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 1^st Sunday of Lent, Year C: Homily by Fr Isaac Chima

Theme: Temptation: knowing how and when the devil strikes

Readings: Deut 26:4-10; Rom 10:8-13; Lk 4:1-13

Dear friends in Christ, every year, the Church ushers us into the period of Lent with the story of the temptation of Jesus. With this story, the Church informs us that as we embark on the forty-day journey of prayer, fasting, and arms-giving to suffer with Christ in order to rise with Him, the devil will lurk around us to distract us from our mission, just as he attempted to distract Jesus from His God-given mission.

One of the problems of our time is the inability to realize when we are being tempted by the devil. So, the temptation of Jesus teaches us the various avenues the devil can take while tempting us and the best ways to conquer him using the examples of Jesus. Let us, therefore, treat the temptation of Jesus in the desert step by step.

In the first temptation, the devil asked Jesus to turn stones into bread. The devil knew that Jesus was very hungry after fasting for forty days, so he came with the suggestion of what Christ needed at that moment. Dear friends, the devil will not tempt you with what you don’t need; he will always come with the idea of helping you to fill in the void in your life.

In this first temptation, the devil was like telling Jesus, “look, your God has failed to provide your needs. Why still wait upon him? Use what you have and get what you need.” This is a temptation to lose confidence in God’s providence for us; a temptation to do things our own way anytime we lack material means of survival; a call to evaluate God’s care for us only by our material success. It is a temptation that touches on man’s relationship with material things; the kind of temptation that pushes people to make the satisfaction of material needs the priority in every relationship.

We see this kind of temptation every day of our lives. Occasionally, we see or feel it when that voice tells us that the only priority of our life should be the provision of our material needs by all means. To many of our girls, that voice tells them, “Use your body to provide your material needs because hunger will kill you if you wait on God.” To our young boys, it tells them, “All your mates are making it through Yahoo Plus, join them; the end will surely justify the means; people will celebrate you.” To our businessmen, it tells them, “Inflate the prices of your goods; you have the market control; make your gains; this is your time; prudence is for the weak minds; God’s time will never come.” To our politicians, it tells them, “Join their evil groups and win the election first; being a good man will not help you.”

We also feel this temptation when that voice tells us that we have all it takes to enrich or satisfy ourselves materially, so we don’t need to believe in God. In fact, that voice tells some people that God does not exist since they have all their material needs. This temptation has led many people who are materially comfortable to think that faith in God is absurd. In this type of temptation, the devil aims to make us materially bound.

But the response of Christ has a lesson for us. Jesus reminded the devil that our mission in this world is not just that of the satisfaction of the material needs of our bodies, but that we must tend towards heaven in all that we do. Hence, we must satisfy our material needs according to the teachings of the Word of God, that is, according to the will of God.

In the second temptation, the devil told Jesus that all the riches of the world belong to him and that he will give them to Jesus if he (Jesus) bows down and worships him. Friends, the devil is the father of all lies. In this temptation, he was laying claims on things that do not belong to him. We know that God is the author of all that is good and the creator of the universe. Nothing good comes from the devil; what comes from the devil only appears to be good, but they are full of evil. So, this temptation is the call to compromise faith in God in order to be rewarded. It is a temptation that hinges on the thirst or lust for power and control. It is a temptation to throw away good morals and Christian principles or teachings and then follow the whims of the world in order to be relevant in the world or be accepted by others. We have seen this type of temptation in many programmes of this world. It is true that many activities or programmes in our world are geared towards luring Christians to renounce their teachings in order to get financial grants and aids, business connections and friends, recognition, promotion, and power in the society, etc. Many people go to the extent of mocking Christians who say ‘no’ to the fantasies of this world.

The response of Jesus to this second temptation showed us that our allegiance in this world is only to God, and, therefore, we should not bow down to any other spiritual or worldly force.

In the third temptation, the devil asked Jesus to jump down from the high mountain since God will help him. To back up his claims, he quoted the bible. It is good we know that the devil can also substantiate his demands/claims with a biblical citation. In this temptation, the devil wanted Christ to accept cheap popularity and false security in God. It is a temptation that touches our relationship and faith in God. In this temptation, there is a suggestion to have a false or perverse relationship with God. A kind of relationship that makes God an idol/instrument in our hands, something we can control the way we like. The devil asked Jesus to take an action that will make God indebted to him. It is a temptation to put God to the test. We see this type of temptation when that voice tells us that since we believe in God, no harm will come to us even if we are careless with our lives; it comes when that voice tells you that you don’t need to study for exams, that all you need to do is to pray and you will surely pass your exams; we also feel this temptation when that voice tells us not to plan our lives very well, not to take care of our health and not to think of our future because God is our father and he will do everything for us. Dear friends, we are to collaborate with God by not putting ourselves at risk.

The devil is very wicked. When he succeeds in pushing people to have false security in God, he stands by the side and waits for them to fail. When they eventually fail, he will creep out of his hole and tell them, “You see, the God in whom you hoped has failed you; He is not capable of saving you; come, I will help you.”

With the story of how God rescued Israel, the first reading of today tells us that God does not disappoint those who have genuine faith in Him. We have a God who will not disappoint or reject us in times of trials and persecutions. He will always intervene at His own time and rescue us if we repose our hope and faith in Him.

The second reading of today comes with an explicit affirmation of that assurance of God’s help for those who trust in Him. It said, “No one who believes in Him will be put to shame… everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” Therefore, let us build our trust in God and always have recourse to Him in times of temptation.

Happy First Sunday of Lent

Fr. Isaac Chinemerem Chima