Anyways, now that we've gotten that out of that way, let's talk about Lent a little bit. Well, sorta. We know what Lent is, the time of preparation leading up to Easter Sunday. It's a great time of penitential sorrow and joyful hope all wrapped up into one semi-confusing ball of ecclesiastical celebration. But this time of sacrifice and abounding Grace finds it's biblical roots in Christ's 40 days of fasting in the desert at the beginning of His ministry. And just as we end Lent with the celebration of Christ conquering death in Easter, Christ's preparation for the rest of His life ended with an event that foreshadowed Easter, namely His temptation by, and conquering of, Satan.
We tend to focus on this event somewhat one-dimensionally, seeing it (and rightfully so) as the New Adam succeeding where the original failed. But there's another, often overlooked, view to this. Namely, what can we learn about ourselves and our own concupiscence in the way the Devil chose to tempt the Son of Man? And what can it teach us about staying on guard against sin? To really understand this, let's pull out the biblical account and go through these temptations step-by-step.
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
So we have Christ's frame of mind. Guided by the Holy Spirit to fast and grow in a spiritual way, much like many of us are day in and day out. And, being fully human, it wore Him out. Just as our journeys wear us down. And when we're at the beginning of something great, that's when the Devil takes notice and decides to step in.
The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
This is the first thing Satan goes after. Our own selfish desires. And there's a reason for this. It's simple, requires nearly zero effort on his part, and is incredibly effective. What do you want right now, this instant? What do you think you need? The Devil uses this rationalization with great delight and we are all too often eager to take the bait. But wait! Jesus has some advice for us! That guy, He's always got a nugget of wisdom. He retreats to the word of God, and reminds us that while temporal pleasures and even needs can sustain us and even please us for a time, it is He, the true Bread of Life, that we can sustain ourselves on. In many ways, He's saying "Don't worry about that right now. You've got me. So keep your eyes on the prize."
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
Now this is where most of the "survivors" of temptation one get snagged. Turns out that the Devil is a smart guy, and he knows how to think long-term. People tend to think that once they overcome their carnal, directly selfish desires, they're home free. They see the reward for their piety and they grab it in all it's glory! Victory!
...right?
Christ is the King of Kings. His mission on this earth was to gather the people to Himself, to show them that He is the Lord. And here's His chance. Satan is fully aware of the goal here, and he's perfectly willing to help attain it. No fuss no muss, no bloodshed or suffering. Sure, it's kind of a cheat, it's kind of the "easy way out", but this is the whole reason He's here! This is exactly what He wants!
This is what our next temptation always is. If the Devil can't keep us from our mission, then he'll do exactly the opposite. He'll help us in it. He'll smooth out the wrinkles, cut out the work, help us justify the means to the end, because it's all for the greater glory. Except now we're here, at the top of the mountain, and everything is how we imagined it, but... not. Just a little skewed, a little warped. So what's wrong?
Have you ever thought about why God, in His infinite mercy, didn't just snap His fingers after the fall of man and make everything okay again? Maybe that's not the way He wants it to work. Have you ever thought that there was something to that old silly idea of the felix culpa? "O happy fault that merited such and so great a Redeemer" isn't an accidental statement. God, for whatever reason in His wisdom, found it proper to work great good out of struggle and evil. We're called to that standard right alongside Jesus. And once again, He shows us the way.
Our actions need to be centered on the worship of God at all times. The old axiom "There's the easy way and there's the right way" holds true here. The moment you do something that doesn't glorify God, even in your pursuit to glorify Him, you've fallen into sin and temptation. And often you may not even realize it until it's too late. But we are often tempted with means to what we believe we want, with a path that seemingly lines up with our mission, but gets us there in a warped and disordered way. "Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only."
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:
‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’"
And here we go. You've proven that you're not going to give in to your desires, and you wont be fooled into gaining the whole world but losing your soul. You keep your eyes on God. And finally, Satan turns to his last refuge, the last place you'd expect him to strike. The pages of scripture itself. Twice has Christ rebuked the Devil, quoting scripture to prove him wrong. So now the Devil spouts scripture right back at him.
See, Satan knows the word of God too. Better, in fact, than we do. He knows what it means and, more importantly, he knows what it doesn't mean. And he turns it around on us, uses it in lockstep with our pride. "Yeah, you've got all the authority you need. You can see it all right here, plain as day on the page. You know what it means, and you don't need anyone else to push their man-made interpretations on you. The Spirit is guiding you."
I have a good idea that a number of you reading this will immediately know what I mean, not because you necessarily agree with me but because you'll feel a little attacked, as a few little strings of your pride are tugged, just a bit. And that's the point. This last temptation, this is the one that gets the last holdouts. This last temptation is the one that has caused more irreparable damage and splintering of Christendom than anything else. The right verse, mixed with carefully measured pride, will infect everything we do and say in pursuit of the Kingdom. This is the killer.
"It is said 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test'". Christ's words here resonate within us on every level. Pride is always putting God to the test. Boldly proclaiming "Let's see who's right." is what pride tricks us into doing every day. When we feel those string start to pull, and we feel the pride begin to well up in our hearts, that's when we must repeat the words of Jesus, the final words He said to drive off the Devil for good. "It is said 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test'".
When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Yikes. The point is, even after all this, he'll be back. This is why Lent is so important to us. It's a time to fall to our knees and feel the sorrow at what we've caused, and look forward joyfully at the hope He's created. There's a lot of Grace floating around during Lent. Please don't neglect to reach out and accept it.
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