At the crossroad where one road ahead was appealing and gravitating to our worldly senses and carnal senses for pleasure and the other one road looked seemed challenging. It was evident that many people have taken the former road into pleasure, while the latter one was not. Standing at this division of the road, we have heard God calling to take the latter road, which not many have taken, though it sure was tempting to take the one that many have gone through (i.e. Deuteronomy 30:15-20 – First Reading for Thursday after Ash Wednesday).
So, on Ash Wednesday, we decided to follow God’s call (i.e.
Joel 2:12-18 – First Reading for Ash Wednesday) because it was the way back to
God. With contrite heart, we have chosen the “road less traveled”, which is the
way back to God, the way of penance and conversion for transcendental growth
and renewal.
Five Lenten Sundays and Palm Sunday punctuate our
Lenten road less traveled.
First Lenten Sunday readings (Deuteronomy 26:4-10;
Romans 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13) remind us that taking the Lenten road is a
constant challenge as devil constantly tries to pull us out of the way and lure
us on to the other popular way of pleasure. But, this way of pleasure is a way
of wasting our life to destruction. It is a way to have us addicted to death.
On the other hand, the way that we took on Ash Wednesday, the way of bearing
ashes and putting in sackcloth, engaging in fasting, is namely, the way of
penance, the way of life and way toward the joy in the Lord, as reflected in
the First Readings of Friday and Saturday after Ash Wednesday (Isaiah 58:1-9a,
9b-14). And, the First Readings for
First Sunday (Deuteronomy 26:4-10) also assures that God is always with us on
this “road less traveled” back to God, recalling how God guided Jacob through
his journeys (i.e. Genesis 28:1-50:14) and his offspring, the Israelites, led
by Moses, succeeded by Joshua, for 40 years in desert, until settling in the
land of milk and honey, where they were able to offer firstfruits of the
God-given new land of prosperity (c.f. Exodus 3:8 -Joshua 24:28).
Upon Passover (Exodus 12:1-51), the offspring of
Jacob, the Israelites, were delivered out of Egypt, where they were oppressed
as slaves, and crossed the Red Sea, wondered in the desert for 40 years, until
settled in the land of milk and honey, being guided and strengthened by God (Exodus
13:17-Joshua 24:28; cf. Deuteronomy 26:4-10). During these challenging 40 years
in desert, those whose faith was not strong enough perished, succumbed to
temptations, while those who kept their steadfast faith made it through. During
these 40 wondering years in desert, those who failed to remember and recognize
God’s persistent companionship (i.e. Deuteronomy 30:14; Romans 10:8) died to
their own carnal desires’ temptations and perished, while those who were aware
of God’s perpetual companionship let their carnal desires’ temptations die to
God’s unfailing love and made it all the way to the land of milk and honey.
In fact, this Exodus motif is reflected on our Lenten
journey of 40 days on the “road less traveled”. So, if you ask why God did not
bring the Israelites straight to the land of milk and honey out of Egypt but
rather put them through 40 years of extremely challenging journey in desert,
you can ask why we have these Lenten 40 days of journey. And it was to test us
for the quality of our faith in
God, in particular, the strengths of our faith.
As the Israelites has been put to the test during
these 40 years in desert from Egypt to the land of milk and honey (i.e.
Deuteronomy 26:8-10), we are also tested for our faith for these 40 days of
Lent on the “road less traveled” to take us back God (i.e. Joel 2:12-18;
Deuteronomy 30:15-20). On this journey, we are also tested for the authenticity
of our Lenten practice (i.e. Isaiah 58:1-14), so that the journey may be
fruitful for us to offer “firstfruit” to God upon competing it (i.e.
Deuteronomy 26:10). However, devil will come to attack up like a lion to devour,
when we are facing challenges (i.e. 1 Peter 5:8) during these 40 days of Lent, as
we are on this Lenten journey of the “road less traveled”.
Remember, devil does not want us to return to God. He
wants us to go as far away from God as possible on a path of addictive pleasure
toward self-destruction. He does not want us to take God’s way, which the “road
less traveled”.
Devil may not necessarily attack us physically as a
lion does. Rather, he certainly attacks us with a plethora of temptations, appealing
to our carnal desires.
The Second Reading (Romans 10:8-13) teaches us not to
fall to carnal temptations during Lent and reminds us that the word of faith,
as God’s commandment, is near us, in our mouth and in our heart (Romans10:8;
Deuteronomy 30:14), as we continue journeying on the Lenten road “less
traveled”, facing devil’s attacks of carnal temptations.
So, how can we respond to devil’s attack on us,
tempting us for carnal and worldly desires, luring for pleasure and pleasure
and even comfort, when we are vulnerable in facing challenges on the journey of
Lent?
We can find a practical solution to this problem in
the Gospel Reading (Luke 4:1-13) from Jesus in his way to fend off three
temptations set by devil when he was about to complete his 40-day-and-night
fasting in wilderness.
Jesus has been filled with the Holy Spirit since his
Baptism, blessed by the Father in heaven (i.e. Luke 3:21-22), signaling that he
was ready to inaugurate his public ministry from Galilee to Jerusalem. It was
as we need to go through catechesis to receive not only the Sacrament of the
Holy Eucharist but the Sacrament of Confirmation, to serve the Lord, Jesus
himself had to go through the test in the wilderness before he actually began
his public ministry. And this is what the Gospel Reading for First Sunday of
Lent (Luke 4:1-13) reflects in describing how Jesus actually passed the test
especially when he was very vulnerable to temptation attacks when he was hungry
and alone.
Following his Baptism, Jesus was tested for his flesh,
which can contribute to sins, wrecking us from the way of God to wrong way to
pleasure, power, and gluttony, toward self-destruction.
Remember, God sent His only begotten Son to us in the
human flesh of Jesus, incarnating the Word-God (Theos-Logos) to let him
dwell among us (John 1:1, 14). For this, God predetermined Mary to be preserved
totally free from a stain of Original Sin, namely, making her the Immaculate
Conception, to let her serve as the Theotokos, impregnating her with the
Son of God to be incarnated by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:26-38).
Now, the Son of God is in the human flesh of Jesus,
being baptized and being tested to ensure that his human flesh will not
compromise his abilities to carry through his public ministry from Galilee to
the Cross in Jerusalem. So, the Holy Spirit charged and led him (Luke 4:1) to
the test of the fasting for 40 days and night and three temptations by devil.
It was when Jesus was about to complete his fasting of
40 days and night, when he was exhausted and extremely hungry, devil attacked
him with three temptations – to see if he would let his human flesh to derail
himself from the way of the Father’s will for him.
First, devil said to Jesus, knowing his fatigue and hunger,
poking on a carnal desire to fill the stomach, saying, “If you are the Son
of God, command this stone to become bread”(Luke 4:3). Certainly, devil
knew whom he was challenging.
To this Jesus replied by citing Deuteronomy 8:3:
It is written, One does not live by bread
alone (Luke 4:4).
In Deuteronomy 8:3, it is written:
He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger, and then fed you with manna, a
food unknown to you and your ancestors, so you might know that it is not by
bread alone that people live, but by all that comes forth from the mouth of the
LORD.
Jesus knew God’s warning against the carnal
disposition to fall to “gastral gods”, leading to destruction (Philippians
3:19). So, he fed himself on whatever came out of the mouth of YHWH (the LORD),
namely, the Word (דָּבָר/dabar) and His breath of life (נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים
/nishmat chayyim), namely the Holy Spirit for life (John 6:63; 2
Corinthians 3:6; cf. Genesis 2:7). And
Jesus, though in the human flesh, was fully armed with the Word and the Holy Spirit
so that devil could not let his human flesh to become a problem.
Then, devil gave Jesus second attack, showing all the
kingdoms on earth and saying, “I shall give to you all this power and their
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”(Luke 4:6-7).
By this, devil challenged Jesus in his humanity to see
if he would fall to a temptation for personal power and self-glorification,
like a dictator and an autocrat. Rather than attacking on the flesh, this is a
challenge to the human mind. And the price to gain the whole world in his power
was to betray the Father and to become Satan’s servant.
To this, Jesus’ words of rebuttal were:
It is written: You shall worship the Lord,
your God, and him alone shall you serve (Luke 4:8).
And this statement of Jesus is backed by the Word in
Exodus 20:1-6, as well as, Deuteronomy 6:13.
Jesus’ absolute loyalty to the Father (i.e. Hebrews
3:2) cannot be shaken by any attacks, for he was one with the Father –
consubstantial with the Father (John 10:30).
Having failed twice to pull out of the Father’s way
for him – to prevent him from launching his public ministry, devil attacked him
for the third time. But this time, he changed his strategies as he himself also
cited from the Scriptures to challenge Jesus.
So, devil took Jesus to the parapet of the Temple in
Jerusalem and said, “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” (Luke 4:9-11), citing from Psalm 91:11-12.
To this, Jesus gave another verbal punch to devil, citing
from Deuteronomy 6:16:
It also says,”You shall not put the Lord,
your God, to the test” (Luke 4:12).
Then, devil stopped attacking Jesus for he was unshakable though he had the human flesh – even he was in a very vulnerable condition with hunger and loneliness, and left for that time (Luke 4:13). And, devil began returning to Jesus on the night before his death, first, through Judas (Luke 22:3), then through Peter (Luke 22:31-32), and as his passion toward death on the Cross began with his arrest (Luke 22:53), through he did not the imminent prospect of his suffering and death to derail himself from his course of the Father’s will, being strengthened by an angel from heaven (Luke 22:42-44).
Judas’ desire for greed let him “sell” Jesus to a
bunch of devil’s servants on Spy Wednesday (Matthew 26:14-15). And devil
prompted Judas to betray Jesus during Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:3; John 13:27).
For Peter, devil got into his fear of death for his associate with Jesus,
letting him deny his connection to Jesus (Luke 22:31-35, 54-62). The falls of
Judas and Peter to devil give aspects of human weakness of greed and fear.
In contrast, though he was fully human, Jesus did not succumb
to temptation out of his hunger. He did not let the temptation for power and
self-glorification betray the Father. And, he did not let the temptation to
test the Father because his trust in Him is rock-solid. And, throughout these
40 days and nights of fasting and through these three temptations from devil,
Jesus was not alone as he was with the Father through the Holy Spirit and the
Word.
So, what is a big lesson from the First Sunday of Lent
to ensure that we do not let any temptations and other challenges derail us
from our Lenten “road less traveled” – so that we can reach our destination,
from the Cross to the empty tomb, the delight in the risen Lord (i.e. Isaiah
58:14a), joyfully offering our firstfruits (i.e. Deuteronomy 26:10) of our
Lenten journey?
From the way Jesus fended off devil’s three temptation
attacks (Luke 4:1-13), we learn that we are always with omnipresent and
omnipotent God through the Word and the Holy Spirit on our Lenten journey of
challenges to make sure not falling to derailing temptations. This way, we also
learn that we do not let our flesh become an excuse for our falling.
As challenges on our Lenten journey become more
frequent and intense, including carnal and worldly temptations, we may feel if
God is helping us, let us remember that is hear us, recognizing His persistent
companionship (i.e. Deuteronomy 30:14; Romans 10:8) – so that we keep our faith
unshakable. This way, we will never put to shame (i.e. Romans 10:11; Isaiah
28:16). And we just need to call on God to ensure that we stay on our Lenten “road
less traveled” for salvation (i.e. Romans 10:13; Joel 3:5), just as the
Responsorial Psalm refrain from Psalm 91, sings, “Be with me, Lord, when I
am in trouble”. And our merciful Lord will gently assures his constant
presence with us – his nearness to us.
Our God is close to us and with us, as the Father is always so to His
Son, Jesus – through the Word and the Holy Spirit.
Do not let our flesh become a reason to fall and succumb
during our Lenten journey in facing challenges for keeping our awareness of God’s
omnipresence through the Word and the Holy Spirit.
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