The account of Jesus enduring forty days and nights of temptation in the wilderness is one of the best-known and most powerful of Scripture. It marked, of course, the start of Jesus’ ministry, his formative experience in the desert shaping everything that followed. But what exactly did it mean? And what does it have to say to us today? It’s questions such as those that I take up in the following session from Daily Prayer 2, which emphasises that Lent is above all about a positive message, rather than a negative one.
Read
After this the Spirit led Jesus into the desert so that the devil could tempt him. For forty days and nights he went without food, leaving him utterly famished. Then the tempter whispered in his ear, ‘If you’re God’s Son, order these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But Jesus replied, ‘It is written, “We do not depend on bread alone for life, but on every word that proceeds from God’s mouth.”’ Matthew 4:1-4
Ponder
For many, the season of Lent is synonymous with one thing: temptation. Specifically, it’s associated with overcoming it: giving up some bad habit, perhaps; denying ourselves some luxury, or turning over a new leaf. The rationale for this is the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, during which he was tempted to turn stones into bread, to bow before Satan, and to test God by hurling himself off the highest pinnacle of the temple.
But what does all this actually mean for us today? Too often it’s understood as a stick with which we should beat ourselves; an example of stern self-discipline that we must somehow follow, and God help us if we fail to do so. If Jesus could do it, the implication seems to be, then so also should we.
Yet is that really the point here? The temptation Jesus faced was to take the easy path rather than the hard, to fit in with the way of the world instead of walking the way of the cross. It’s the fact that he refused to give in that gives us reason to hope and rejoice despite our faults. He took the road of costly self-sacrifice, the route that led to death, not because we deserve it but precisely because we don’t, because he loves us as we are, warts and all. Lent speaks of the God who longs not to condemn but to forgive, not to punish but to bless.
Ask yourself
Do you see Lent as a positive or negative season, as characterised by a stern and forbidding message or one of hope? Do you tend to dwell too much on your faults and too little on God’s grace? Are your prayers of confession balanced by a sense of forgiveness?
Pray
Lord Jesus Christ, I praise you for your love, courage and commitment in walking the way of the cross. I thank you that, though you had good reason to succumb to temptation, you stood firm to the end and refused to compromise your calling. Forgive my weakness that stands in such contrast to your strength – the ease with which I am led astray, the readiness with which I dilute my principles, the excuses with which I shut out your voice, preferring instead my own. Help me to follow you more faithfully, not in any attempt to earn your love, but simply to respond to it, celebrating the grace that reconciles me with you, despite my many weaknesses. Amen.
Remember
Ours is not a high priest who struggles to empathise with our faults and failings. On the contrary, he was tempted in every way just as we are, yet remained without sin. Hebrews 4:15
Close
When I fall to temptation, Lord, help me to remember that you didn’t, and that your strength makes up for my weakness, your faithfulness for my many faults. Amen.