First Sunday of Lent year B
Genesis 9:8-15; Psalms 24(25); 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:12-15
Temptations
Dear friends, today is the first Sunday of Lent. Lenten season is a special period for us Christians to commemorate the suffering and death of Jesus Christ that wrought our redemption from sin and eternal death. We are prone to sin because the evil one is actively tempting us, and we do not always listen to the voice of consciousness that God has put in us or that preached by his messengers. I would like us today to reflect upon “Temptations to Sin”.
While Mark just reports the fact that Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness (Mk1:13), Mathew is the one who gives the list of the temptations (Mt. 4). The devil tempted Jesus in three ways based on the three biggest appetites of human beings. The first was appealing to the stomach, which represents material things. This is the genesis of corruption. When we let our appetite for material things take the better of us, we are willing to do anything to amass as much as possible. Even people who are paid huge salaries are tempted to steal from the public. Jesus reminded the devil that listening to the word of God is more important than food and material things that will be left in this world when we die.
The second temptation was an appeal for prestige. The devil is asking Jesus to risk his life so that he can demonstrate that he is the son of God. The devil knows that Jesus is the son of God but he wants to put the doubt in Jesus and ask him to perform a stunt to verify if it was true. The devil employs very often the strategy of self-doubt on us. He leads us to think that we are being cheated and we are not getting what we deserve. This has led to conflict and supremacy wars in families, communities, places of work, politics, and even among the Church leaders.
The third temptation was an appeal to power and wealth. Here the devil acted as a typical conman in the streets. I know people who have been conned of all their savings by conmen selling their properties such as land that does not exist or does not belong to them. The devil starts by claiming that the earth’s riches and powers belong to him while from infancy Jesus was taught that God created everything. Conmen are all over around us. To catch our attention, they make us believe that they possess things and powers that will make us successful. Today we have these temptations in the palm of our hands. A lot of people have been conned off their money through mobile money transactions or lured to join weird groups that lead them to their destruction and that of their entire families.
If we want God to save us from self-destruction, we must heed his call as Noah did. When God warned the people to repent from their gross misconduct only Noah paid attention. Lent is a moment to slow down our clave for worldly madness and heed the call to sanity and repentance. In his wrath, God regretted that he had created man with such freedom that he did not listen to him. However, we have read that God made a promise and a sign to Noah and his family that he would not destroy the earth again by floods. The sign he gives is that of the rainbow to remind him always. Jesus is our rainbow, a sign of promise given to us by God at a very huge cost, that is the suffering death of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
The Psalmists present us with a prayer of someone who is surrounded by evil. In our day-to-day lives, we face a lot of malice from those who are under the devil’s payroll. If we have to escape these traps, we ought to follow the path that God has set for us and seek his compassion and companionship.
If God was willing to give his only Son to be subjected to torture, shame, and even death for the sake of our salvation, then it is obvious that he can forgive all our sins if we repent. Jesus paid such a huge ransom to redeem us from the wrath of God and this has become a sign of compassion and forgiveness for us. However, we have to make a deliberate choice to attain this costly salvation. Baptism is a mark of salvation that we have to remain alive and visible in our lives. If we let it fade through our sins, we will have ourselves to blame if we lose the ultimate prize – eternity.
My dear friends, the world today is full of attractions and lures. Many have forgotten even the day of worship in the name of pursuing wealth. We are called to be wise in our choices knowing that not everything that is nicely packaged is good. We are also called to be vigilant of conmen who have invaded, including religion. Those who do not hesitate to use the name of God and our Lord Jesus to swindle people of their livelihood and peace. What is your worst temptation today?
Have a blessed Sunday
Fr. Lawrence Muthee, SVD
SVD JAMBO KENTAN 