Sermon Thoughts – 1st Sunday in Lenten Season

Jesus is being tempted. The passage is common to us, especially in connection with fasting and penance. We read the detailed description of the event by the gospel narrator Luke in some 13 sentences.
Jesus was taken to the desert. There he was tempted by the devil and he ate nothing in that 40 days.
The three connected temptations those Jesus faced are also familiar to us. These are not the temptations of Jesus, but these are ours too.
Devil asks Jesus to do wonder and to make the stones to bread, so that he may allay his hunger. Many interpret this as the temptation towards our desires of Body. It mentions not only our uncontrolled hunger for food but for sex, pleasures and our new age “body Worship”. Body is the temple of God. Jesus was able to say no to the temptations of his Body. Has this temple lost its purity and sanctity unfortunately in our ages?
The next one was regarding Worship. Jesus was taken to the top of a mountain and he was asked to worship the devil to acquire the power over the world. Another temptation Jesus had to face through out his whole life. Many tried to make him King and ruler over them. Jesus questioned them on the spot too. He says “no” to the devil not only in the desert, but through out his life, when he was tempted by these worldly attractions.
Is it not the biggest reason of today’s peace less world? All are claiming their heritage on particular land or property. For a piece of land, brothers fight each other; relations are rejected and denied. Countries amass their weapons…
Jesus survived the Test of Satan. But we are falling…
In the third level, Satan questions the faith of Jesus in his Father.
“If you are the Son of God...”
Jesus was very sure of his origin. He knew his life is fully on God’s protecting hand. And now this provocation of the devil is really another humorous situation for Jesus. Jesus knew, he must not jump from somewhere to know the care of his God, because his life was the mission, entrusted by God the father. If the people of Israel knew the caring God, YHWH in this same desert throughout their 40 years of wandering,
how can he doubt on the fatherly care in his son’s mission?
Jesus could face the temptations so easy, according to the narrations. But it was not that easy. All these temptations were his life long temptations during his ministry, because Jesus was Man and God at the same time. The human nature of Jesus met with such weak points in his mission. But Jesus never compromised to them. In all these situations he sought after the power of the Spirit.
Jesus won in keeping the spirit that he attained in the Baptism.
He enters in his desert with this spirit.
He also enters in to his public life with this Spirit.
He recharged it thorough prayers and uninterrupted connection to his divine father.
Temptation is not a sin. Remaining in it is the sin.
By remaining in them, we deny our sanctity.
We worship not God, but the power on this earth and other matters connected to it. Our senses become heavier, so that we can raise them to God and his purity. As the last step we may question his power.

Jesus is ready to help us. He asks us to receive his spirit.

We have received it once in our baptism. Now we have to refresh it. Creating an Awareness of the divine spirit in us is very important.
This Lenten season may help us to find out the divinity in us and divine call to us. Accepting God as our divine father is the first step for that.
Let us receive his powerful spirit, and enter the deserts of our life.
We have nothing to fear, because we are not weak and powerless.
Our power is in the Spirit of God.
Let this Lenten season help us all in rediscovering the spiritual life. Amen!
 -
Fr Thomas Kalathil