Sunday, First Sunday of Lent. Cycle A
As Lent begins, a time of conversion and preparation to celebrate Easter, the Church reminds us of two very different attitudes towards temptation: that of Adam and Eve, in which we can all see ourselves reflected, and that of Jesus. In the first case, weakness triumphs, the immediate fall; in the second, strength, the ability to resist in the trial. This contrast is not meant to discourage us or to denounce how weak and bad we are. On the contrary, as Paul says in the second reading, “For as through the fault of one, death came upon all, so through the righteousness of one the life of God came upon all.”
The weakness of Eve and Adam (1st reading: Genesis 2,7-9; 3,1-7)
The text describes the process leading to sin. It does not do so with intellectual language, but through a living dialogue. To do this, it introduces the serpent, which already in the Mesopotamian poem of Gilgamesh appears as an enemy of man, who steals the plant of life and immortality. But the author of our story approaches the theme differently, more deeply. The serpent does not steal the plant of life, but destroys human beings from within.
The temptation begins with a lie, distorting God’s prohibition, which was limited to eating from the tree of knowledge. It presents the Lord as someone inhuman and cruel, imposing something terrible on man. His words are so crude that at first it is easy to reject them. But the temptation persists. It denies the existence of danger. Then arises the attraction for the forbidden, and the appetite. Until then, it seems as if Eve and Adam had not noticed the tree. The simple fear of dying held them back from their contemplation. Now, “the woman saw that the tree was pleasing to the eye, attractive and desirable, because it gave intelligence.” From that moment on, she is lost, and so is her husband.
To the point, sin produces its fruits. The serpent had promised that their eyes would be opened. Indeed, they open and acquire new knowledge. But what they learn is that they are naked, and this causes shame and the need to cover their own nakedness.
2. The strength of Jesus (Gospel: Matthew 4,1-11)
The strongest contrast with Eve and Adam is represented by Jesus at the moment of the temptations, which is linked to the episode of the baptism. In him, the voice of heaven proclaims: “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” How does Jesus understand his divine sonship? How does he see it as a pass to have a good time and triumph? Quite the contrary. Immediately afterward, he goes into the desert, and there it will become clear how he understands his sonship.
First temptation: solving primary needs
Starting from the normal fact of hunger after forty days of fasting, the first temptation is to use power for one’s own benefit. It is the temptation of imperious needs, which the people of Israel suffered repeatedly during the forty years in the desert. In the end, when Moses reminds the people of all the hardships they have endured, he explains why the Lord took that attitude: «(God) afflicted you, making you pass hunger, and afterward he fed you with manna, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but on everything that comes from the mouth of God» (Dt 8:3).
In the case of Jesus, the tempter abandons subtlety and goes straight to the concrete: “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus doesn’t need to complain about being hungry, nor murmur like the people, nor refer to Moses. He is the Son of God. He can easily solve the problem by himself. But Jesus has learned from the beginning that lesson that the people did not assimilate for years: “It is written: Not on bread alone does man live, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
The teaching of Jesus in this first temptation is so rich that it is impossible to reduce it to a single idea. There is the obvious aspect of not using his power for his own benefit. There is the idea of trust in God. But perhaps the most important idea, expressed in an almost subliminal way, is the broad and deep vision of life as something that goes far beyond primary need and is nourished by the word of God.
Second temptation: asking God for proof
The second temptation (throwing oneself from the temple roof) lends itself to very different interpretations. We could consider it the temptation of sensationalism, of resorting to extravagant procedures to achieve success in the apostolic activity. The crowd gathered in the temple witnesses the miracle and accepts Jesus as the Son of God. But this interpretation overlooks an important detail: the tempter never refers to that hypothetical crowd. What is proposed happens alone between Jesus and God’s angels. Therefore, it seems more accurate to say that **the temptation consists of asking God for proofs that corroborate the entrusted mission**.
We are not accustomed to this, but it is something typical of the Old Testament, as you remember the examples of Moses (Ex 4:1-7), Gideon (Jdg 6:36-40), Saul (1 Sam 10:2-5), and Ahaz (Is 7:10-14). As a response to the spontaneous fear and uncertainty before a difficult task, God grants the chosen one a miraculous sign that corroborates his mission. It doesn’t matter whether it is a magic staff (Moses), two portents with the nocturnal dew (Gideon), a series of diverse signs (Saul), or a great miracle in the heavens or on the earth (Ahaz). What is important is the right to ask for a sign that reassures and encourages the fulfillment of the task.
Jesus, on the verge of beginning his mission, has the right to a similar sign. Based on the promise of Psalm 91:11-12 (“He gives his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways; they bear you up in their hands, that you do not dash your foot against a stone”), the tempter proposes a spectacular and concrete test: to throw himself down from the roof of the temple. Thus, it will be clear whether or not he is the Son of God. However, Jesus does not accept this position, and rejects it by quoting again a text from Deuteronomy: “You shall not tempt the Lord your God” (Dt 6:16). The phrase in Dt is more explicit: “You shall not test the Lord your God, as you tested him at Massah (Temptation),” where the true temptation consists in doubting the presence and protection of God: “Does he or does he not dwell among us?”
Third temptation: the desire to triumph
The third temptation, openly presented by the tempter, consists of the pursuit of power and glory, even if it involves an act of idolatry. It is not a temptation provoked by urgent need or fear, but by the desire to triumph. Jesus rejects the condition imposed by Satan, quoting Dt 6,13.
The problem of historicity
The account in Mt forces us to ask whether these are historical or fictitious events. Because the dialogue with the tempter, the journey to the holy city, and the other to a very high mountain do not seem to have anything historical about them.
It is interesting to remember that the fourth gospel does not contain an episode of the temptations, but speaks of them throughout the life of Jesus. The strongest is that of power, at the moment when the Galileans want to name Jesus king. And very similar temptations in their content, not in form, are repeated at the end of Jesus’ life, on the cross: “If you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross” (Mt 27,40). These temptations reflect another piece of information of great interest: the tempters are men, not Satan.
Final reflection
Temptation is a real fact in the life of Jesus, to which he was subjected by being a true man.
Mateo has brought up this topic to make it clear from the beginning how Jesus understands his divine sonship: not as a privilege, but as a service.
At bottom, the three temptations boil down to one: to place oneself ahead of God, to put one’s own needs, fears, and tastes above unconditional service to the Lord, distrusting his help or wanting to supplant him.
The temptations also have value for each of us and for the entire Christian community. They serve to analyze our attitude toward needs, fears, and appetites, and our degree of interest in God.
José Luis Sicre
English version translated with AI