Introduction: Sin Separates Us from Who We Are

Each year the Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent always features the temptations of Jesus in the desert. In this year (Cycle A), our Sunday reading is from the Gospel of Matthew who has a slightly different perspective than Mark or Luke – for this episode is filled with allusions to the Hebrew Bible and depicts Jesus as the New Moses. (Matthew’s readers were Jewish Christians.) 

The phrase “forty days and forty nights” evokes numerous episodes in the Hebrew Bible that involve the number forty – including Noah and the Flood (Genesis 7:12), the Israelites’ wilderness period (Exodus 16:35), Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:18), and Elijah’s journey to the same mountain (1 Kings 19:8). Likewise, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the desert to fast and pray for 40 days and 40 nights in preparation for his public ministry.

Identity a time you were “led by the Spirit?”

In the desert, Jesus experiences three temptations that strike to the core of who he is and his purpose.

The first temptation is to simply be content on gratifying one’s own hunger: “Command that these stones become loaves of bread.”  Focus on your own needs, your own comforts, your own life-style.  Gratify your own immediate wants and needs.

The second test concerns the desire for a showy display of power: “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.” Use your power for your self-glorification and to show who you humanly are. Make a big splash in the media world. Let people know how powerful and connected you are.

The third test concerns the idolatrous misuse of power: “All these (kingdoms of the world) I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” Your loyalty and faithfulness are to yourself, not to God. Rely on yourself. You can do it all on your own. Remove God from the picture.

Which of these three temptations can you identify with? Which one can often trip you up?

Each time Jesus responds to the devil, he quotes from Deuteronomy (again, to link with his Jewish Christian audience and readers). First, he states that humans are sustained first and foremost by God (Deuteronomy 8:3). He then professes loyalty to the commandments and refuses to test God  (Deuteronomy 6:16). Finally, he declares loyalty to God alone (Deuteronomy 6:13). 

Although the devil departs at the conclusion of this episode, Matthew indicates that these temptations haunted Jesus to the end. Even as he was dying, a variation of these temptations surfaces: “He trusted in God; let him deliver him now if he wants him. For he said, “I am the Son of God.’” 

Identify a temptation that has continued to surface throughout your life so far.

In closing, ministering angels appear at the end of Matthew’s account – just as an angel cared for Elijah in the wilderness (1 Kings 19:5-8). 

Can you identify people who have been “ministering angels” when you were in real need? 

I would invite you to read and ponder the words from the Gospel of Matthew 4:1-11.

What word or words caught your attention?
What in this passage comforted/challenged you?

Further Questions and Reflections:

Each of these temptations cut to the core of Jesus’ identity and his purpose and ministry. Do you think Jesus struggled with these temptations throughout his public ministry? How did he handle them?

How can you be faithfully centered on God?

What concrete practices will this Lent help you understand and confront your own temptations and stumbling?

What do you hope to learn about yourself (your identity and purpose) as you head into the desert with Jesus this Lenten season?

What is the Spirit trying to tell you in this story?




Deacon David

Deacon David Suley
St. Andrew Apostle Catholic Church
Silver Spring, Maryland

Published with Permission

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