the devil tempts him to focus his identity and mission on himself, Jesus declares categorically that the foundation of his identity, power, ministry, focus, and authority is the Father and his relationship with Him. Here is this Sunday’s most important Lenten lesson: we can choose to prioritise God as the focus of our lives and thereby experience our true identity and the real purpose of our lives.

As Paul clarifies in the second reading, our identities no longer depend on whether we are Jews or Greeks. The same Lord is Lord of all and when we call upon his name, confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts, we will be saved. Moses teaches us that the foundation of our identities, like that of Abraham (the wandering Aramean) is our relationship with our Father, who with his strong hand and outstretched arm, delivers us from the temptation of slavery, oppression, and sin, to leads us to the land flowing with milk and honey. As we enter Lent, the liturgy invites us to free ourselves from the logic of temptation (to make everything about I/me/mine) to the logic of freedom (God’s will/glory/name). Dostoyevsky writes that the only constant concern for a man deprived of freedom is to find someone to bow down to. Jesus teaches us the path to freedom is to turn to the Father. May this Lent inspires us to turn our lives to the Father.