Image: Christ and the devil - ancient bas relief, Pisa, Italy
Lent 1 Luke 4.1-13 Temptation of Jesus
 Listen to Bishop Cliff's Lent 1 Reflection
Luke’s gospel and its accompanying Book of Acts has at it’s core the actions of the Holy Spirit which literally drive the action forward. The gospel reminds us that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit after his baptism in the Jordan and encounter with John, his cousin. In Luke, he was led in to the wilderness. In Mark, he was driven—compelled out of the place of affirmation in the Jordan to the place of fasting and temptation. I suppose one of the teachings we should take from this is that the Holy Spirit is not there to make things easier for us, but rather to push us into the places where we most need to be, all the while giving us the strength to bear what is to come.
Jesus confronted Satan in the wilderness, and in so doing walked the way ahead for all of us. We all have to confront temptation—every single Christian must face in one way or another the temptations that Jesus faced. Jesus faced three. First, Satan tempted Jesus to assuage his hunger by a miracle and Jesus would not. Christ knew that the physical desires and needs of the body could rule over him if he was not careful. Jesus refused. Second, Satan tempted Jesus with power which was not really his to give. Christ was tempted with a lie that was very attractive. Jesus would not consent to the lie and therefore did not succumb. Third, Satan tempted Jesus to prove himself as the beloved of the Father (by placing himself in mortal danger). Jesus refused this temptation as well, because having been compelled by the Spirit into the wilderness in the first place, Jesus had faith that God loved him, and that the Holy Spirit would strengthen him—he didn’t need to prove it.
These are all excellent ways in which Christians can face their own temptations. We are tempted daily by our desires, by lies which promise that which only God can give, and by the need to prove ourselves as worthy to be loved. As a church, we commemorate Jesus temptations because they so clearly apply to us too. Every one of us has to learn spiritually that we are not only the sum of our desires or even our urges. Our spirits are meant to govern our bodies, not the other way round.
Each of us also has to learn that there is a seduction in power, or perceived invincibility or being in control. Fundamentally, power and control are only mirages. They may serve for a time, but being human, we are never going to be in control forever. We learn through our faith that emptying ourselves of the need to be in control and serving others is the true freedom. The power to do so is a gift from God, and no one on earth can promises it. Many a soul has been destroyed by that lie.
Every Christian also grows in the understanding of the goodness of God and of that merciful loving kindness that has been lavished on us in Jesus. We don’t need to prove it—the evidence of God’s mercy surrounds us every day. It is too easy to give into the temptation of neurotically worrying if we have done enough for the kingdom or if God really loves us. Every Christian grows to know that God loves us from the beginning. God loves us before we love God and that the only weak part of that bond is on our side.
So don’t be afraid of temptation. You can face it the way Jesus did. Like Jesus, you can show the love which God has for you by patiently listening and working with those who are living in temptation as well. I know this because I face it every day and so do you. But thanks be to God, who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15.57)
Yours faithfully,
Bishop William G. Cliff
XIII Bishop of Ontario |
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