HOMILY FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT, YEAR A
Genesis 2:7-9.3:1-7/ Psalm 51 /Romans 5:12-19/ Matthew 4:1-11great
AGORSOR Aaron Agbeshie
THEME: Man, recognize your dignity
The first Sunday of Lent invites us to reflect on the origins of sin and how sin can alienate us from God. We reflect also on how victory over sin makes us partakers of God’s promises.
From the high and holy experience of blessing at the Jordan, Jesus is led into the wilderness for testing. It is important to note that Jesus was not tempted so that the Father could learn anything about his son, for God had already given Jesus His divine approval. Jesus was tempted so that every creature in heaven, on earth and under the earth might know that Jesus Christ is the conqueror. He exposed Satan and his tactics and defeated him. Thus his victory is the assurance that we too can have victory over the tempter.
Our Lord’s experience of temptation prepared him to be our sympathetic High Priest. “ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weakness, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
The Gospel Reading presents us with the fact that temptations are meant to be overcome. The first temptation of Jesus involved the love of God and the will of God. “If you are the son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread” (Matthew 4:4). Indirectly, Satan was saying that if God loves Jesus, he will not have allowed him to go hungry. Indeed, this temptation sounded like Satan’s words to Eve in Genesis 3. It is a subtle suggestion that our father does not love us.
When we put our physical needs ahead of our spiritual needs, we sin. When we allow circumstances to dictate our actions, instead of following God’s will, we sin. Jesus could have turned the stones into bread, but he would have been exercising his powers independently of the father. But he came to obey the will of his Father.
The second temptation is even more subtle. Satan also quoted scripture. He took Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple and told him, “ If you are the son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, “ He will command his angels concerning you, and on their hands they will bear you up so that you will not dash your foot against a stone” (Matthew 4:6). Satan quoted Psalm 91. Jesus’ reply “… do not put the Lord your God to a test” (Matthew 4:7) shows that when we do the will of God, He will protect and watch over us. We tempt God when we put ourselves into circumstances that force him to work miracles on our behalf. For instance, a diabetic who refuses to take insulin and argues that “Jesus will take care of me,” may be tempting the Lord. We tempt God when we force him to contradict his own Word. It is important that all believers read the Word of God because it is profitable for daily life (2Timothy 3:16-17)
Satan demands worship from Jesus in the third temptation. “… All these I will give you if you will fall down and worship me” (Matthew 4:8-9). The devil offered Jesus a short cut to his kingdom but Jesus knew that he must drink the cup that his father has offered him to drink. Worship is what Satan always wanted because he has always wanted to be God. Worshipping the creature instead of the creator is the lie that rules our world today (cf Romans 1:24-25).There are no short cuts to the will of God. If we want to share in the glory, we must also share in the suffering.
The reply of Jesus “Worship the Lord your God and serve only him” (Matthew 4:10b) shows that the moment we exchange the worship of God for any other thing, temptations are imminent and they will overcome us.
We are told that the devil left him. But we know that Satan never left Jesus alone. He used Peter to urge Jesus to abandon the cross (Matthew 16:21-23). This means that one victory never guarantees freedom from further temptations. If anything, each victory we experience only makes Satan try the harder. But our hope is that ‘Temptations lose their power when Christ is near’ (Catholic Hymn 356).
While Jesus won victory over sin, Adam and Eve in the First Reading lost the battle. The desire for power, recognition, fame and the like made Adam and Eve to sell their dignity. They exchange their glory for what they were already namely ‘gods’. “Yet you have made them little less than God and crown them with glory and honour. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen…” (Psalm8:5-7). What else is man looking for? May be he is not aware of who he is. So like Adam and Eve, if we do not recognize how dignified we are, the devil will exploit our ignorance to his advantage.
In sum, whether one repents or not, the blood of Jesus atones. Perhaps, some people see sorry as a sign of weakness, but it is actually the opposite. An apology is a sign of strength; a sign of love. It is an expression of an enduring relationship that was temporarily derailed by human weakness. During the season of Lent, we rectify the hurt we have caused God and one another. We are invited to address and then pierce through the things that have bumped and bruised our relationship with God and one another. We come together as a community to each say “Sorry” to God and to make amends- but happily and wholeheartedly confident in his response.