Reflection – Dr Nathan Leber
“Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
The Season of Lent is here, and just like in nature, the colour and feeling change. We are reminded that this is a time of reflection, penance, and prayer. The Ash Wednesday Mass spoke of the three pillars of Lent – prayer, fasting and almsgiving. It is a time when we make ourselves uncomfortable so that we become aware of God in our midst. However, it is not to be a gloomy or mopey time – instead, we should embrace it with joy.
The Gospel today looks at the temptations of Christ in the desert, and with this, we see that Jesus was fully human. Satan tries to turn him away from oneness with God towards the human issues of hunger, status and control. The pride from with Lucifer fell is what he shows to Jesus – he offers unbridled power without responsibility or accountability. This is what happens when we don’t have God active in our lives, when we stop listening to the divine and fool ourselves into believing that we are in the driver’s seat.
As Jesus told the crowds, the sun rises, and the rain falls on all people and our moral pendulum swings with every decision we make. Don’t let your temptations lead you from your true path. It is at our weakest when temptation comes knocking. Satan came to Jesus after he had fasted for 40 days and nights – he was tired and hungry – which made him vulnerable like we all are at times. Did you notice that all Jesus’ replies point back to God and trusting that He has everything under control?
Lent gives us the perfect opportunity to reconsider our relationship with God and to put into practice the words of the Great Commandment – to love our God with all our heart, soul and mind and to love one another as ourselves – all others. At the same time, we must seek to reprioritise our lives. We are supposed to love people and use things, but this paradigm has shifted so that we use people and love things. Now, back to the opening line. Here, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3 (in fact all his replies are from Deuteronomy 6-8). This passage describes how God fed the Israelite with manna from Heaven when they were in the wilderness during their 40-year test to see if they were worthy to be called his chosen people.
Where Israel faulted and failed, Christ was obedient – he again demonstrates the fulfilment of the Law, the bridge between the old and the new. This passage has significance for us and how we relate to Jesus. For in Him, we have the Word of God, the Bread of Life, the rock and the living cornerstone. He is both our support and our nourishment – our rock, our bread and our Word.
Dr Nathan Leber
