Jesus Was Tempted
First Sunday of Lent
Lectionary: 22
Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
Saint Gregory the Great taught that there are three types of temptation. They are suggestion, delight, and consent.
Suggestion is temptation that comes to us from the outside. When we are tempted this way, we are not guilty of any sin. It is like walking through filthy water in rubber boots.
Delight is temptation in which we take a certain delight. Sometimes that delight is prolonged, and sometimes it is just for a moment. At this point, the temptation becomes internal, and there is some sinfulness in it. Perhaps it is like splashing in the muddy water, and getting a little bit wet and dirty.
Consent is temptation to which we allow ourselves to enter. This is always sinful. It is like rolling about in the ditch, covering ourselves in mud.
Jesus was tempted so that we could learn from him how to fight and conquer our temptations. The enemy came to Jesus and tempted him with the threefold lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life.
The lust of the flesh is the desire to consume and to satisfy our human appetites. These appetites, whether that be for food, for drink, or for sexual satisfaction are not bad in themselves, but become bad when they separate us from God. The enemy offers Jesus bread, just as he offered Adam and Eve the fruit of the tree.
The lust of the eyes is covetousness, where we desire to have something that is not ours. For Jesus, this was the enemy’s offer of earthly power, saying “all these things I shall give to you.” For Adam, it was desiring for himself the power to know good and evil, instead of relying upon God. Often, we think of coveting money or possessions, but often it is power and position the enemy offers.
And finally, the pride of life. The enemy promised Adam and Eve that they would be like gods. He tempted Jesus to prove his status as the son of God by throwing himself down from the temple wall.
In each of these temptations, Jesus did not choose to consent to them, or even to delight in them. He dismissed them at the point that the enemy made the suggestion. Jesus was truly tempted, but he did not allow the temptation to enter with him. He did not toy with the temptations, he simply rejected them.
In every temptation, the best and the easiest place of victory is at the very beginning of suggestion. When we allow the temptations to delight us, or when we embrace and consent to them, we give our enemy the victory. Once we give him the victory, he then is quick to point out how awful we are, and encourage us to hide from God. Of course, the solution is the opposite; we should bring our sins to God at the first opportunity we have for confession.
Did you notice, also, that Jesus did not resist temptation with miracles? He didn’t even use mysterious parts of scripture that nobody knew to make complicated arguments. He did nothing that we cannot do. He rejected the tempter quickly, and offered only simple scripture and praise of God in his defense.
We can also offer simple scriptures. This does require something on our part. We do not need to be scripture scholars, but we do need to listen to the word of God. Holy Scripture is good, but it is sometimes easy to misunderstand. A heresy is when someone offers an argument from scripture that is untrue, because it takes the scripture out of its context, and emphasizes one part, but ignores another. Remember, the devil quoted scripture to Jesus. For us then, scripture is a very powerful weapon against temptation and the tempter, but it is like a sword – highly effective in the hands of a master, but dangerous to the novice. Thus, to wield scripture as a weapon against our enemy, we must practice with that weapon by listening attentively, and reading it as often as we can.
We do have a very powerful weapon that does not require as much practice and training to use safely and effectively. We can offer praise to God. The eighth Psalm tells us that it is praise on the lips of children and of infants that defeats the enemy. Even such a simple prayer as “Blessed be the name of the Lord” is a very powerful prayer against our enemy.
Finally, we have a weapon for our defense against temptation that Jesus did not have – the sign of the Cross. The sign of the Cross is a powerful sign of praise. From it, demons flee. When we make it, the angels and Saints rejoice with us. Sometimes, we see people make a fast, very tiny, and barely visible sign of the cross. This is not bad, but it is better if we make the sign of the cross with careful attention and reverence.
This last week, I read something by Romano Guardini that I will share with you in closing. He said…
WHEN we cross ourselves, let it be with a real sign of the cross. Instead of a small cramped gesture that gives no notion of its meaning, let us make a large unhurried sign, from forehead to breast, from shoulder to shoulder, consciously feeling how it includes the whole of us, our thoughts, our attitudes, our body and soul, every part of us at once. how it consecrates and sanctifies us.
It does so because it is the Sign of the universe and the sign of
our redemption. On the cross Christ redeemed mankind. By the cross he sanctifies man to the last shred and fibre of his being. We make the sign of the cross before we pray to collect and compose ourselves and to fix our minds and hearts and wills upon God. We make it when we finish praying in order that we may hold fast the gift we have received from God. In temptations we sign ourselves to be strengthened; in dangers, to be protected. The cross is signed upon us in blessings in order that the fullness of God’s life may flow into the soul and fructify and sanctify us wholly.
Think of these things when you make the sign of the cross. It is the holiest of all signs. Make a large cross, taking time, thinking what you do. Let it take in your whole being,–body, soul, mind, will, thoughts, feelings, your doing and not-doing,– and by signing it with the cross strengthen and consecrate the whole in the strength of Christ, in the name of the triune God.
Blessed be God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
