First Sunday in Lent 2023

Matthew 4:1-11

Rev. Neli Miranda

 

The first Sunday in Lent leads us to an encounter with Jesus in the wilderness where we learn how to respond and resist the temptations that threaten to take us away from God’s path. Jesus’ experience in the wilderness recalls the history of the people of Israel who continually failed to remain faithful to God by succumbing to different temptations. However, Jesus embodies the new humanity according to God’s dream, those who remain faithful by resisting the devil’s temptations.  

Today, we read that Jesus faces the devil just after he has committed to God in his baptism and heard a voice coming from heaven saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 3,17). While he prepares himself to begin his ministry, the devil confronts and tempts him to turn away from the way of humble service and take the path of power and glory.

Matthew refers to the devil as the “tempter” or “Satan”. These words refer to evil forces who are anti-God.  A tempter is someone who causes one to fall and Satan is an adversary. For instance, Jesus calls Peter, one of his closest disciples, Satan, when he tries to interfere with Jesus’ mission. The devil is then everything or everyone who opposes God’s will and the proclamation of the Kingdom of God.

The first temptation comes to Jesus after he has fasted for forty days and forty nights, and when he is hungry, the tempter entices him to use his divine power for personal and physical gratification: “Since you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread” (4,3). The tempter is not simply telling Jesus to eat but to use his power for selfish purposes instead of trusting in God’s provision; that is, the daily bread. Jesus resists this temptation by saying, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (4,4). With these words, Jesus reminds us of the Old Testament when God provided food to the people of Israel in the desert, outside of the powerful Egyptian empire system.

What is Jesus telling us by resisting this temptation? He encourages us to trust in God’s provision, to resist the use of our position and possessions only for selfish purposes, to choose to live an ordinary life not relying on our power, and to remember that the right to food is communal and not an individual right.

The devil’s second test requires a spectacular messianic sign from Jesus to convince the people he is the One sent by God:“Since you are the son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone’”(4,5). In response to the devil, Jesus recalls, once again, the Israelites’ experience in the desert when they were hungry and thirsty, and had questioned God’s presence among them by asking, “Is the Lord among us or not?” At this time, God had warned them saying, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test” (4,6).  Jesus then knows that faith is not preceded by miracles and resists the temptation of a spectacle that attracts the masses. He resists displaying power and transforming the glory of God into entertainment. Jesus’ messianic sign is fulfilled when he is lifted up on the cross.

The third test is related to power, wealth, and splendor—those things that we humans like so much.  On a very high mountain, the devil shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor and tempts him by saying, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me” (4,9). The power and authority over all the kingdoms of the world offered to Jesus come at a very high price: selling his soul to the devil and worshiping him.  Power and glory are perhaps the most powerful temptations for Christians today. Yet, Jesus teaches us to reject all positions of power that require our worship and the sale of our soul. Jesus teaches us to choose to remain faithful to God!  Finally, Jesus sweeps Satan away by saying, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him’” (4,10). A final temptation comes to Jesus at the cross when people tell him, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” Resisting with great suffering, Jesus defeats the anti-God forces and says, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Mt. 27,40-41). Then, he expires remaining faithful to God.

Dear sisters and brothers, from Jesus’ experience we learn that temptations are part of the life of those who are committed to God. But we also learn that in Jesus we become a new humanity able and willing to resist temptations and remain faithful to God. Our wilderness today is full of temptations: we are seduced by individualism that leads us to think and act selfishly; we are seduced by lifestyles that make us become less involved with those who have less or nothing;  we are seduced by the spectacle that leads us to think of the church as a place of entertainment where one seeks miracles and shows, rather than a transformative spirituality; we are seduced by the desire to seek power, glory, and control of others rather than living in an community of solidarity.

Today, as we commit ourselves to follow Jesus to Jerusalem, we are committing ourselves to trust in God’s provision, to live on by the word of God, to look for a transformative spirituality and to pledge allegiance to God over any earthly power. Amen.