February 22 | Lent 1, Year A
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Psalm 32
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4:1-11
Although Jesus’ temptations focus on his identity as the Messiah, the way he dealt with his temptations is instructive to us all. He did four things to resist temptation. Jesus refused the devil, relied on the Spirit, referenced God’s word, and ran the course set out for him.
Acknowledging that all temptations to rebel against God come from the Devil, either the cosmic spirit or the Devil within us all, our first response must be to refuse to listen to anything that would lead us away from God’s perfect will. If we begin to doubt that an ordinance from God’s Word really means what the Church has always believed it to mean, that doubt has the Devil’s signature all over it.
Was not that the original temptation presented to man in the Garden?—“Did God really mean that?” In the wilderness, Jesus was confronted with the conjunction of doubt—“If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Today we are seduced by the siren voices of our culture. Do you sense the voice of the Prince of the World as you hear directives that focus on humankind or the individual rather than God? We need to refuse to consider such statements, to refuse to even open ourselves to hearing them. When we refuse them, we are refusing the Devil.
But as sinful human beings we are incapable of refusing the Devil in our own power. Even Jesus went into the wilderness with the Spirit. If we are to resist temptation, we must rely on the Holy Spirit’s power. Jesus taught that one of the roles of the Spirit is to identify sin and empower repentance by convicting us of the truth (and thus also, its opposite). If we walk in the Spirit, we will recognize the voice of the Devil and resist his lies.
Given that God created us as embodied spirits, he has given us safeguards against the wiles of the devil that are both spiritual (the indwelling Spirit) and material (the written Word). When we are faced with a possible temptation, we must refer our doubt to the Holy Scriptures and compare it to them for consistency.
Even when we are having a hard time hearing the voice of the Spirit over the cacophony of other voices in the world, we can be sure that a statement is true or false based on whether it contradicts Scripture. In rebuffing each of the Devil’s temptations, Jesus quoted God’s Word. And even when the Devil quoted Scripture out of context, Jesus used the full counsel of Scripture to rebut the Devil’s ploy. This is also a warning against depending on a new and novel interpretation of Scripture that easily justifies our desires. Without the Bible, we are entering the arena to do combat with a heavily armed and very experienced warrior with nothing but our bare hands. Likewise, the result will be nothing but defeat.
Finally, Jesus chose to run the course that his Father had laid out for him from the beginning of time. Like Jesus, we cannot succumb to taking apparent shortcuts or running the race our own way without being disqualified. If we find ourselves being lured to an easier route or a quicker fulfillment of our goal, then we need to recommit ourselves to staying the course.
Look It Up: Romans 5:12-19
Think About It: The challenge of Lent is to surrender our delusions of innocence and self-righteousness, humbly taking up Christ’s righteousness and proclaiming the way of life in word and deed.
The Rev. Dr. Chuck Alley, former rector of St. Matthew’s Church in Richmond, Virginia, teaches anatomy at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical School.
