Matthew 4:1-11

Meditatio (Reflecting)

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.

Oratio (Responding)

Hungry indeed, these readings are some of my very favorite in the bible. They give so much insight into the way of things in heaven, vs the way of things in the world. First we must dispel a couple things about these readings. Jesus was indeed hungry, because he was indeed fully human. And he was also tempted, not just in his human nature but also in his divine. we will explore this in each temptation. The first temptation was the temptation of the “lust of the flesh.” Jesus had made promise to god before this episode with the devil, a promise to fast for the souls of the world, and it is not time yet to complete the fast. The devil is trying to tempt Jesus’ real human need for food, but also to tempt his divine nature to trust in his own power to feed himself, rather than trust in god in heaven to provide all that he needs. The second temptation was “pride of power” to throw himself down from the parapet, and make a spectacle of himself. The devil is tempting Jesus’ human nature to flying around like superman, drawing attention to himself, making a spectacle of himself instead of being humble, and trusting. The Devil is also tempting his divine nature by saying that you can win converts, if you show your great power, and make these people bow down to you, and win converts by force of his will, rather than by faith, trust, and love. The last temptation was “the lust of the eyes.” Jesus’s mission was to come to the world, and through the pain and suffering of the cross, to save souls, and open the gates of heaven. The devil is saying here that he is the king of this world, and any soul that give themselves to the devil, are going to suffer with him in eternity in hell. The devil is making a simple proposition here, he is saying that if Jesus worships him, that he will release all of those souls to the father, and he will have accomplished the same goal without the suffering. This is a clear temptation to his human nature, to not suffer, but it is also a clear temptation to his divine as well, save all of those souls for the sake of Jesus declaring that that the devil is greater. I believe that this last temptation was the most difficult for jesus to overcome, and yet he did, quickly and completely. So how did he do it? He used the lenten practices of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving as the antidote, to the temptations of lust, pride, and greed. Fasting from food overcomes the temptation of it. Prayer to god, overcomes the pride of doing it your own way, and almsgiving overcomes the greedy need to take from other to avoid your own sacrifice and suffering. The symmetrical opposition here is incredible, and beautiful at the same time, but the message is clear. To over come the temptation of three fold concupiscence, you must humbly embrace the practice of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. It is easy to say, and even easier to see it laid out in example, but it is hard to live, but you must do it, and you should start today, your eternity depends on it. Don’t wait another moment.

Contemplatio (Contemplating)

Take time to simply remain in the presence of God.

Resolutio (Resolving)

Oh lord, help me today to reject the temptations of this world, and to focus directly on you. Amen.