Perhaps, because we hear it so often during Lent it doesn’t have the same impact that it should, but, if we were to look at what is being said it almost seems like an outlandish thing to say. Jesus, He who is God Himself is tempted by the Devil, one who was created by God. It is, in essence, the epitome of arrogance, to believe that he can conquer his very Creator.
However, among many Fathers of the Church, Desert Fathers and Mystics, it was long believed that the desert was always the Devil’s domain. So, while it might seem a bit outlandish, Jesus is, in essence, without the Devil realizing it, bringing the fight, as it were, to him.
And, He does so by submitting Himself to one of the most difficult things that makes us human, one of the greatest challenges to attaining holiness, that of temptation. And, while, on the surface, they appear to be temptations to hunger and power, the greater temptation, as St. Josemaria Escriva points out is “that of using his divine power to solve,” as he puts it, “a personal problem.” Pointing out further that: “throughout the Gospels, Jesus doesn’t work miracles for his own benefit.”
In other words, the temptation the Devil puts forth is for Jesus to use His divine power for Himself. However, if we think about it, that is what any temptation to sin truly is, to make a choice solely for ourselves to the absence of God, to use the power, or better put, the graces and gifts that He gives us for our own benefit, when they are never meant for us alone, when they are always there to show the great things that God has done within us.
It is no wonder then, that as the great theologian and Doctor of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas points out; these three temptations are the very culmination of any temptation we may experience in our lives.
For, as he says: “Scripture would not have said, that once all the temptation ended the devil departed from him, unless the matter of all sins were included in the three temptations already related.”
Traditionally, these three different temptations are seen to be temptations of the flesh, of the world and of the Devil himself, the three sources as it were, from which any temptation to sin may originate.
This is why the first temptation is not simply to turn a rock into a piece of bread, given, as the Gospel puts it, that He was hungry, it is goes deeper than that, the temptation is to fall by simply eating anything, knowing that it was by eating the forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve brought Original Sin. Or, that the Israelites complained to Moses of starving them in the desert as he was trying to lead them to freedom.
This is why Jesus’ response is the passage in Scripture that speaks about the manna never being enough for the true sustenance that can only come from the true food from Heaven.
Then when the Devil promises Jesus the world, a world he does have authority over at the time, Jesus again quotes the part in Scripture of worship in God alone, knowing that the worship of the creature can never have the same power as the Creator.
Finally, when the Devil quotes Scripture back to Jesus, which ironically, if he had quoted the entire thing, speaks about his own destruction. He does so to try to convince Jesus to use His power for His own benefit, and, at the same time give the Devil a little show. However, the greater consequence of His action would be that the Devil would have power over Jesus Himself. This is why Jesus responds as He does and the Devil, realizing he has lost departs for a time, as if to say, soon he will return to continue the battle, thinking he has won, only to realize his defeat once again.
Ultimately, however, Jesus is showing us, by means of this exchange, how it is we are to confront and conquer every single temptation. He is showing that we use something that does not originate from the flesh, the world or the Devil, that in face of temptation we use the very Word of God.
In fact, Jesus quotes Scripture against the Devil as if to show that this is, indeed, the best defense against any temptation. Because, by it, we speak the very words that God has given us, and it allows us to truly see the very power that God has in those words and, as thus, the power He has over all sin and temptation.
In fact, this is why, it is quite telling, that the Devil himself quotes Scripture, because even he knows its power, but, when he speaks, he tries to use it to his benefit, he corrupts it, so as to empty it of its true meaning and to make it merely another means to an end; to take something sacred and to use it as an instrument for sin, as it were.
This is why, as St. Ambrose puts it: “[Jesus] did not act as God, bringing his power into play: if he had done so, how could we have availed of his example?; rather, as man he made use of the resources which he has in common with us.”
So then Christ’s victory in the desert can also be ours as well, His triumph over temptation can become our same success. And the way that happens is by allowing ourselves to be transformed by Him, by His Word, to live in Him and by receiving Him as often as we can in the Most Holy Eucharist.
Knowing that by doing so, it becomes easier to endure temptation, not because temptation is easy to endure, by any means, but, rather, because then we have the strength of Christ Himself within us, we have the same fortitude of Him who suffered in the desert, of He who triumphed over temptation, He who redeemed our flesh, He who conquered the world and He who, at last, defeated the very Devil himself.
Add a comment