Commentary to the First Sunday in Lent

The temptation of an illusory happiness

In everyday language, to be tempted means to be attracted by the forbidden; hence it is astonishing that the great characters of the Bible, the patriarchs, Job were tempted. One feels a certain embarrassment when confronted with the accounts of Jesus' temptations and is bewildered by the statements of the author of the Letter to the Hebrews who, speaking of Christ, declares: "Because he himself suffered, being tempted, he can help those who are tempted" (Heb 2:18). "We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathise with us in our infirmities, having himself been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sinning" (Heb 4:15).

The Bible invites us to consider temptation in an original perspective: as a moment of verification of the soundness of man's choices, as an opportunity for growth. Inherent in temptation is also the risk of making mistakes, but this danger is inevitable if one wishes to mature, to become "experts," "experts". These terms in fact mean nothing other than 'tempted', 'subjected to a test, an examination'.

The choice is between accepting or rejecting the Father's plan.

Two men are confronted: one - Adam - decides to follow his own deceitful judgements; the other - Christ - constantly refers to the word of God. The first extends his hand towards a fruit of death, the second becomes the author of life.

To internalise the message, we repeat:"Create in me, O God, a pure heart, renew in me a steadfast spirit".

============================
Let us examine each of these three 'parables' that represent, schematically, the wrong ways of relating to three realities: with things, with God, with people.

The first: "Say that these stones become bread" (vv. l-4).

Without bread one does not live. "To eat" is one of the most frequently used verbs in the Bible: it occurs nine hundred and ten times in the OT and this shows how important it is for God that every man has something to eat.

In the wilderness, the Lord said to Moses: "Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you. The people shall go out to gather their ration for one day each day, that I may test them". Moses said to the Israelites, "Gather as much as each one can eat, and let no one have any left over until the morning". But they did not obey, and some kept some until the morning; but worms were generated in it and it rotted (Ex 16:4, 19-20).

 This is a typical case of pedagogical temptation: God placed Israel in front of the manna to educate them in the use of earthly goods and trust in his providence. By teaching his people to control their greed, he wanted to free them from the frenzy of possession and the lust to accumulate food. He did not succeed: the seduction of this world's possessions is almost unstoppable, it is difficult to be content with 'daily bread' so that everyone can have enough to live on.

Tempted to use his own abilities to produce "bread" for himself, Jesus reacted by referring to Scripture: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Deut 8:3).

Only those who consider their life in the light of God's word, only those who, like Jeremiah, "devour it with greed" and make it "the joy and gladness of their heart" (Jer 15:16) are able to give the right value to the realities of this world. They are not to be despised, destroyed, rejected, but neither are they to be regarded as idols. They are creatures, transient and transitory, not absolute realities.

In this first scene, the wrong way in which man relates to material realities is identified and denounced. The selfish use of wealth, accumulating for oneself, living off the labour of others, squandering in luxury and the superfluous, while others lack the necessary are behaviours dictated by the evil one.

For Christians, Lent is a time of life review and conversion. Faith in the Risen One cannot be reduced to a call to almsgiving, to dropping a few more crumbs from our set tables. It is rather a provocation to radically review the way we handle the goods of this world. We can ask ourselves, for example, whether we have a clear demarcation line in mind between the prudent and the greedy; whether certain expenses, certain pleasure trips, certain bank accounts, certain investments, certain fabulous sums bequeathed to our children are compatible with the evangelical choice and Christian perspective. It is in this world that we must live, the wealth that we have in our hands is "dishonest" (Lk 16:9), but it must be managed bearing in mind the Master's recommendations: "Do not worry about what you will eat or drink... Why do you worry about your clothes?... The pagans worry about these things... Therefore do not worry about tomorrow" (Mt 7:25-34).

The second temptation: "Throw yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple" (vv. 5-7). The devilish proposal is even based on the Bible: "It is written..." - says the tempter.

The most insidious of evil's wiles is to present itself with an appealing face, to assume a pious air, to make use of the very word of God - perhaps crippled or interpreted in a nonsensical way - to lead astray.

The ultimate goal of the evil one is not to provoke some moral failure, some frailty, some weakness, but to undermine the relationship with God at its roots. This objective is achieved when, in man's mind, doubt creeps into his mind that the Lord does not keep his promises, that he fails to keep his word, that he assures his protection, but, at crucial moments, abandons those who have put their trust in him.

From this doubt arises the need to 'demand proof'. In the desert, the people of Israel, exhausted by thirst, succumbed to this temptation and exclaimed: "Is the Lord in our midst, yes or no?" (Ex 17:7). He challenged his God saying: if he is on our side, if he really accompanies us with his love, let him manifest himself by granting us a sign, perform a miracle! He challenged him to see if he really loved him.

Every man has to deal with such doubts, every man has to face this temptation. Not even the prophet Jeremiah was spared, who one day had the feeling that he had been betrayed by the Lord; at the height of his anguish, he cried out to Him: "You have become for me a treacherous stream, of unsteady waters" (Jer 15:18).

Jesus was also subjected to this test, but he did not give in. Unlike Israel, even in the most dramatic moments of his life, he refused to ask the Father for proof of his love, he never doubted his faithfulness, not even on the cross when, faced with the absurdity of what was happening to him, he might have been tempted to think that the Lord had abandoned him too.

We succumb to this temptation every time we demand from God signs of his love, every time we ask him to deliver us, by means of graces and miracles, from the difficulties, the hardships, the misfortunes that befall other men.

In every situation, whether happy or painful, we must indeed pray to him, not so that he may grant privileges or change his plans and adapt them to ours, but so that he may give us light and strength to emerge more mature from every trial.

We must not expect God to treat us differently from his beloved only Son.

The third temptation: "I will give you everything if, prostrating yourself, you will worship me" (vv. 8-11). It is the temptation of power, of dominion over others.

The choice is between dominating and serving, between competing and becoming supportive, between overpowering and considering oneself a servant. This choice manifests itself in every attitude and in every condition of life: those who have become erudite or have attained a position of prestige may help those less fortunate than themselves to grow, but they may also use it to humiliate those less gifted. Those in power, those who are rich, can serve the poorer and less advantaged, but they can lord it over them.

The lust for power is so irrepressible that even those who are poor are tempted to overpower those weaker than themselves.

Authority is a charisma, it is a gift from God to the community, so that everyone can be placed in their place and feel fulfilled. Power, on the other hand, is diabolical, even if it is exercised in the name of God.

Wherever dominion over man is exercised, wherever there is a struggle to prevail over others, wherever someone is forced to kneel or bow before his fellow man, there the logic of the evil one is at work.

Jesus did not lack the gifts to emerge, to climb all the rungs of religious and political power: he was intelligent, lucid, courageous, he charmed the crowds. He would certainly have succeeded... but on one condition, that he 'worshipped Satan', that is, that he conformed to the principles of this world: entering into competition, resorting to the use of force and oppression, allying himself with the powerful and employing their methods. He made the opposite choice: he made himself a servant.

The people of Israel in the desert tired of their God and worshipped a golden calf: the material idol, the work of human hands. Jesus never bowed down before any idol: he did not allow himself to be seduced by political power, by money, by the use of weapons, by friendship with the great ones of this world, by proposals of success and glory. He only ever listened to the word of the Father.

The voice that excites in us the thirst for power, that invites us to promote the cult of personality is insistent and insidious.

This last part of the Gospel passage is an invitation to review our lives and realise that privileges, honorary titles, and kisses are not offered by God, but by the tempter. To his children, the Father of Jesus presents only... services to be humbly rendered to the brethren.