Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil

 

 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil.  And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.  And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."  But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'"  

 

Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.  Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours."  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For it is written,  'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve."

Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.  For it is written:

'He shall give His angels charge over you, 

To keep you,'

"and,

'In their hands they shall bear you up,

 Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"

And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, "You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"

Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

- Luke 4:1–13 

 

Yesterday we read that, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"  Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"  He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."  

 

  Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil.  My study Bible comments that this exodus of Jesus into the wilderness after His baptism has a dual symbolism.  First of all, it fulfills the Old Testament type, in which Israel journeyed in the wilderness for forty years after its "baptism" in the Red Sea.  Second, it prefigures our own journey through the fallen world after baptism as we struggle towards the Kingdom.

 

 And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.  And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."   Note how Christ's temptation comes first in the midst of desires that are natural to human beings; in this case, He was hungry.  The temptation comes as the devil challenges Christ's identity as Son of God.  That is, the identity proclaimed by the Father's voice at Baptism (see yesterday's reading, above); the identity of Christ in the sight of God, and Christ's loyalty to the Father.  My study Bible says that the devil wants Jesus to act independently, and to detach Himself from the will of the Father.  It explains that in His divine nature, Christ shares on will with the Father and the Holy Spirit; He can do nothing of Himself (John 5:30), apart from the Father.  But in His humanity, Christ possesses free will, and at all times must choose to remain obedient to the divine will of the Father.  This is a model for us and for our own choices.  Although we do not have the identity of Christ, we also are given an identity from God (Revelation 2:17), which we pursue through a lifetime of working out our salvation (Philippians 2:12).

But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'"  Jesus counters each temptation with a quotation from Deuteronomy, the time of Israel's temptation in following God to the Promised Land.  Here He quotes from Deuteronomy 8:3.  Each quotation calls for loyalty to God.  My study Bible says that Christ fasted in order to overcome temptation, giving us an example of our own power and limitations in the face of temptation.  The hunger of His flesh does not control Him; instead, Jesus controls His flesh.  His forty day period of fasting is the foundation of the Church's historical forty-day Lenten fast before Holy Week and also before Christmas.  While Adam disregarded the divine word to pursue the passions of the body (Genesis 3), Christ is the New Adam, who conquers temptation by the divine word, giving human nature the power to conquer Satan.  My study Bible adds that Christ's response using Scripture teaches us also to study Scripture to help us in times of temptation that call for our resistance (Psalm 119:11).  

Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.  Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours."  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For it is written,  'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve."   My study Bible explains that God's Kingdom is not one of earthly power and possessions.  In this test by the devil, Jesus was being asked to choose worldly power over the Kingdom of God.  The devil, it says, is the "ruler of this world" (John 12:31), "the god of this age" (2 Corinthians 4:4), because the whole world is in his power (1 John 5:19).  Jesus is refusing the road of earthly glory, which would lead Him away from His suffering and death for the redemption of the world.  Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:13.

 

Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.  For it is written:  'He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"  As Christ successfully used Scripture against the devil, Satan tries to use the Scriptures to God's power of protection to the test (see also 2 Peter 1:19-21).  In John 7:52 we also see the Pharisees trying similarly to do the same to counter Christ.  But the devil understands neither the truth nor the power of the Scriptures, my study Bible explains.  To know and quote Scripture without true understanding is worthless at best, and ultimately condemnable, it says.  Without true understanding through the distilled, centuries-old wisdom of Holy Tradition, the Scriptures are robbed of their authority.  The devil quotes from Psalm 91:11-12.

And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, "You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"

Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.  Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:16.  An opportune time:  see Luke 22:40-46; 23:35; Matthew 16:21-23.

As we read that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted forty days by the devil, we are given a certain orientation as premise, before we read about those temptations.   We should ponder this, and ask ourselves why the Holy Spirit would do this.  Why was it important to Christ's mission?  How would being tempted help someone on a holy mission?  How would it help Jesus?  Of course, we ask ourselves these questions so that we can understand what Christ does in order to understand better what takes place in our own lives.  There are times when many of us who seek to follow Christ seem to believe that no temptation should happen in our lives.  Or if it does, we might be doing something wrong.  But as we can see, this is not so.  It is human to be tempted, to have needs and desires and passions, such as hunger, for example, as Christ does.   Note that the devil also attempts to tempt Jesus with wealth and power, and also to test God the Father.  In the mission of Christ's public ministry which He is about to begin, He will again find Himself at the center of controversy in which His own needs are put to the test, such as a need for rest, and the people will seek for a Messiah who will be a worldly king.  His own family are among those who don't believe (John 7:5), or seek to pull Him away from what He does because of the stir He causes (Mark 3:21).  John's Gospel also tells us that He lost many disciples because of His teaching (John 6:66-68).  Jesus will give the same response He gives to the devil in today's passage when St. Peter insists that He not be crucified:  "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men" (see Matthew 16:21-23).   Of course, the temptation will be to resist the Cross, and this is the thing to which Jesus refers in His response to Peter.  But just a sample of these experiences in the Gospels is enough to tell us about the purpose of this period of temptation -- and even about our own potential experiences of times of temptation.  They serve as preparation for what is to come.  As my study Bible explains, the traditional practice of the Lenten fast (and other traditional periods of fasting) comes out of this inspiration as well.  It seems similar to training the muscles, in physical therapy or in athletics.  Discipleship is beneficial for those who train themselves for something, our resistance to temptation helps us to become stronger, and we are in this journey with Christ and the disciples as a part of a lifelong establishment of something within us, and building up our lives.  It is truly meant to be seen as a struggle, one in which we engage together with Him, as He shows us the way Himself, first.  As those who seek to follow Him, to live a prayerful life, to learn the kind of discipline (or discipleship) that He offers, we "fight the good fight," like St. Paul, in which no contest is an opportunity wasted.  In the context of our faith, even the times we stumble serve as lessons, experience that prepares us for the future.  Perhaps it is the consumer-oriented social milieu in which we live, the always-available products to suit seemingly every desire, that leads us into a false notion of perfection -- or to expect some sort of model of perfection from ourselves.  But the Gospels tell a story of difficulties and struggles, of great spiritual miracles and joy, and also disappointments and tragedy.  Altogether, we understand Christ's mission that lays ahead of Him as dependent upon one thing for our perspective:  faith.  When we proceed with faith, then we know that we are on a road somewhere.  It doesn't matter where we start.  We, like Christ, are taken on a journey for purposes known to God, to help us also to develop our own identities within that great economy of salvation.  We might reject this road and this struggle, but that might also turn into a learning experience, depending upon how we come to understand where we are in life.  The notion of "perfection" can be yet one more example of temptation, for it is in humility that we come to know ourselves and build up spiritual endurance, strength, and overcoming.  Let us follow His lead, and know that God seeks to prepare us in ways we truly need.