Jesus tempted in the wilderness

The Sunday Gospel [March 13, 2011]

Matthew 4:1-11

Jesus tempted in the wilderness

1Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. 3The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” 4He said in reply, “It is written: ‘One does not live by bread alone,/ but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.’ ” 5Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, 6and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you’/ and ‘with their hands they will support you,/ lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” 7Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’ ” 8Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, 9and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” 10At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: ‘The Lord, your God, shall you worship/ and him alone shall you serve.’ ” 11Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.

Reflection

“The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.” ~ Jesus in v. 10

The temptation of Jesus really boiled down to how far he would put his trust in his Father. The temptations were very real and tempting – food, power, wealth, grandeur – thank God Jesus was victorious or we would have no Savior. (2nd Reading).

Every day we too are tempted. Not by the devil himself but by people and institutions we patronize. For example, I seldom watch TV because there is hardly any program that does not put my faith to a test.

We, too, can overcome temptation if we rest on the love of Jesus. He is always with us when we are tempted.

Like Jesus, we can also use the word of God to overcome temptation. I particularly like those verses which are attributed to Jesus. Here are some verses I use whenever I am tempted: "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.” (Matthew 16:23). “Deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6:13). “Pray that you may not undergo the test.” (Matthew 26:41).

Note: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarro-abel.blogspot.com/).