After Jesus was baptized, he was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry. And 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, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' " Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will give his angels charge of you', and 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.' " Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.' " Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Begone, Satan! for it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.' " Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.
Ah, the first Sunday of Lent, and in our new-fangled lectionary you find Christ led out into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. It's a spiritual combat in which Our Lord advances to contact and defeats the Adversary.
Christ's mission was simple, remain steadfast and true to the will of the Father, to stay on the path that will take Him to the Cross and Resurrection, for the salvation of fallen humanity. To put it another way, to be obedient to the Father's will and in that obedience undo the sin and its penalty brought on by the first Adam.
That's Christ's objective, to walk the way of the Cross, and from there to rise again, to redeem the fallen race of Adam. To that end, to set the trajectory, He fasts for 40 days as did Moses and Elijah, and at the end, when he was hungry, He confronts Satan.
Lucifer's mission is also simple, to deflect, divert and prevent Our Lord's journey to Calvary. So he suggests three good things, bread, angelic protection, kingship. To what end? To prevent the Cross. Why die an agonizing death when you can use your divine power to feed the people, to end hunger? Why be scourged when you can perform a great sign, a miracle, such that all believe? Why be crowned with thorns when you can have a crown of gold, real gold, upon your head. Act, says Lucifer, as the people expect you to.
Christ says no. Man shall not live on bread alone but by every word which proceedes from the mouth of God; thou shall not tempt the Lord your God; you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve. Rebuked by the Word, Satan leaves and the angels minister to Christ.
So with us. We endeavor, by the grace of God, to walk the way of the Cross, to unite ourselves to His sacrifice and Satan rages against it, deploying the same temptations as he did against Christ. In the face of that we're presented with a question. And it's a serious one, the most serious of all, what really counts in your life, bread and power? Or God.
Answer wisely, my friends,
LSP
