The most important message for me in our Gospel today (Luke 4:1-13) is that Jesus is fully human. You can hear and see me give this Homily on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRiSGTQyUQo
We have to remember that the only way the writers of the Gospels could know about the Temptations of Jesus is because he made a point of telling his disciples what had happened to him in the Desert; and clearly he told them so insistently that they knew that he wanted this information shared with others. Their inclination might well have been to play down their significance, and perhaps that’s why it is easy to read them as - The Devil said this and Jesus quickly rebutted him! But this is wrong, for it is pretty clear that for Jesus they were very significant; they were real temptations. I say this, because I know there are some who find it difficult to square this with our belief that Jesus is fully God as well as fully man, and ask themselves “How can God be tempted?” This question always surprises me because the same people do not seem to have any trouble with the idea that Jesus is crucified and dies on the cross; for this immediately raises an even bigger question “How could God die?” Indeed, some very muddled people have been so concerned to stress the divinity, or at least the holiness, of Jesus that they have mistakenly argued that he didn’t really die, he only appeared to, which as we all know would destroy the heart of our Christian faith.
The Temptations then are a very strong affirmation that God chose to become a real flesh and blood human being in Jesus. The Letter to the Hebrews stresses this twice. The writer in Chapter 4 (v.15) makes the point that I’ve just made when he says that in Jesus we “Have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are.” I think this is so important, because there’s a tendency to think that temptations themselves are sinful, and so those who are scrupulous get agonised because they have had what they call “bad thoughts.” Of course, it is true that Jesus does warn us that bad thoughts can lead to sin, and he does so in a way that might imply that the thought itself is a sin, as in the case of lustful thoughts. (Matt 5:28) He clearly wants us to avoid temptation if at all possible, and so he tells us in no uncertain terms that thoughts are dangerous; but the fact that he wants us to know that he was tempted, surely implies that he understands that this is a part of being human, that God understands, and then gives us ways to deal with such thoughts, without descending into guilt. Remember that sin to be sin has to be deliberate and intentional. Angry or lustful thoughts can come upon us without any intention by us for them to do so. It is how we handle those thoughts that matters.
This takes us to the other point about temptation mentioned in the Letter to the Hebrews, because in Chapter 2 (v.18) we hear, “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” This means that seeing how Jesus handled his temptations must be a pointer to what we should do when we face ours. Note then what he does. He doesn’t summon up some great effort in himself to oppose evil, instead he turns to the Father. He calls to mind words from the Scriptures, and uses them as his defence. All in this case from the Book of Deuteronomy. So we get :”Man does not live on bread alone,” then “You must worship the Lord your God and serve him alone,” and finally “You must not put the Lord your God to the test.” This reminds me of a modern parable I was taught many years ago, that the devil is like an old landlord trying to get money out of a tenant, or to be even more modern like an internet scammer trying to make us think we owe money. In each case, we do not try to argue with such people, instead we simply tell them to take it up with the new landlord or with our Bank, and not with us. In other words, we are in God’s hands, and when evil threatens us we do not create our own defences, but instead, as St Paul says in our 2nd Reading, (Romans 10:8-13) we call on the name of the Lord - “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,”- which by the way is a quote from the Prophet Joel (2:32)
St Paul makes an important point here, that it’s not enough simply to believe in our hearts that God defeats evil and death. That is important yes, but to get the full power of God’s support we have to “confess with our lips” what we believe in our hearts, for what we say outwardly affects what we believe inwardly. This is precisely why it is important sometimes to make our Confession. Hopefully we all know that we are not perfect, and we may often say so quietly to God in our times of prayer; but actually identifying our failings and saying them out loud before someone else makes us far more aware how much we need God to help us. It is indeed a calling out to God for help, rather than thinking we can go it alone. Being honest with ourselves, being self-aware, and acknowledging that we need God’s help, is such an important part of being the full human being God wants us to be.
Notice finally what the three temptations of Jesus are. The first is the temptation to succumb to our physical desires. I want, so I must have: whether it is food or drink, or clothes, or fancy holidays. There’s a long list! The second is the temptation to run things our way. We all do it, not just the Putins of this world. Even people who say they are humble, can in their very expression of humility wrap others round their finger. To oppress others, to control others, is a terrible sin whether we are politicians or parents. The third is to turn God into a magician, who will just put everything right without us doing anything. Yes, I have said that we must call on the Lord for help, but not in a way that abdicates our own part in doing what God can and will empower us to do. We call on the name of the Lord so that we do not rely on our own efforts, and begin foolishly to think that we are somehow special; but we still need to “Act justly, love mercy,” and then “Walk humbly with God.” (Micah 6:8)
Indeed Lent is principally not a time to give things up, although we may well do so, but is a time to take something else on, to do something more for God and for our fellow humans. We were reminded on Ash Wednesday that “We are dust”, but God can do wonderful things with dust if we let him.
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