Today’s Gospel recounts Jesus having been tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1-11).
Satan first tempts our Blessed Lord in this way : “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread” (v. 3). Satan knows our instincts, our impulses, our passion and seeks to exploit them. He says to Jesus there is no need for a cross – indeed, people only want their natural cravings filled: wealth, pleasure, power and honor.
Then Satan sets his sights upon the fickleness of human nature. After taking Jesus to the highest point of the temple, the devil seeks to tempt Jesus a second time by luring Our Lord to jump off and land unhurt (cf. v. 6). Again, the devil is saying to Jesus that there is no need for a cross – indeed, people only want to see marvels and wonders so give them a circus stunt.
The third temptation of Satan attempts to eliminate the cross in yet another way: theology is politics. Having led Jesus atop a very high mountain in order to have Our Lord gaze upon the magnificience of worldly kingdoms, Satan says: “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me” (v. 9). People are not interested in God. According to the devil, the only reality is the political order. The ordering principle for evil is might makes right.
The essence of the satanic is the hatred of the cross. All three temptations simiarly attack the cross. Far from this biblical episode being a reality from a day long, long ago, we witness in our own age such little self-restraint, the lessening of self-discipline and the absence of mortification. It is chilling to see so cross scorned and jettisoned.
Kindly permit me a word about our beloved Saint Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower of Jesus (d. 1897). She, too, faced the barage of evil temptations even at her deathbed. Her own experiences preserved in her precious writings underscore the truth: the devil is real. That is why our emphasis has to be on the Person of Jesus Christ. Lent is the special season of grace to regain proper perspective.
