“Jesus filled with the Holy Spirit left the Jordan and was led by the spirit through the wilderness, being tempted there by the devil for forty days.” (Lk 4:1-2)
Lent is a time of revision. At this time, we are remembering our children who are going to sit for their final examinations. They have been revising the work for the last two years or more, some chapters are fresh in their minds, others bit hazy, some will find chapters which are completely forgotten or ignored, or never understood clearly, some of the candidates have been reading in isolation and never linked what they were revising with other aspects of the course. Revise brings all this to surface.
Lenten liturgy brings out the events of Old and New Testaments. Events, incidences, personalities, all of which we have at some time heard or even read about- perhaps without going down to the time heard or even read about, but perhaps without going down to the depth of the meaning they were intended to bring us to.
We now need a degree of maturity, a degree of Religious Receptivity, a degree of some spiritual disposition. To enable us grasp fully all the saints the breath and length and height and depth of the love of God to which we are all called. Today we talk of crush course in the universities, which runs from one to two years, given six months with equal or even better results. In the world of business, I think they will be talking of efficient minimum energy, shortest time, maximum output. This is where Christ comes in: He relived in his shortest span of time, all the history of the chosen people, from Adam to his own time. Consider Adam, head of all mankind, he was tempted, tempted is an unfortunate word, we have been brought up to understand it to mean ... “to entice a man to do wrong, to seek to seduce one into sin, try to persuade one to take the wrong way.” The better word would be to Test, Adam was tested, God tested his loyalty. The temptation proposed to him supernatural powers to enable him to rival God, without need of faith, love, and obedience. Adam fell.
Christ too was tested, the tempter used the same Tactics: to change stones into bread, to throw himself and God will send His angels to hold him, showing Jesus all the wealth and he can get it so long as he worships the Devil. The prophets went to the desert to find God. So did the Hermits. And whom did Christ encounter there? The Devil, He was led by the Holy Spirit, only to be tested. He fasted. And the Devil brings dangling before him the pleasures of feasting. God reveals himself, the world with all its attractions. All these have been the temptations of the people of the Old Testament, Christ lived their experiences, fought their battles, won victory where they had failed.
As Christians we are in Christ, there is a new creation for us, we are reliving the life of Christ. His experiences are our experiences, His test is our test, his victory can be our victory. When life brings us to the heights, it is then that we are in gravest danger of depth. For those who love reading Church History. In Luther’s room in the castle of Wartburg one can see ink stain on the wall. He threw an ink-pot at the devil who tempted him. The struggle is not only outwardly but also inwardly. Christ did not conquer the devil in one attempt campaign, he is still fighting. We need to be vigilant as the cost of freedom, if we are prepared to pay the price. It may come as the years we spend at the university examination room can be real martyrdom, it could be with games a strong team doesn’t play with the weak one, if it does it fails to prove its worth.
This is the purpose God to allow temptations to assail us, that we may prove our manhood and emerge the stronger for the fight. Satan is an adversary, attributed to all the evil that befell man, physical and moral. Just to be on the lookout. We must also know that we as human beings we also have adversaries within ourselves as brother and sisters. Adversary always provides us with choices, a situation in which we have to decide. Lowell the poet once said “Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide.” In the strife of Truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side”.
Our lord was presented three situations and he had to decide for Truth or for falsehood, for the good or evil side. The difference between us and Christ is that minds easily get obscured in the moment of temptation. He had clear vision of the real good and could not mistake evil for the good. Lack of clear vision often makes us hesitate, or worse still make a wrong decision. This is why we must never cease to pray for that grace which enlightens the mind to see the truth, to see the good in the moment of temptation.
Another difference between us with Jesus is that he did not suffer moral weakness. Once he saw the good he never failed to do it. While as human beings we are born with moral weakness and it is made greater at each fall. Think of a drunkard or prostitute that each act he sinks lower. Our weakness become greater with each bad example we give.
The time of lent is sacred. We are invited to make special prayers for ourselves and for our brothers in Christ. We are invited by the Church to offer special prayers for ourselves and for our brothers and sister in Christ. We are invited to deny ourselves, to mortify our flesh in enjoyments of life which are legitimate, so that we may gradually gain the necessary moral strength to deny ourselves in what is wrong and sinful.
Let us in this first Sunday of lent a holy season resolve to take full advantage of the graces of the time in spirit of the Church in union with our Lord Jesus.
“It’s difficult to be quite if you have nothing to do”- Arthur Schopenhauer
© Don Joseph Baptist Nyamunga’22
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