At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.”

He said in reply, “It is written: One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written:

He will command his angels concerning you and with their hands they will support you/ lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”

The First Sunday of Lent begins with the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. It sets the tone for our spiritual itinerary of repentance and conversion from sin. The Gospel presents Jesus as human like us, but he did not succumb to sin. The devil is a cunning “deceiver” who can manipulate even the Scriptures to distract and dissuade Jesus from fulfilling the plan of God. The three temptations represent Satan’s tactics to divert Jesus from undergoing the purification through the way of the cross. The first temptation is intent on gratifying one’s hunger; it touches the most palpable need of physical satisfaction: food.

Although Jesus is hungry after 40 days of fasting, he resolutely commits himself to the agenda of the Father, saying, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God” (v 4). How many times does the man of today try to fill up his physical needs with pleasurable matters as substitute for seeking God! The second temptation centers on trust in one’s self rather than trust in God. The devil dares Jesus to show his divine powers; after all, as Son of God, he will be protected by his angels. This useless spectacular show is like jumping into whatever situation, in foolhardy freedom “to do what one likes” with the idea that God will save us anyway. Such nonchalance of throwing away caution, like the Filipino “bahala na”—or “God will take care” attitude— is an abuse of God’s mercy.

In a sense, temptation is like testing the limits of freedom, irregardless of whether one has reached the edge or limit of safety. The third temptation concerns the idolatrous misuse of power. In the creation of the world, God let human beings have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth (Gn 1:26). God has bestowed on man a special role to oversee the earth as wise and responsible steward, but instead man has arrogated upon himself power and dominion over the earth “as if he were god.”

Pope Francis warns us regarding this attitude: “Once the human being declares independence from reality and behaves with absolute dominion, the very foundations of our life begin to crumble, for instead of carrying out his role as a cooperator with God in the work of creation, man sets himself up in place of God and thus ends up provoking a rebellion on the part of nature” (Laudato Si, 117).

At the conclusion of the episode, the devil departs, but Matthew indicates that temptations will accompany Jesus until the end. Likewise, temptations will be part of our journey in following Jesus. So we must remain always sober and vigilant, as Peter forewarns us: “Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for [someone] to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith” (1 Pt 5:8-9).

Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2026,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.