Reflection on Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7; Romans
5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11
The human being was
made from the dust of the earth in order to receive the life of God in himself.
Besides the wonderful place to live, the man received also all gifts he needed to
live in communion with God and in harmony with the nature, which is part of his
life. However, the temptation to use his gifts for himself led him to abandon
the communion with God and organize his life very different from God’s plan for
him. The first human being preferred to obey “snake” - that is a symbol of “evil
one” - rather than to God. This situation resulted in death for all. It is Jesus
the “true man”, who rediscovered God’s plan and overcome evil one through the
obedience to his Father. His choice has made all difference because it brought
life to all.
All that Jesus did it
reached success with the help of the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit who led him
to wilderness where he was tempted by the devil. Really, he showed commitment
with our human condition. For example, he went into the wilderness after his
baptism. Although he did not need to be baptized, he accepted this experience
for solidarity with us as sinners and for respect for the work of John the
Baptist. Similarly, he accepted to be tempted in the desert. He wants to show
us that “after the baptism many temptations come.” Although he was tempted in
the desert, he “chose to remain faithful to God.” Jesus knew very well about
his identity and the goal of his mission. He came for doing God’s will. In
short, it is the Holy Spirit, who helped him to be faithful to God’s plan.
In his experience of
wilderness, Jesus fasted for forty days. “Forty”[1] is a symbolic number,
which means “a long time.” Before him, we have some examples of biblical leaders
who, before assuming their mission or before an important event, they allowed to
be guided to wilderness to remain long time without eating so that they could
prepare themselves better for the mission that God entrusted to them. Let us remember
the “forty” days which Moses remained on Sinai Mount to receive the Ten
Commandments, and the “forty” days of Elijah walking to mount Horeb to meet God
and receive instructions for his work as a prophet. The number “forty” is used also
to talk about the amount of years that the Israelites remained in the desert
before entering the Promised Land. For this people, this period was of
purification and maturation. However, they did not get to be faithful to God as
Jesus did.
The experience of
desert is amazing for the sake of loneliness, purification and maturation. However,
desert is also our daily life in which, although the Spirit of God guides us,
we can also be tempted to discouragement by the evil one as it happened with
Jesus. The tempter started from small things, taking advantage the reduction of
physical forces of Jesus because of fasting. All temptations were against the kind
of messiah that Jesus chose to perform. Jesus was tempted to use his power for
his own benefit instead of love, compassion and service to others; and also to
attract praise to himself rather than to proclaim the glory of God and his
Kingdom. The three temptations of Jesus mean a concrete experience that he
lived at all times of his mission. However, he got to overcome all because the help
of the Holy Spirit and his deep communion with the Father.
The temptations of
wealth, power and glory he faced did not prevent him to do God’s will. As it
happened to him, to Adam and Israelites, we are also tempted to lose the faith
and confidence in God. The traps of tempter leads us to prefer to use the
authority upon others than the generous service, to order than to obey, to cheat
than to help, to force more than to suggest, to search for privileges rather
than to love, being hypocrites than authentic people. As Jesus has already
conquered the enemy of God, his choice is motivation in order our choices also may
make the difference. According to St. Augustine “If in Christ we are tempted,
in him we will overcome the devil. Christ could cast the devil far away from
him; but if he would not be tempted he would not teach us how to win over
temptation.” Really, anyone who follows his example of obedience to the Father
and is opened to the help of the Holy Spirit gets to do the will of God overcoming
all the trials.
Fr Ndega
[1] In the Christian Communities, it has been started the repentance
time, which is called Lent season. Lent season is the forty days of preparation
for the celebration of the paschal mystery of Christ. From the experience of
Christ in the desert, the Lent season proposes a wilderness experience,
inviting the faithful to put more effort in their journey especially about
prayer life, charity and repentance.
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