C: 1st Sun of Lent (10 Mar 2019) - HAVING WON BUT NOT YET VICTORIOUS - Lk 4:1-13

We begin this Sunday our Lenten Season, and annually, we start our liturgical readings with the story of the Temptation of Jesus in the Desert, which is taken alternately from the Synoptic Gospels. All the accounts of Mark, Matthew and Luke present Jesus as winning at the end of the luring acts of the devil/Satan. But a good question to ask is: was he finally victorious?

Mark ends his account with: “And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him” (Mk 1:13b). Matthew similarly narrates the comforting presence of the angels: “Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him” (Mt 4:11). The angels’ presence certainly demonstrates a kind of winning as the devil himself affirms, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you’” (Lk 4:9b-10). Additionally, the judgment day will occur with the angels’ majestic presence (Mt 24:31; 25:31; Mk 13:27) and Jesus himself has legions of angels at his very disposal (Mt 26:53).

In Luke’s version, however, the angels were missing. Even worse, though the story-ending states that the devil had left, the final victory was never guaranteed: “And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time” (Lk 4:13). The devil’s retreat appears to be a tactical move to strike again in the future—this time much stronger than before. Indeed, later in the Passion of the Christ, “Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve” (Lk 22:3). Furthermore, Jesus suspected that Satan has also entered into Peter, thus, warning him: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Lk 22:31-32).

Likewise, Jesus’ mandate to Peter is his command to all of us: “And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Lk 22:32). For God, mankind’s falling and sinning again and again is understandable. It is because the devil does not cease to roam around and tempt us especially at the times when we are weakest. In our Lukan text today, there were no angels to combat for (our) spiritual battles extraordinarily. Yet, we can still win equipped by our faith in the Lord and guided by his words. However, a relapse can happen, and an even harder temptation can transpire. But we should struggle our way toward holiness, even if it brings us into deep agony.

Jesus gives us a handy tip in order to succeed: “Pray that you may not enter into temptation” (Lk 22:40). This advise is not a mere pep talk by Jesus. He indeed experienced it at the end of his agony in the garden when finally… “there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him” (Lk 22:43). We may not be victorious now, but if we arm ourselves with daily fervent prayers, surely we will be victorious at the end. True enough is the words of St. Vincent de Paul: “Give me a man of prayer and he will be capable of everything... the practice of prayer, which is like an impregnable rampart shielding the missionaries from all manner of attack” (SV XI, 83).

More opportunely, we may have exhausted all legal means to fight the societal evil around us, yet immorality and injustice continue to thrive and abound all the more. This though should not stop us from keeping the fight. Fortified with prayer and faith in our Lord, we can be victorious at the end for, certainly, “nothing will be impossible with God” (Lk 1:37).

- Rex Fortes, CM