Temptation

“One does not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes forth

from the mouth of God.”

From Sunday’s Gospel Matthew 4:1-11

Upon his baptism, verse one of today’s Gospel states, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.” Jesus’ glorious moment of being baptized, which was not for remission of sin as we are but to initiate the transition from his hidden life to his public ministry, a moment in which the Spirit descended like a dove and the voice of the Father indicates his favor upon his beloved, seems to be short lived. Soon after his baptism, God allowed Jesus to be tested. Whether it be in the primordial garden as we hear in the first reading or any of the modern influences that lead us to sin today, we too experience temptation as part of our human experience.

After fasting for 40 days and nights, Jesus’ whole being was racked with hunger. The 40 days and nights remind us of Moses and Elijah’s 40 day fasts and of the Hebrew People’s 40 years in the