Saturday, May 28, 2011

Gospel of Matthew, chapter 4:1

The African lion and the wild cat look so much alike, yet they are different. An ancient African theory explains it this way. The same lioness gives birth to numerous cubs some of which are truly lions at heart and some of which are not. How does the mother lion know which is which? Months after the birth of the cubs, just before they are weaned, the mother lion leaves the den and then, in an unsuspecting moment, she jumps into the den with a thundering roar as if she was an enemy attacking the cubs. Some of the cubs stand up and fight back the presumed enemy while others flee the den with their tails between their legs. The cubs that hold their ground to face the danger prove themselves to be real lions. Those that run away prove to be mere wild cats, false lions.

The moral of the story is: testing separates the real lions from the false ones. In the same way, testing separates the true Christian from the false Christian. In today’s gospel we see Jesus being subjected to testing in the desert. He stands his ground and puts the devil to flight, thus showing that He is truly the Son of God. No child of God can go through life without trials; trials are the means to distinguish between those who are genuine and those who are not. As the prophet says: “My child, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for testing” (Sirach 2:1).

Jesus is given three big tests in the desert. The first one, to turn stones into bread, has to do with how we use our God-given possessions. The temptation is for us to use our money to make a living for ourselves. But Paul tells us that possessions are given to the individual “for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7). Jesus would later multiply bread to feed others. But he would not do it to feed Himself. Do you see your possessions as a means to serve others or simply as a means to make a living for yourself?

In the second test, Jesus is tempted to prove that he is God’s Son by jumping from the pinnacle of the Temple and letting the angels catch him as was promised in the Scripture: “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone” (Psalm 91/90:11). Jesus rejected this temptation to show off, saying he would not put God to the test. Consider the contrast between the Lord’s humility and the presumption and showiness of a fundamentalist sect in Kentucky that plays with venomous snakes because the bible promises that nothing can ever harm God’s children.

In the third temptation, the devil promises Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth if only He would worship him. Jesus came to save the world but not at the cost of worshipping a false god? Neither can we pursue our goals by any means whatsoever. The end does not justify the means. On the contrary, the end must be contained in the means. Jesus remains steadfast and faithful to God, rejecting false means of possessions, privilege and power offered by the devil. In the end he attained an end more glorious than that offered by the devil: By dying He destroyed our death; by rising He raised us to New Life. (1 Cor. 15:3-4).

We need to realize that as God’s children we are constantly tested. But, the Lord has gone before us, and by His death and resurrection, He has made it possible for us to overcome all the temptations and trials of life.

Fr. Hugh Duffy