We profess that Jesus Christ is Lord, that though his death and resurrection we have been saved. How does Jesus save us?

The second Vatican council speaks about our salvation in Jesus Christ in this way: Jesus not only gave us an example to follow, he opened a way for us. If we follow it, life and death take on new meaning. Jesus not only gave us an example, he opened a way for us to follow. Lent is about following Jesus in the way he has opened for us.

What is the way of Jesus? The way of transformation, and the temptations of Jesus with which we begin every Lenten season show us one of the ways in which transformation takes place.

Luke tells us that Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan where he was baptized and was led by the spirit into the desert. All the gospels show us that Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit into the temptations. The temptations are not some sort of surprise attack on Jesus. Jesus does not go into the desert on retreat and turns around and all the sudden gets startled “ohh my gosh it’s the devil!” The Holy Spirit intentionally led him to the desert to continue making the way of transformation.

The first act of transformation had just happened prior to entering the desert with his baptism, where Jesus transforms a merely symbolic act into a real moment of receiving the power of God. John objects to Jesus being baptized, he tells him he couldn’t do it because baptism it was reserved for people who recognized they were sinners, and he knew Jesus was not a sinner. Again, it’s not like Jesus was like “oh my gosh, mind then!” He is intentional about it, saying look I accept baptism to place myself in solidarity with all human beings who are struggling in the condition of sin. I enter into the condition of sin in order to open a way of transformation of sin into righteousness. That is what we just heard Paul describe about Jesus on Ash Wednesday in 2 Corinthians 5:2; God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Having infused baptism with the presence of the power of the Holy Spirit, that same Spirit now leads him to the desert to be tempted by the devil. Have you ever been tempted by the devil? (Your mother-in-law asking for a favor does not count.) Jesus is led into three specific temptations because that is where we often find ourselves, and Jesus needs to give us a new transformative way in how we face temptation as well.

The first temptation is to escape feeling uncomfortable. Ever felt hungry? It is uncomfortable. If you are really hungry then you get hangry. The first temptation is our inclination to escape feeling uncomfortable and to do whatever it takes to make ourselves comfortable. We all are tempted to place our personal comfort ahead of the comfort of others. Jesus certainly could have turned stones into bread to make his experience of the condition of sin easier, but he says no, it is important for me to be in solidarity with others. There are many people in the world who experience hunger every day because of the injustices of the condition sin so I am in solidarity with them right down to that most basic of all human needs.

You and I in the West may not struggle with hunger the way people living in extreme poverty do, but the Spirit does lead me to recognize how I experience the hunger for justice, for belonging, for acceptance. The spirit also leads us to see how around us are people struggling with different personal tragedies and needs, so we can go beyond our own comfort to be in solidarity with them, leading me to actions that can alleviate someone’s suffering despite my own, and that is the way of justice and holiness.

The second temptation is to abuse power. We would all like to have power over other people. The gospel reveals the fact that power is so often used to divide people from one another. The devil says all power and glory has been handed over to me. Handed over by who? By us, we build the kingdom of satan, give him power, when we compete with one another for dominance and control because that always leads to envy, pride, division and violence.

In this temptation, Jesus opens a new way for us we can use power the way that he uses power. Jesus gives his power away to empower others. He uses his power to lift up and not to put down. We all have power. Parents have power over children, teachers have power over students, bosses have power over employees, government agents have power over people they govern and so on, everyone has some power. The spirit leads us to use our power in the form of service, and that is the way of justice and holiness.

The third temptation, and this is the worst one, is to use the spiritual life for our own interests. Jesus is tempted to display his spiritual power. Why don’t you throw yourself off the side of the temple to show everyone how God favors you? That will really impress everybody, and they will follow you as a spiritual guru. Let me get out my phone so I can get a picture of it, and you can post it on Facebook and go viral.

We can fall into the temptation that God will favor me over others. There was a terrible thunderstorm and someone said thank God that that tree did not fall on my house. I prayed that God would protect me and thanks be to God the tree fell on my neighbor’s house! We can reduce the spiritual life to just running to God for favors when we are desperate, but Jesus opens a way for us to relate to God in a deeper way. The spiritual life is about relationship, not favor. The Bible shows us Jesus regularly in prayer, so if we want to follow the way of transformation prayer needs to be part of our life. The Spirit leads us to trust in God because of who God is, not for what I demand that God do in my life, and that is the way of justice and holiness.

The gospel invites us to enter into the experience of Jesus in the spirit, to learn to desire what Jesus desires, to learn how the power of the gospel is manifested when we look beyond ourselves and begin to live for others, to invite God into our life in a deeper way.

Jesus has not come to take away our problems, Jesus has come to teach us and empower us how to solve our human problems in solidarity with one another – in families, in church communities and groups that come together to serve.

Jesus not only gave us an example to imitate, he opened a way for us and if we follow it life and death take on new meaning. God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin so that in the midst of the condition of sin we might become the righteousness of God in him. This is the way that is open, as Paul says to the Romans, to everyone who calls on the name of the Lord, to anyone who seeks the Lord in prayer.

The first reading today is from the book of Deuteronomy, the great summary of the covenant in the Old Testament. It is read for us today because Jesus overcomes temptation by meditating on verses from the book of Deuteronomy. Every verse he speaks amid his temptations comes from the book of Deuteronomy. Think about that, Jesus only needed to know 3 verses from one book of the Bible to beat the devil. What are the three verses you know from any book in the Bible that you could call to mind?

Jesus affirms his mission to open the way to fulfillment of the whole history of God’s covenant with the human race. After facing much difficulty in their journey, the first thing the people of God we’re called to do as they entered the promised land was to give thanks for the promise and the power of liberation. Declare before the Lord your God my father was a wandering Arab man who went down to Egypt and lived there as an immigrant when the Egyptians mistreated and oppressed us we cried out to the Lord and he brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand and terrifying power and he gave us this land and we bring to the Lord the fruits of this land that he has given us

This is the way that Jesus wants to open for all those who believe in him, a way of transformation in the midst of the condition to sin, a way of liberation from seeking our own comfort to free us to live in solidarity with others, a way of liberation from using power for our own benefit to free us to empower others, a way of living in the presence of God and Thanksgiving always so that the power of God works always for us in love.

Have you ever been tempted by the devil? As we begin our journey through lent let us help one another to follow the way of Jesus.

+ Fr. Carlos