"Love follows knowledge."
"Beauty above all beauty!"
– St. Catherine of Siena

Sunday, March 6, 2022

Sunday Meditation: Temptations In The Desert

I have to admit, there is a constant hunger during Lent. And having just given in to that temptation, we read,

 

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan

and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days,

to be tempted by the devil.

He ate nothing during those days,

and when they were over he was hungry.

The devil said to him,

“If you are the Son of God,

command this stone to become bread.”

Jesus answered him,

“It is written, One does not live on bread alone.”

Then he took him up and showed him

all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant.

The devil said to him,

“I shall give to you all this power and 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.”

Jesus said to him in reply,

“It is written

            You shall worship the Lord, your God,

                        and him alone shall you serve.”

Then he led him to Jerusalem,

made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him,

“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.”

Jesus said to him in reply,

“It also says,

            You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”

When the devil had finished every temptation,

he departed from him for a time.

-Lk 4:1-13

We think there are only three temptations put to Jesus, but really the Gospel says “When the devil had finished every temptation…”  After all, Jesus was in the desert for forty days.  What other temptations was put to Him?



2 comments: