The lie that is temptation

Today’s readings on this first Sunday of Lent focus relentlessly on temptations.

In the first reading (Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7), a single sin – the Original Sin (of which St. Paul writes in today's second reading - Romans 5:12-19) – is preceded by multiple levels of temptation.

In the Gospel (Matthew 4:1-11), our Lord is tempted multiple ways but does not sin.

In both cases, the temptations follow similar approaches – approaches with which we are all familiar.

In both cases, temptations are associated with a perceived physical need: the need for food. In our own lives, physical temptations of this sort (and other, more sordid sorts) occupy a good deal of our attention. As with all temptations, although there may be a kernel of truth somewhere in it, temptations are 99% lies.

The temptation says you really NEED this... you’ll DIE if you don’t do this or get this... but it is a lie.

Our Lord’s example is beyond perfect, of course. In his case, he really is hungry, having fasted for 40 days and nights, long enough for hunger to be truly deadly, but he knows that there are more important things than even this critical physical need.

One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth
from the mouth of God.

Our Lord knows also that nothing is worth committing a deliberate sin.

Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, be merciful to me – a sinner.

Our Lord trusts in God, rather than take the obvious but evil path to survival.

Both readings also have temptations for ambition and power: to be King of the World (in the case of our Lord) or even to be like God (in the case of Eve).

These temptations too are lies, of course. God is God – there is no other – and only in union with God can we attain true glory: a glory infinitely greater than the paltry, passing glory this world offers.

Moreover, we may think it right to “sell our souls” so that we may do good things, but the cost/benefit analysis is always prohibitive: the benefit will be illusory or passing (at best) and the cost is eternal.

There is also the temptation of wanting to be liked: our Lord is tempted with universal popularity and Adam is tempted by his beloved wife.

Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, be merciful to me – a sinner.

But no love can last and no love is worth it, if it is not aligned with the love of God.

The Lord, your God, shall you worship
and him alone shall you serve.

Another temptation is the temptation of false freedom.

In the first reading (and for many of us in the world today), it is the temptation to think that if we rebel against the law of God, we are exercising our freedom.

In truth, we are just enslaving ourselves more and more to the bondage of sensation, whim, and even more temptations.

In the Gospel, the temptation to false freedom is in the second temptation and it is even more insidious.

Satan says that we can do whatever we want and it won’t matter, it won’t affect our relationship with God: God will act as if nothing had happened.

In some ways, this second temptation is a temptation to what we know as the sin of presumption: to sin purposefully and cynically with the expectation of automatic forgiveness.

You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.

During this season of Lent, may we clear from our minds and hearts the webs of temptation and falsehood, and may we delve ever deeper into the truth to which God calls us through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, be merciful to me – a sinner.