OUR LORD Jesus Christ, is perfect God and perfect Man. He has remained Man in heaven for good for having saved us. We might think that it’s senseless to tempt Christ to commit sin when He is God who cannot sin. But it was His human nature that could sin and was the target of temptation by the devil.
Temptation by definition is
an invitation to sin. It is not a sin yet as some may believe (based on
my experience giving catechism classes) but only when you say yes to the
invitation. If you say yes to temptation, you commit sin, but if you say
no, you gain a spiritual merit that makes you more holy, deserving of heaven
and saves you from the self-inflicted miseries of this life. Sin is the
greatest evil in this world because it separates us from the greatest good:
God, and because it also gives us the greatest miseries in this life.
St. Thomas Aquinas gives
four reasons why our Jesus Christ had to undergo temptation. First, to
give us an example since He is the Head of the Church and has to lead us by
example. Second, that we might be warned, so that none, however holy, may
think himself free from temptation. On the contrary, holy people will be
subjected to more temptations by the devil because they have more influence and
because as the saying goes “The corruption of the best is the worst”. In other
words, the holier you are supposed to be the greater the scandal you would give
to the world if you fail to give good examples, such as if you are a
priest. Third, in order to teach us how to overcome the temptations of
the devil. And fourth, in order to fill us with confidence in His mercy
for it is written, “We have not a high priest who cannot have compassion on our
infirmities, but one tempted in all things as we are, yet he did not sin.”
(Hebrews 4:15)
The first temptation the
devil offered to Jesus was pleasure, symbolized by inviting Jesus to turn
stones into bread to relieve His hunger. Jesus was fasting in preparation
for His public ministry and would have felt starvation. “After fasting
forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and
said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’” (Matthew
4:2-3) It’s not sinful to eat but Jesus had a higher purpose for not
eating. Any form of human activity that hinders our relationship with God
no matter how it seems to be good and noble should be gotten rid of.
The second temptation was
to misuse power. The devil wants Christ to perform a miracle for Himself
even using Scriptural passage to make his invitation more credible (proof that
Satan would not hesitate to use holy things just to make us commit sin).
“If you are the Son of God, he said, ‘throw yourself down. For it is written:
‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their
hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” (Matthew 4:6)
But Christ replied, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the
test.’” (Matthew 4:7) Jesus corrected Satan’s deceitful use of Scripture with
the right interpretation of it.
The third and last
temptation was vainglory (for oneself) and worshipping a person (the devil or
any other person other than God) or a thing (wealth and material things)
instead of God which is idolatry. “Again, the devil took him to a very
high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
“All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
(Matthew 4:8-9) But Jesus replied, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written:
‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” (Matthew 4:10)
In summary, the temptations
the devil subjected Christ was on pleasure, power, wealth and glory, the four
substitutes to God, as St. Thomas Aquinas would call them, that Satan would
also use on us. However, Jesus is teaching us how to overcome temptations by
use of Scripture which is to immerse ourselves with God’s teachings (and the
teachings of the Church) which would give us wisdom. Wisdom would make us
see through temptations like an x-ray vision that would expose the
deceitfulness of sin and its consequences in our lives.
Christ underwent a second
wave of temptation from the devil later on in His life, this time more powerful
and would have a more devastating effect, for it would have destroyed His
overall mission which was “to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew
10:45). This was during Christ’s agony in the garden. “Going a
little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if
it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.” (Matthew 26:39) Christ
symbolized His conquest of the devil when he stepped on the snake (the animal
that tempted Adam and Eve) after His agony in the Garden as was depicted quite
well in Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Passion of the Christ”.
And Christ gave us one of
the most effective weapons against sin in that instance when he upbraided His
disciples who were sleeping and later on fell into the temptation of abandoning
Him when He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
Prayer is acknowledging that we can’t do it alone and that we need God to help
us to overcome temptation. “And lead us not into temptation but deliver
us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:13) (ECC)
