Scripture: Matthew 4:1-11
Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,
‘One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If 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.’”
Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,
‘Worship the Lord your God,and serve only him.’”
Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
Reflection:
Jesus suffered temptation. Fasting forty days and nights has left him hungry and weak. The devil moves in with temptations that hit at the physical, mental and soul levels. And underlying all are the words that lie at the heart of all temptations – “if you are the Son of God.”
Every human being experiences moments of deep spiritual hunger. We all know what it is like to be physically or spiritually weak. What Jesus experiences in a barren place is known to each of us who have had spiritually dry times.
In these moments we often wonder whether or not God is truly concerned with us – God’s beloved children. The Deceiver plants a seed of doubt as to our status and we misuse our power of free will to seek food which does not last, to lay claim to God’s power in ways that feed our egos, and to imagine ourselves as CEO of the Universe free to use and abuse all within our grasp.
What saves Jesus – and what can save us – is to hear the echoes of a single word: “Beloved.” For indeed that is the word his Father spoke to Jesus and about Jesus. “Beloved” is not just a state, “Beloved” is a unit of measure. “Beloved” means that Jesus and we, who hear that we are beloved at our baptism, are in the very depths of the Father’s Heart. The grace of the One who calls us “Beloved” is what gives each one of us the power to overcome the temptations of this life, to wait upon the goodness of God and to entrust our lives to Almighty God now and in the age to come.
-The Rev. Father Ram Lopez