1st Sunday of Lent, Year C (2025)
1st Sunday of Lent, Year C – Reflection
Deuteronomy 26:4-10
Psalm 91:1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15 (see 15b)
Romans 10:8-13
Luke 4:1-13
March 9, 2025
When famine came, Jacob moved his family to Egypt where Joseph had built up large stores of grain. There, his family “became a nation great, strong, and numerous.”
The Egyptians began to maltreat and oppress the Israelites to the point where the Israelites cried out their Lord. The Lord heard their cry and rescued them from their affliction. Through Moses, the Lord brought them out of Egypt to a land flowing with milk and honey.
In their cry for help, the Israelites were not testing the Lord. They were truly in need and He answered their cry. The people in turn responded by giving the firstfruits of their lives to the Lord as they bowed down in his presence.
In their need, they sought the “shelter of the most high” as their refuge and as the One they trusted in. We can do the same, trusting the Lord to be with us in our distress and to deliver us from affliction.
When we battle injustice, when we are tempted to evil, we do not stand alone. We have Jesus, Son of the Father, who knows what it is like to suffer distress and what it is like to be tempted.
As we begin this season of Lent, we hear the story of Jesus’ temptation. It was God’s Will that Jesus be tempted. We know this because Jesus “was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days to be tempted by the devil.”
The devil is cunning. He knew Jesus had fasted for forty days. He knew Jesus would be hungry. Who won’t be after forty days? Knowing this, the devil started to tempt Jesus by tempting him to turn a stone into bread. After forty days of not eating, who won’t, if they had the power, change the stone into bread?
Who won’t? Jesus! Jesus knew the power He had but He would not use his power for himself. How would you have fair against this temptation?
Jesus did not sin.
The devil does not give up. The devil then promises Jesus “power and glory” if He would worship the devil. Jesus responds with the instructions, “You shall worship the Lord, your God and him alone shall you serve” (cf. Deuteronomy 6:13).
Jesus refused to worship the devil. Do you worship the devil?
Before you answer, let me rephrase that. When do you give into sin? What choices have you made that led you to sin? Were they deliberate choices? Have you made choices to put pleasure first in your life? When you give yourself to the pursuit of worldly pleasures, you need to ask yourself if you have started to worship the devil by embracing his ways.
The devil continues to tempt Jesus. In fact, the devil cites scripture in his efforts to tempt Jesus. Jesus is not fooled. He uses the words found in Deuteronomy 6:16, “You shall not put the Lord, your god, to the test.”
Do you test the Lord or do you trust in the Lord?
What’s the difference?
Testing can come in the form that the devil tries to tempt Jesus with. The devil cites a passage from scripture, saying, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written…”
Have your put God to the test? Have you ever said to God, “if you love me, you would…” If you do this just to see how the Lord responds, then you are testing him.
When the Israelites became slaves in Egypt, they cried to the Lord. This was not a test. It was them trusting the Lord. They knew they could not gain their own freedom. They knew their God was all powerful. They cried not to test him but with trust in the one who could save them.
Trusting the Lord doesn’t mean our faith is perfect. I think of the man who cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” (see Mark 9:24). His faith brought him to Jesus as he sought help for his son who was possessed by a demon. Yet, his faith was not perfect. He knew this and asked Jesus to help his unbelief.
Do you believe? Do you believe in Jesus’ power to save you? Do you believe this in the words that come from your mouth? Do you believe in your heart. We need both for Paul writes, “For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.”
Who do you worship? Do you worship the devil, seeking the pleasures of sin, or do you worship our Lord, trusting in what He teaches us?
Peace,
Fr. Jeff