Gospel Reflection Feb 22 – Kim VanHuffel
Sunday, February 22
First Sunday of Lent
Matthew 4:1-11
Gospel:
At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert
to be tempted by the devil.
He fasted for forty days and forty nights,
and afterwards he was hungry.
The tempter approached and said to him,
“If you are the Son of God,
command that these stones become loaves of bread.”
He said in reply,
“It is written:
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth
from the mouth of God.”
Then the devil took him to the holy city,
and made him stand on the parapet of the temple,
and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
For it is written:
He will command his angels concerning you
and with their hands they will support you,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
Jesus answered him,
“Again it is written,
You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”
Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain,
and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence,
and he said to him, “”All these I shall give to you,
if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”
At this, Jesus said to him,
“Get away, Satan!
It is written:
The Lord, your God, shall you worship
and him alone shall you serve.”
Then the devil left him and, behold,
angels came and ministered to him.
Gospel Reflection:
As we enter into the figurative desert this Lent, it is fitting that our Gospel reading this weekend is about Jesus being tempted in the desert for 40 days and nights. The Gospel reading is also tied nicely this weekend with the story of Adam and Eve disobeying God in the garden, and with St. Paul’s letter explaining how Jesus is the “new Adam.”
If you gave up something for Lent this year, and it is truly a difficult sacrifice, then you and I are in the same boat as Adam and Jesus in these two readings. Temptations arose for them, and will for us as well. Adam fell short and there were consequences, not just for him, but for all of us. Jesus did not fall short. He is the “new Adam” because he followed the will of God, not just when he was being tempted in the desert, but also in Gethsemane and on the cross. Adam’s inability to say no to temptation (and the devil) threw us all out of paradise, but Jesus’ obedience in the face of temptation makes paradise possible for us again.
This should help us understand why Jesus was “led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.” In his humanity, Jesus probably longed to eat bread. It was difficult, and he was tempted. But learning to overcome temptation in the desert would be extremely important at the time of his passion, when he says “not mine but your will be done.” Jesus was tempted to want to let that cup pass from him, but he was still obedient to God. This was not the first time he had sparred with the devil. The first time was in the desert when he overcame the temptations of pleasure, pride and power. God prepared Jesus for what was to come by leading him into that desert experience. Likewise, that’s what we are doing when we make sacrifices during Lent…preparing ourselves to be able to say no to larger temptations (and the devil) later — saying no to things that might keep us from God or distance us from God. Instead, we are training ourselves to say yes to God, just like his Son did.
I hope your Lent is fruitful and that you (and I), through our sacrifices and prayer, are able to become closer to God during this season. Please keep our OCIA participants in your prayers as they prepare themselves to receive the sacraments this Easter.
Kim VanHuffel
Pastoral Associate