Jesus is tempted in the desert

I went to mass this morning and the Gospel reading was from Matthew 4:1-11 when Jesus is tempted in the desert by Satan.  It's the first Sunday of Lent, so it's no surprise that this is the reading.  The background of this event is that Jesus had gone into the wilderness and fasted for forty days and forty nights and was hungry.  It was then he was met by Satan, who came to tempt him.

Satan's first temptation was turning stones in bread by saying, "If you are the son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."  His second temptation was by trying to convince Jesus to jump to his death quoting Psalms 91:11 and 91:12, noting that "For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways," and "on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone."  Satan's third temptation was in regard to power, telling Jesus that he will give him the kingdoms of the world if he worships him.  Jesus then told Satan to leave him.  That's right folks, Jesus met Satan and told him to get lost.

Pictured: one of the greatest triumphs
and one of the greatest failures in history all at the
same time

Satan wanted Jesus to prove he is the son of God by turning the stones into bread, presumably for him to consume.  I find myself intrigued by Satan choosing to prey on what may be Christ's possible vulnerability.  Jesus is hungry, He has not eaten in weeks, and Satan knows this.  What could be going through Jesus's mind as He is being tempted?  But Jesus is still able to resist.  Man cannot be saved by bread, but by the body of Christ.

It is interesting that Satan would try to quote scripture while tempting Jesus.  In Act I, Scene III of Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice, Antonio says "The devil can cite scripture for his purpose" and this is clearly apparent in this passage.  Very often in the modern world we see that there are people in the world that hold their Bible in the air and use scripture to preach hatred against other people.  We can see from Jesus's example that simply making a quotation doesn't simply make it enough, noting that one is still not supposed to put God to the test.  It's as if Satan was the first to take scripture out of context.

In respect to the final temptation, Satan offers Jesus power in exchange for worshipping him.  Is it possible that tempting Jesus with power and idolatry may be a last resort because it is where he is most successful?  In the Garden of Eden the devil told Eve that if she and Adam ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil they would become like God.  In the modern world we see many people let the materialistic world control their lives and have fake idols, whether it be money, drugs, celebrities, or pleasure.  Jesus resisting Satan shows the great act of saying no to sin.

This Lenten season let us remember that endured so many hardships and rejected the evil in the world all so He could ensure that each and every one of us could be reconciled and reunited with the Father in Heaven.  It is truly the greatest selfless act of love in history and we all need God to fight against the temptations that arise in our lives.