The point about idols is that 'we know their names.' We feel we can manipulate them and be in control of them. So we must not turn God into an idol by putting him to the test. All this is surely why this passage is such a splendid opening for Lent, as it faces us with the truth about Jesus and how life is to be lived at the deepest level of our being - it is then about the self-disclosure of Jesus to us and our gift of the Spirit who will sustain us in all the 'testing' of our lives.

Deuteronomy 26:4-10

Psalm 91:1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15.

Romans 10:8-13

L uke 4:1-13 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan , and was led by the Spirit (2) for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended, he was hungry. (3) The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." (4) And Jesus answered him, "It is written,`Man shall not live by bread alone.'" (5) And the devil took him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, (6) and said to him, "To you I will give all this authority and their glory; for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. (7) If you, then, will worship me, it shall all be yours." (8) And Jesus answered him, "It is written, `You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'" (9) And he took him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and  said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here; (10) for it is written, `He will give his angels charge of you, to guard you,' (11) and `On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" (12) And Jesus answered him, "It is said,`You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'" (13) And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Meditation Denis Geraghty O.P.

L uke 4:1-12 is a splendid opening for the First Sunday of Lent, and Luke intends it to be an exercise in the self-disclosure of Jesus to the world.

Jesus is revealed to us as 'being full of the Holy Spirit,' presumably a reference to his baptism, when the Holy Spirit 'descended upon him in bodily form, as a dove.' People who wonder how Jesus could be tempted when he was sinless have their answer. He is filled with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is given him to withstand his 'testing,' so that there can be no question of undermining his sinlessness.

So we come to his self-disclosure: Jesus was 'fed by the Holy Spirit and ate no human food' but, being human, he was famished. When the devil asked him to turn a stone into bread he was not asking Jesus to perform some cheap circus trick. He was tempting Jesus to break his fast, to suggest that he could only be sustained by human food. That is why, quoting Deuteronomy, the devil was told that man does not live by bread alone.

The second tempting of Jesus becomes 'cosmic.' The Devil shows him all the kingdoms of the world and tells him that he may have their authority and glory if Jesus would only fall down and worship the devil. This is a blatant lie because they were not his to give. That is why Jesus, again quoting Deuteronomy, dismisses his pretentions: 'You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only will you serve.'

In the final temptation Jesus is asked to throw himself from the pinnacle of the temple, in the belief that God will protect him from harm. The devil, who himself quotes scripture, is then told: 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'

So then, what is disclosed to us for reflection during Lent? The devil begins his tempting with the phrase: 'If you are the Son of God.' The perennial question posed to us by the Gospels is: who is this Jesus? The temptations of Jesus face us with this question in the form of a sermon, which the temptations surely are.

Given the Spirit at baptism, we are to reflect that it is our spiritual lives in God that will sustain us: 'We cannot live by bread alone.' A challenge to the materialist culture of our day which is easy to be sucked into. That is why the rich are condemned in St Luke's Gospel; not because they are rich, but because they see in wealth a security that can only come from God. The final temptation continues the theme. It is not simply about the abuse of power and riches: it is a thundering denunciation of the descent into idolatry that their worship implies. This is personified by the devil, who is a liar - true worship is the worship of God and, according to John, the devil 'is a murderer from the beginning.'

The point about idols is that 'we know their names.' We feel we can manipulate them and be in control of them. So we must not turn God into an idol by putting him to the test. All this is surely why this passage is such a splendid opening for Lent, as it faces us with the truth about Jesus and how life is to be lived at the deepest level of our being - it is then about the self-disclosure of Jesus to us and our gift of the Spirit who will sustain us in all the 'testing' of our lives.

Supplementary Reading

The Benefits of Obedience

This is what the Lord says-your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: 'I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.' ~ Isaiah 48:17

My career has been in marketing and advertising. Early on, I learned to distinguish the difference between features and benefits. Features represent characteristics of a product or service. Benefits are those things that directly profit or benefit me by using the product or service. For instance, my new computer has incredible speed and lots of memory (feature). This allows me to do things more quickly and easily (benefit). People are more concerned about the benefits than the features.

God tells us in the above verse that there are some direct benefits to the features of His nature. He is a God who is committed to teaching His children in the way they should go. What is the real benefit of His teaching? He answers this in the next verse. "If only you had paid attention to My commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea" (Is. 48:18).

The Lord tells us that the benefit of allowing God to teach us and lead us in the way is peace and righteousness. Here is a guaranteed promise from God. I often use guarantees in my advertising claims. Here is God's immutable guarantee: You will have peace like a river and righteousness like the waves of the sea! What a great promise!

Are you trusting God with the very details of your life so that He can lead you in the way you should go? Are you allowing Him to teach you? Seek the Lord today for what He wants to teach you and allow Him to lead you, and you will ensure peace and righteousness in your life. -- OS Hillman

• 02/24/2010 03:11 - Feb 26, 2010 - Friday Meditation (Check Your Value System)
• 02/21/2010 06:31 - Feb 25, 2010 - Thursday Meditation (Selfish Prayers?)
• 02/21/2010 06:29 - Feb 24, 2010 - Wednesday Meditation (Dont Continue to Reject God's Warnings)
• 02/21/2010 06:26 - Feb 23, 2010 - Tuesday Meditation (As We Forgive Those Who Sinned Against Us)
• 02/21/2010 06:24 - Feb 22, 2010 - Monday Meditation (Welcome Jesus in your Brother!)

• 02/14/2010 20:28 - Feb 20, 2010 - Saturday Meditation (Desert Times)
• 02/14/2010 20:27 - Feb 19, 2010 - Friday Meditation (True Fasting)
• 02/14/2010 20:25 - Feb 18, 2010 - Thursday Mediation (Choose God's Kind of Life!)
• 02/14/2010 20:22 - Feb 17, 2010 - Ash Wedneday (Jesus' Kind of Piety)
• 02/14/2010 20:20 - Feb 16, 2010 - Tuesday Meditation (Avoid Fermented Dough!)