Desert Time

I believe that at some point in all our lives we come into the desert.

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone.”’ Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”’ Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you”, and “On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’ When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time. - Luke 4:1-13

After being baptized by John, Jesus heads into the wilderness for some quiet time alone with his thoughts.

And when he was at his weakest, having not eaten or drunk anything, temptations came upon him.  Luke credits the devil with these temptations, but if it happened to us, we might not actually encounter the devil.  We might just have thoughts and urges that come from our hour of weakness.

It is our desert time, the weakest link in our chain, when we are most vulnerable.  This is when we slide off the wagon or fall into temptations we had managed to keep at bay for so long.

The Gospel reading gives us hope.  It shows us that even at his weakest, Jesus was able to push away the temptations and stick with the program.  So, if he could do it, in such a state after forty days, we should be able to at least give it a try.

One could argue that Jesus is special.  He is not like us.  We are not as strong or capable, right?

But Jesus knows that we fall into patterns of behavior.  Once we give in to temptation, we feel we have failed and we may be tempted to repeat ourselves.  

I think this is why we see Jesus manage to overcome three temptations.  He wants us to know we can come back and be refreshed, renewed, even if we are challenged many times.

Whatever it is that tempts us to go astray, we can overcome it, and even if we cannot, we are not lost.  We are redeemed through Christ.

That's the good news of the Gospel. 

So, when next we feel like we have wandered into our desert and are too weak to resist, we should clear our thoughts and think of Jesus making his way out of the wilderness.

We can do this.

More to come...