Matthew 4: 1-11
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 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, ´One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.´" Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ´He will command his angels concerning you,´ and ´On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.´" Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, ´Do not put the Lord your God to the test.´" Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ´Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.´" Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 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, ´One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.´" Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ´He will command his angels concerning you,´ and ´On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.´" Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, ´Do not put the Lord your God to the test.´" Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ´Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.´" Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
When I heard this passage at evening mass yesterday I connected to it via the ways that Satan tempts me in my own life. When Satan knows a situation in our lives where we can be vulnerable he moves in and tries to make us question ourselves and our abilities...which is equivalent to question God's abilities because after all it is God who sends us here to do these things on earth. Satan tries to use God's name against Jesus and he does the same thing to us, whispering to us that if we were children of God then we wouldn't be failing in the little or big ways. Once these thoughts creep in it is difficult not to dwell on them, and dwelling on them is a form of worship. So when we doubt ourselves, especially when we are sent out into the desert into areas of our lives that may be uncomfortable and temptation to listen to the Satan's lies surround us...it is then that we must remember to do as Jesus did and renounce him with every ounce of our being, remembering that when we do so "angels will come" and wait on us. May we keep walking through Lent with faith and undivided attention on the Lord.
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