OUR TESTS IN THE DESERT OF LENT!

MARCH 13, 2011
First Sunday of Lent

by Lorenz S. Centino, Jr.

MATTHEW 4: 1 - 11
1	Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2	And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry.
3	And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."
4	But he answered, "It is written, `Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"
5	Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple,
6	and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, `He will give his angels charge of you,' and `On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"
7	Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, `You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'"
8	Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them;
9	and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."
10	Then Jesus said to him, "Begone, Satan! for it is written, `You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'"
11	Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS:

A BLESSED SUNDAY TO ALL!

A TEST is something that most people would want to avoid. It creates much anxiety and fear for error and failure. But, teachers regularly give a test to their students to evaluate how far the students have understood or have learned a particular lesson. The result of such test will also make students to have a feedback about their performance and standing in class. In life, many would consider problems, hardships and any form of difficulties as tests to one’s will to stand on one’s ground strong and as tests to one’s competence and resourcefulness to face them. Yet, a test is something that we do not normally seek nor want to meet. But Lent can be a 40-day grace-filled moment of meaningful test.

In the Gospel today, we find Jesus to be in a desert for 40 days. His stay in the desert for 40 days is very meaningful to our celebration of Lent which runs for 40 days too. What happened to him in the desert should be significant to our Lenten journey for self-renewal. First, one might ask why Jesus has to undergo such a very challenging and dramatic “desert-experience.” The Jews are very familiar with the “DANGERS” that lurk at every corner, curve and trench of the desert. For the Jews, the desert is a place of “TEST” of one’s strength. The desert is also a place of “SPIRITUAL ENCOUNTER” for them. Their long history would show how many times they were travelling in the desert where they encounter God. Moreover, the desert is also a place of “PURIFICATION” for them. Their ancestors travelled for years in the dessert to learn the ways of God and be purified from their lapses before they can enter and settle to the “LAND” promised to them by God that they can claim to be their own from being enslaved and landless in Egypt. From these experiences of the Jews about the desert, we can say that Jesus was there in the desert for a “TEST,” for a “SPIRITUAL ENCOUNTER,” and for “PURIFICATION.” These seemingly threefold reason why Jesus was there could also serve as a pattern for our Lenten journey for self-renewal.

In the desert, Jesus was TESTED by Satan. He was tested three times. These tests mirror also the three basic TEMPTATIONS that we have to grapple with everyday. First, Jesus was tempted to transform the “STONES” into bread. This is very tempting since Jesus was fasting all throughout his stay in the desert. Jesus can easily turn the stones into bread, and also with a roasted lamb. But Jesus’ response reveals that we need more than what our body craves for. Jesus said, "It is written, `Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" This answer of Jesus leads our Lenten journey to re-focus ourselves from being so entangled with “worldly” concerns for “THINGS”, as sources of satisfaction, to be checked and be corrected. Lent will then bring us to the real source of “FOOD” that will make us be filled to the full in ETERNITY. That food is the “TEACHINGS OF GOD!” Lent then is a special time for us to STUDY and REFLECT on the Sacred Words of God in the BIBLE!

Second, Jesus is tempted to do something that will invite God to perform something “EXTRAORDINARY” by sending angels to protect him from being hurt if he will jump off from the pinnacle of the Temple. It is very interesting that this happens in the place considered to be the “HOUSE OF GOD,” the Temple. Jesus’ answer is very instructive on how we need to examine ourselves in this time of Lent. Jesus said, "Again it is written, `You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'" This answer of Jesus could make us realize how many times did we TESTED God to perform something extraordinary when we PRAY. How many times we go to Church, the House of God, to ask God to send his angels to bring to us all answers and solutions to our problems. And when we feel the answers don’t come, we question God. Are we not tempting God in our prayers? Lent must also lead us to examine our understanding of who God is for us. Do we treat God just like anyone working in a call center to answer all our queries, troubles and problems?

Third, Jesus is tempted to set his attention on POWER and GLORY that the WORLD can offer. Being brought atop the mountain, overlooking the glory of the kingdoms of the world, would suggest that the temptation is about making Jesus to be at the TOP of everyone else. But to be on top of everyone is to be UNDER SATAN. Satan wants Jesus to bow down and worship him. This means to recognize Satan to be his master and lord. But Jesus said, "Begone, Satan! for it is written, `You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'" Jesus sends the strong message to us that to be on TOP and have the GLORY of the WORLD is not achieved by becoming ABOVE everyone, nor by becoming SUPERIOR to anyone and be the MASTER of all. To be on top is to be a SERVANT of GOD! Serving God is the best WORSHIP one can render to him. Through service, one gains all the glory of the world because one becomes an HEIR of the KINGDOM of GOD!

From these temptations of Jesus, we are invited to make this Lenten season our personal DESERT-EXPERIENCE of personal ENCOUNTER with GOD in His written revelation in the Bible towards a PURIFICATION of ourselves from being so focused on the “glories” of the WORLD!