DISCOURSE ON TEMPTATIONS (Part I – The Unsatisfied Flesh)
The temptations of our Lord Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11) are a
wellspring of teachings on regarding how the devil tempts and to what extent is
his temptations and how we can trample him down just as what Christ did against
his enticements.
Although this scripture reading is not lengthy so as to show
how the devil operates, all the same, I believe, that this reading is so great
and so enough so as to sense temptations and how are we to do in overcoming
them.
To begin, let us background ourselves on what a temptation
is and what it is not. Temptation is an attack of the devil against us humans
in order to keep us away from God and to cut-off our relationship with Him by
sinning. It is a test for us to sin against God or not, so, temptation in
itself is not a sin but it may lead us to sin or it may lead us to be more
attached to God.
Moving forward to the first temptation, the devil is
accustomed to tempt Christ in a manner which basically lies on the primary need
of all human beings to sustain their life and that is bread, or food for the
body. What can we draw out from this temptation?
The devil knows our need for the good of our body and he
also knows that humans are inclined of course to look after food. God also
knows this. But in Jesus Christ, He silenced the enemy by saying that “man
cannot live by bread alone but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of
God.” Because Christ is indeed hungry after a fast of forty days and forty
nights, in Him, in His hunger, we found strength and what are we ought to look
after which is the Word of God both in scripture and in Mass more than bread
for the body. This temptation is so great for the enemy is after the
satisfaction of the stomach that never satisfies. In Christ, we found that what
satisfy are the words that come forth from God’s mouth. The excitement of the
devil is so strong that even stones were to be turned by Christ into bread as
what he said for Christ to do. It is evident here that this temptation goes to
the extent that Christ was seen by the devil as a God who is desperate for
bread. But our Lord's greatness was revealed for what really satisfies and what
is most important to Him are the “words that come forth from the mouth of God.”
The devil as we must see here is an enemy that sees humans
as people desperate for food. He just knows that we humans cannot live without
becoming desperate for what satisfies the stomach. And we see the effect of
this temptation even today. People crave in desperation for what satisfies the
stomach. The problem is that the stomach was never satisfied and so are the
humans who are after food alone. This temptation of the devil measures humans
in these points: What are humans after? What makes humans desperate and what
must make them desperate? What things can satisfy a human flesh? Another point
I want to emphasize is that this temptation is not all about food, it can also
pertains to what are humans after more than food, that in desperation of us
humans, we are going to turn stones into cell phones, laptops, etc.
In this first discourse of the three-fold discourse I am in
to, it is a valuable lesson for us what must make us really satisfied, and that
is the Word of God in scripture and in Mass. Of course we need things such as
food, shelter, clothing (and any other necessities connected to these),
nevertheless, what we must be after is what really satisfies and it is God
alone. For if Christ is after the food that really satisfies the soul, what
then are we supposed to be after? Are we after the stones that we must turn
into bread showing to the devil how desperate and pathetic we humans are? Then let
us follow the footsteps of Christ into settlement of the soul in what satisfies
us truly, the Word of God. Then the bread for the body will definitely follow
according to our need.
