Gospel: Luke 4:1-13
Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned
from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be
tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over
he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this
stone to become bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, One does not live
on bread alone.” Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of
the world in a single instant. The devil said to him, “I shall give to you all this
power and glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give
it to whomever I wish. All this will be yours, if you worship me.” Jesus said
to him in reply, “It is written: You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him
alone shall you serve.” Then he led him to Jerusalem, made him stand on the
parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw
yourself down from here, for it is written: He will command his angels
concerning you, to guard you, and: With their hands they will support you, lest
you dash your foot against a stone.” Jesus said to him in reply, “It also says,
You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.” When the devil had finished
every temptation, he departed from him for a time.
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Reflection:
A man gave in to the temptation of an adulterous
affair, he was always being advised by his sister to cut-off the immoral
relationship. But he did not listen, he reasoned that his wife would never
catch him. Indeed, he was not caught but when he died his soul was immediately
brought by the devil to hell.
Today is the first Sunday of Lent and we read
that Jesus was tempted by the devil three times. The first one is to transform
the stone to become bread, second is to worship the devil in exchange for power
and glory and the third is to jump from the parapet. Filled with the Holy
Spirit Jesus rejected these three temptations after which He walked away from
the devil.
Why do we succumb to temptations? Why can’t we
refuse or simply walk away from the devil? The answer is very simple. We take control of our lives instead of God. Instead
of following the authority of God, we follow our own sinful rules which is
actually fed into our minds by the devil.
We will get nothing but hell if we follow the
rule of the devil. We will get nothing but misery if we sell our souls to the
devil. What happened to Judas when he succumb to the temptation of the devil to
betray Jesus (Matthew 27:3-5)? Did Judas profit anything from betraying Jesus?
We will also not profit anything good if we succumb to the devil’s many
temptations.
Let us make this lent a time to deeply strengthen
our relationship with Jesus. So that we would be able to ward off whatever
temptations that the devil will dangle before us.
What are the things that you’re doing to
deeply strengthen your relationship with Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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