TEMPTATIONS
First Sunday of Lent
Gen 2:7-9; 3:1-7; Rom 5:12-19; Mt 4:1-11
A newly ordained priest was watching a movie with the older pastor in the rectory. It was a romantic movie, and occasionally had some passionate kissing and caressing... The young priest made a remark, "My God, I don't know if I can handle this. It is not going to help my celibacy."
The pastor smiled and said, "I feel sorry for you, but be patient! When you turned 70 like I am now, you don't have to worry about it. Now I can watch any kind of movie, even the triple Xs movie. It doesn't bother me or my celibacy a bit! No more temptation."
The young priest felt a little safer and encouraged, and he is looking forward to the day he turns 70. After the movie was over, each priest went back to his own room. The young priest was saying his night prayer and was about to go to bed; then he heard someone knocking at the door. He opened the door, and it was the pastor.
He said, "Sorry! I want to take it back, you have to wait till you are 71."
Temptation is the reality of life. Every one of us experiences temptation. Temptation means to be put to the test. Every one of us has been tempted. The question is how are we dealing with temptations? The readings today tell us two stories of temptation. The temptation of Adam and Eve in the garden and the temptation of Jesus in the dessert. Both of these temptations come from the devil. The tempter in the first account is the serpent. The tempter in the second account is the devil. Serpent or devil, they are the same. They come from one source: Satan.
Adam and Eve's Temptation
At the beginning, God creates Adam and Eve, and God puts them in the garden and gives them the right to eat and enjoy the fruits of all the trees there except the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God expects them to obey his will. They know and remember what God has told them, "You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die." But they choose not to obey. They would rather listen to the serpent than to God.
The serpent approaches Eve and causes her to doubt. "Did God really tell you not to eat?"
Then he tells her a lie, "You certainly will not die."
Finally he appeals to her pride, "You will be like God."
How does Eve respond to the serpent? She is friendly with the serpent. She allows herself to listen to the serpent. She sees that the tree is good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. She gives in. She believes in the serpent's words. She eats and gives some to her husband. They both fall into temptation and shatter their relationship with God.
Jesus' Temptation
In the second story of temptation, the devil approaches Jesus in the dessert with his three temptations:
First, he tempts Jesus to seek pleasure from food, "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread." Surely after forty days of fasting, Jesus is hungry. It is natural that when we are hungry, we look for food. Food is the fundamental need for human survival. Food also gives us a lot of pleasure. We do not only eat our regular meals, but we also eat snacks. Food is the biggest industry in this country as well as in the world. There are more than ten thousand restaurants in the city of Houston alone. We cannot live without food. But Jesus responds to the devil, "One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God." Jesus discloses the devil's trick. He is telling the devil that he cannot be deceived. Every human person also has a soul. Beside physical life there is spiritual life. Beside our bodies, there are our souls. Our souls and our spiritual life depend on the words of God. This means that if we were being laid off; if we lost our stocks; if we were broke; we should not also lose our spiritual life. No matter what happen to our bodies, our souls are at stake. We need to hold on to the words of God.
Then the devil tempts Jesus to seek honor and prestige by performing an extraordinary act, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down." To be honored is a healthy human psychological need. Every human person needs to have a sense of integrity. It is a great feeling when we are honored. It is a pride that others recognize us especially our peers. For example, when Sherron Watkins testified before the Congress in Washington last Thursday, the people in Tomball TX were very proud of her. She was recognized and honored because she did it out of honesty and integrity. That was legitimate and honorable. But when someone steps over his or her limit in order to show off, to seek self-glorification on the expense of others. That is when he or she falls into the trap of the devil. The devil is tempting Jesus to use God to show off, to seek self-glorification rather than to glorify God. And Jesus is smarter than that. He responds, "You shall not put the Lord, your God to the test." We are here not to seek vain glory and human recognition. We are here to seek God's glorification. We are here not to test God's love for us but to prove our love for God and to carry out God's will for us in the world.
Finally the devil tempts Jesus with worldly riches and power by showing him all the kingdom of the world with the promise, "All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me." Again, to be rich or wealthy is a good thing. To be a good political leader is an honor. All of us do not mind if we have more money. We should be proud of ourselves if we are honest and committed leaders in the community. We are happy when our boss gives us a raise in salaries and wages. But we always have to remember that God is the Author and the ruler of the world. And we only worship God and God alone. We are not supposed to sell ourselves to the devil or to anyone for money or for political power. It is a disgrace if we do that. For example, it is a big scandal right now at the midst of the Winter Olympic when a French figure skating judge announced that under pressure by the French figure skating association, she had to vote for the Russian skaters in the pairs final rather than voting for the Canadian skaters. We cannot sell ourselves and our integrity for anything or anyone. And Jesus is smarter than the devil. He strongly reprimands the devil, "Get away, Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve."
The Lessons
Obviously there are devils working in the world. The devil tempted Adam and Eve. The devil tempted Jesus. And the devils are tempting every one in the world. Adam and Eve fell into the trap of the devil. And St. Paul points out for us, "Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all." Jesus overcame the temptation and being faithful to God. He brings humanity back to life with God. St. Paul says, "Just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so, through one righteous act, acquittal and life came to all." We are called to follow Jesus' example by not allowing the devil to enter into our minds and hearts. The way to keep the devils out of our minds and hearts is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus went into the dessert to fast and to pray and he was filled with the Holy Spirit. He used the Scriptures as the weapon to fight against the devil. If we want to win the battle, we also need to spend time in prayer and fasting. We also need to arm ourselves with the Scriptures. We are guilty if we do not take time to study the Scriptures. It is not enough to hear God's word once a week at the Church. Our faith is not strong, and we will not have enough strength to fight against temptations if we do not spend adequate time to study, understand and remember the words of God. We do not have the courage to say no to the temptation of the devils if we do not really know and believe that God is the author and the ruler of the world and everything in the world. Lent is the season to help us to take our religion seriously. We are preparing ourselves so that at the Easter Vigil, we will make the renewal of our Baptismal promises meaningfully. We will again publicly reject Satan, all his works and his empty promises. And we will make our new commitment of faith in God to follow Christ with the Church.
Rev. John Tran Kha, Houston, TX
