Tomorrow is the first Sunday of Lent and the Gospel presents the temptations of Jesus. Probably one of the few gospel scenes where no witnesses are present and therefore this episode with the Satan must have been narrated by Jesus himself to the disciples on a later occasion. If so, there must a specific reason why Jesus did so.
What are temptations? Are they bad in themselves? I think temptations can be seen as a moment of crisis in the life of a person; in other terms, it is an invitation to something that goes contrary to one’s life choices. But crisis is not something bad in itself. It depends very much on the way one prefers to treat the crisis. If confronted well the VERY CRISIS CAN BECOME THE HOUR OF GOD. So too the temptations!
I think all the temptations I face can be summarized in the three that Jesus confronted and overcame: to put my earthly needs before the spiritual needs; to misinterpret Scripture for personal purposes; and to compromise scriptural truth for an apparent gain. What fascinates me is the way that Jesus dealt with his temptations. It is interesting to see that Jesus overcame his temptations always with the powerful tool of the Word of God. In all the three occasions he makes a reference to the Sacred Scriptures. The author of the letter to the Hebrews reminds me: "The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the separation of soul and spirit, of both joint and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12) But I ask myself, “What has happened to my use of the Word of God?” Often with my negligence and misuse and overuse, I have made of this Word of God which is as powerful as a two-edged sword, a blunt and pointless knife. May be it is an invitation for me to take in hand my Bible and rediscover its enormous power in my daily struggle to win against the powers of evil.
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