Homily for the First Sunday Of Lent, Year C

Jesus Trumps the Devil

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the First Sunday of Lent, Year C

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, March 6, 2022

Pope Francis describes Lent as “a journey of return to God.” This journey of return to God is usually blocked by our quest for sensual pleasures, power and glory. Our today’s Gospel, which is Luke’s account of the temptation of Jesus, shows us how Jesus handled such temptations. After his baptism in the Jordan River, he “…returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.” That Jesus was led by the Spirit in the desert to be tempted means that temptation is not altogether a bad thing. Temptation can be the season or time to state more clearly who you are. Part of knowing who you are is knowing who you are not. Part of knowing what your life is about is knowing what it is not about. So, at the beginning of the Lord’s public life and ministry, he must clarify what he is about, and who he is.

As the Lord enters the desert, the devil comes to him and says, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to turn into bread.” Jesus replies him, “It is written, One does not live by bread alone.” The first temptation is a low level, basic temptation; yet, it is a very powerful one. The temptation is for Jesus to base his life, not on the will or purpose of God, but on the goods that satisfies the body— food, drink, sex, sensual pleasure, and all those things that satisfies the desires of the body. As I have said in the past, those desires are not bad in themselves. We are not puritans, but none is the Ultimate Good. When your life becomes dominated by them you become blinded to the Ultimate Good. You are no longer able to see and desire the Ultimate Good, which is God. The great American spiritual writer, Thomas Merton, said that the desire for food, drink, and sex, are like children. They are insistent, speak all the time and make demand of what they want. Parents with kids know this all too well. When kids want something to eat, they mount pressure upon pressure, talk ceaselessly in demand of what they want. Whatever they want, they want it right away. Parents know that if they satisfy a child’s desire all the time, very soon, that child will be running the house. Similarly, if we indulge these desires in us and allow them to dominate us, we will never access the deeper levels of our lives. This is precisely why Jesus says to the devil, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Don’t base your life here. The purpose of life is much more than food, drink, sex and bodily pleasures. Don’t let sensual pleasure enslave you. You are created to be free. 

The second temptation, which is a higher level temptation, is a very dramatic one. After Jesus handles the first temptation well, the devil takes him up to a high place where he could see in one glance all the powers, all the kingdoms, all the splendor of the world and then says to him, “I will give 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.” This is temptation, not to sensual pleasure but to power. Again, like sensual pleasure, power in itself, is not a bad thing. God is described as all powerful. In itself, there is nothing wrong with power, but power is not God. It is not the ultimate good. But when it becomes the deepest desire of our soul, we become spiritually corrupt. Human history is littered with men like Caesar Augustus, Marcus Aurelius, Charlemagne, Henry VIII, Louis XIV, Napoleon, Hitler, Idi Amin, Mobutu Sese Seko, Sani Abacha etc. who were seduced by the quest for power. When you read the account of the presidency of Richard Nixon, what you see in Nixon and those around him is exactly this tendency. Power is so tempting and so attractive, and if the desire for it is unchecked, it can become a dominant force in one’s life. In case you did not notice, there is something very troubling in this account. The devil clearly says, “… all this has been given to me…” That means, all earthly power in some sense belong to the devil. So, if you still wonder why it is so difficult for people in positions of power to resist the temptation to dominate, abuse and manipulate others, I hope you have found your answer. Power can be a very dangerous thing. What does Jesus say to the second temptation? He says, “It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him alone shall you serve.” I don’t care how good power is, how impressive it is and how attractive it is, it is not worth the price of your soul. If it means you have to surrender yourself to the power of darkness, to evil manipulation and domination, it is not worth it. Honoring God is the better part; it is one thing necessary. 

In the third temptation, the devil leads Jesus to Jerusalem and set him on the parapet of the temple and says 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.” We are now at the highest place. We started from the floor of the desert to the high point where we saw all the kingdoms of the world and now we are at the parapet of the temple. What does it mean? The temple was the center-point in the life of the Jews of Jesus’ time. It was the center of political life, social life, economic life, and religious life. Everything centers around the temple. The temple was everything. Therefore, to be on the parapet of the temple, meant to be in the place of greatest glory and honor. There, everybody can see me. I am at the top of my society and on top of the world. Even God is watching out for me to despatch his angels to work for me. This is the temptation to glory and the inflation of the ego. It is the temptation to be seen by everyone and be considered very important. Again, this temptation is a very dangerous one. What does Jesus say to it? “You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.” Your life is not about getting God and everyone to notice you. Your life is about doing the will of God. What guarantees peace is not the indulgence of bodily desires. It’s not the acquisition of power. It is also not the glorification of the ego. It is rather surrendering one’s life to the promptings of the divine will. Dante, the great poet said, “Lord, in your will is our peace.”