(See the readings for the First Sunday of Lent)
The esteemed rabbi was seeking an insight into human nature and its battle with sin. He decided to call three people passing by into his home and asked this question: “If you were walking down the street and came upon a bag of gold coins, what would you do?”
The first person replied: “I would give it to the owner if I knew who they were.” “Fool,” the rabbi said. The second person replied: “I would take it as a sign of good fortune and put it in my pocket.” “Scoundrel,” the rabbi said.
Then the third person replied: “I do not know what I would do with it. How could I possibly know? Would I be able to conquer the evil inclination that would surely raise its head? Or would the evil urge overcome me to take what belongs to another person? I do not know. But, if the Holy One, blessed be He, strengthened me against the evil, I would give the gold back to its owner.” “Here at last is the insight I sought,” said the rabbi, “You are wise indeed.”
Easter celebrates Jesus’ triumph over sin and death. Here, at the beginning of Lent, we are invited to consider our own battle with evil. Temptation, whether big or small, sets the scene. If we know ourselves, like the third person the rabbi encountered in the above story, we recognize our need for divine assistance in dealing with temptation. That person knew himself well enough to view the bag of gold coins as a temptation. He knew the frailty of human nature, his nature, and hoped to secure God’s help in doing what was right and to win a small battle with evil.
Jesus’ encounter with the devil, recalled in this Sunday’s Gospel, helps us frame the battle with temptation within the paschal mystery. Jesus’ unwavering faith in the Father helps Him in this confrontation and prepares Him for the cross.
The devil is relentless. Three times he tempts Jesus to abandon His faith in the Father. He resorts first to pride, attempting to move Jesus. Jesus had been fasting for 40 days and nights. He was hungry. His body was weak. Satan tempts him to satisfy that hunger by proving himself as the Son of God. Jesus responds by quoting scripture: “One does not live on bread alone but every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”
Then the devil once again resorts to pride, tempting Jesus to force the Father to act. This time Satan uses Scripture to support himself. Jesus sees through his deception for what it really was — an attempt to make Himself greater than the Father. He rebuffs the Tempter saying: “Again it is written, you shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”
Satan then shows Jesus the magnificence of “all the kingdoms of the world” and offers them to Him, if He would only worship him. Jesus knows that all kingdoms and nations, the lands and seas, the stars and planets all belong to God who is King and the only one worthy of worship. He has had enough of this foolishness and dismisses the devil, but before doing so He once again rebuffs him using Scripture: “The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.”
The outcome of Jesus’ encounter with the devil is quite different than that of our first parents. The Genesis story recalls humanity’s weakness in the account of the fall. God had made man, male and female, in his image and likeness. He gives humanity the gift of the universe and all created things in stewardship. He gave them each other for companionship. There was only one thing they could not do – eat of the fruit of one particular tree. The reason for the prohibition is that the fruit of that tree is poisonous, it will bring death.
The devil, represented by the snake, first temps Eve: “You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil.” He deceptively temps her to think she could make herself equal to God. She falls to the temptation as does Adam. They have now turned away from God, the source of life. And turning away from life is turning toward death.
Jesus’ refusal to give in to Satan’s temptations prepares the way for the victory over sin in the passion. In the final battle with evil, Jesus remained faithful to the end. His faithfulness crushes the power of Satan, not just for Himself but for all humanity. He represents all human beings so that His victory is shared by all. The face of mankind is turned back to the Father; a movement from death to life.
St. Paul speaks of this in the second reading from his Letter to the Romans. He writes: “… just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so, through one righteous act, acquittal and life came to all. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous.”
Our struggle with temptation and sin gives us an opportunity to say “yes” to the Lord and “no” to the devil and his ways. In doing so, we enter more fully into the mystery we celebrate at Easter.
Jesus shows us the way. In these first days of Lent we recognize our own frailty, turning to God for assistance and help. And He, who has overcome the power of evil, will never leave us unaided for He died so we might live.
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Msgr. Joseph Prior is pastor of Our Lady of Grace Parish in Penndel and a former professor of Sacred Scripture and rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. Read more reflections by Msgr. Prior here.
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