Gospel: Luke 4:1-13
At that time, Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit led Him into the desert, where the devil tested Him for forty days. During all those days, He ate nothing, and at the end, He felt hunger. Then the devil said to Him: “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered him: “It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone.” After that, the devil took Him to a high place and showed Him, in an instant, all the kingdoms of the earth; and he said to Him: “I will give you all this power and their glory, because it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want. If you worship me, all will be yours.” Jesus replied to him: “It is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him.” Then he took Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the highest point of the temple, and said to Him: “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here; for it is written: He will command His angels concerning you, to guard you; and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” But Jesus answered him: “It is said: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” When the devil had finished testing Jesus, he left Him until the opportune time.

Fruit: Contemplate how Jesus overcomes temptations and apply it in my life.

Guidelines for reflection:
We are in Lent, a very intense liturgical period in the Church calendar. In a few weeks, we will experience Holy Week, the week of the realization of that mysterious plan of God: the death of the Son to save the adopted children. The Gospel that the Church proposes to us at the beginning of this period is very rich, and at the same time very human and dramatic: Jesus’ temptations in the desert. They are lessons of life.

1. Jesus prepares himself
Saint Luke takes us to the beginning of Jesus Christ’s public life. Before starting to preach, the Master prepares Himself with prayer and fasting. He withdraws to the desert, where He spends 40 days praying to His Father, sacrificing Himself, forging His character and temperament through sacrifice and renunciation. A tough preparation, but also a mission no less difficult awaited Him. As an entry point, and perhaps also as a summary of human life on earth, He too will be tempted. It is easy for these temptations, or similar ones, to reappear to the Lord throughout His public life, and they may have already knocked on His door during His private life. The evangelist says that Satan “departed until the opportune time.” Perhaps it does not matter to us whether these temptations appeared together or not, whether they concentrated in one day or touched His soul throughout His life. What matters is that our Savior also chose to be tempted. He became so similar to men that He also had to fight and suffer to remain faithful to God. A great lesson He gives us is that, to overcome them, we must prepare ourselves. How? The Lord used two main means: prayer and renunciation of personal pleasures.

2. Satan takes advantage of our weakness
In this passage, God also teaches us something very important about Satan. Temptations come from this fallen angel, and as an angel, he is no ordinary being. Satan is very clever, and presents temptations at the right moment and in the most attractive way. He proposes to our Lord to turn stones into bread right now, after 40 days of fasting, when He would be starving. He knows that necessity predisposes to act in a certain way, and he wants Him to give in to what the body demands. Besides being intelligent, Satan is cunning; he knows how to present things attractively. Jesus came to redeem the world, and Satan wants to suggest a quick way to fulfill His mission, a easier way, with guaranteed success: perform a spectacular miracle, and everyone will worship You; it’s very easy. Or, if You don’t want it to be so obvious, worship me, the prince of this world, and I will give You all the kingdoms of the earth (as if they belonged to Satan!).

3. How to overcome him?
Jesus Christ, besides teaching us how to prepare ourselves, shows us the way to overcome any temptation. He is clear about His mission, the Father’s will regarding how to accomplish the redemption of the world, and He knows that this is non-negotiable. Nothing will divert His gaze from the end and the path He must follow. He knows what He wants, where to go, and under no circumstances is He willing to abandon God’s plan. Besides this determination, this firm and unwavering will, the Lord relies firmly on God. To the three temptations, He responds with words from Scripture: “It is written…”. He does not fight alone, but in the name and with the help of God. That is where His strength lies, and that will also be the key to our victory. Alone, we are fighting against someone stronger than us, against an angel (even if it is a fallen angel). But with God, we fight alongside the most powerful, the Almighty, and in His power lies our victory.

Purpose: Analyze how temptations divert me from God’s path and have a clear method to overcome them.