March 01, 2009 First Sunday of Lent Gen. 9:8-15; 1 Pet. 3:18-22; Mk. 1:12-15 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/030109.shtml              ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________     The temptations of Jesus in the desert probably reveal his human side as much as any other gospel story. Though scripture says he was “like us in all things except sin”, we tend to see Jesus unlike us: a miracle worker, an assured teacher, a master of circumstances, someone above it all. But look at him in the desert, weary, vulnerable, struggling for footing in a dangerous land. Was much of his life really like that?   A time of dedication, of acceptance of purpose, of setting out on a great enterprise, is inevitably followed by a time of testing. Life does not move on a level plateau. It is an affair of hills and valleys. On a flat level it would perhaps be hardly endurable. Stripped of conflict and renewals, it would be stripped of power.   Some people give in when confronted with temptation in their lives. Some just do the best they can. In today’s Gospel, we have an inside look at how Jesus overcame temptation with God’s word. In order to understand why Jesus faced the temptations, we need to understand that Jesus’ entire life was in essence a reliving of the history of Israel in the Old Testament.   After being delivered from the bondage in Egypt, the Israelites, during their 40 years in the wilderness, failed at the major temptations. Jesus, after 40 days and nights of fasting, was tempted by the devil to trust in himself rather than in his father in heaven. Instead of falling, like the children of Israel had, Jesus would be triumphant, pre-enacting what he would do for the world on the cross: conquer sin and defeat the enemy.   The desert temptations must have been temptations Jesus faced everyday. If they are, how like us he is: tempted to give up under our daily burdens, tempted to compromise and follow the crowd, tempted to seek some extraordinary power rather than the quiet power found in ordinary life. Can we be like him? Tempted, but still victorious? Will he not deliver us?   In today’s Gospel reading we have the secret to overcoming the various temptations we face. Knowing our identity as sons and daughters of God, we trust in him for all we need and rely on His Word as assurance.     <<   Previous: Ash Wednesday  | Next: Second Sunday of Lent >>     Go Back to SERMONS (Year B)