Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. Luke 4:1-2

Every Lent, we begin this special season with the reading of the temptations of Jesus. It would be a grave error to think these temptations were peculiar to Him.

Jesus was one hundred percent human. Every Christian knows this and yet many act as if He was a God disguised as a human in the tradition of the gods of Greek Mythology. Many believed that Jesus still had His godlike abilities while He was a human being. However, the Bible tells us He emptied Himself of godlike qualities which means he possessed our ambiguities and weaknesses. In other words, He was not a superhuman. Consequently, He also had the desire to be the god of his own life as most of us do. All of us have within us a desire to have complete freedom to do and act as we please according to our own whims. We do not want to be challenged or subjected any standards besides our own. As an ancient philosopher once stated, “Man is the measure of all things.” Even today, many Christians believe the world was created for humanity to do with it as it pleases and not for the pleasure and glory of God. This is our human nature and it began right at the story of the Fall. The temptations of Jesus reenact the story of the Fall but with one twist. There is no fall. Jesus refused to use His power and influence to succumb to this innate human desire.

Many times we hear people say that we are so blessed to be living in this…or being born in this… I think in reality people are just lucky to be born where they are if the place gives them the opportunity to achieve what they desire. Many use their wealth and knowledge and whatever privileges they received for their own personal gains or to ensure that they are self sufficient and secure from all the dangers of the world. There is nothing inherently wrong with this. However, randomly using the word, “blessed”, to describe this state is problematic. In the gospel, being blessed begins with the awareness that everything we have comes from God but it does not stop there. Most people do stop there. The devil wants you to stop there. He tried to tempt Jesus to do the same. However, as we used to say right in the middle of worship service in the Anglican tradition,

“All things come of thee, O LORD, and of thine own have we given thee.” I Chronicles 29:11

Being blessed is being able to give back to God all the things which He has given us. It does not mean that we sell everything and give to the poor and then become missionaries. This is a nonsensical way of thinking. Everyone has a place in the body of Christ. We need to discover our place and then use the resources which we freely received from God as an offering to give back to Him. Nonetheless, we still need to spend some time in the “wilderness” to understand how we can become God’s channel of blessing in this world. It worked for Jesus and it can do miracles for us.

Actually, we do not need to go to the wilderness. It came to us in the form of a pandemic. We are still not quite done. It seems like this “wilderness” wants to linger around a bit longer. Unfortunately, many have rushed out of it and fallen into the arms of the devil. Thankfully, we do not have to follow their footsteps. The season of Lent is here to aid us. It beckons us to take a step back and reflect. We can allow this story to speak to our souls. There are two paths before us, the devil’s path which is the foundation of our carnal human desires or the path of the footsteps of Jesus: the New Creation. No doubt, everyone wants to follow Jesus. We also know that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. We need help. Jesus reveals to us the Way. Jesus overcame the devil because He understood what needed to be done. He kept His focus. Jesus was given gifts and power. He knew how and when to use them. He made it clear in the same chapter of today’s gospel reading. He sat among the congregation and pronounced the purpose of his life and gifts.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19

As we proceed with our reading of the entire gospel from here, we see example after example of Jesus using all that He received to fulfill these words. No doubt we cannot be like Jesus but it does not mean that we should not try. One of the most powerful testimonies I heard was from an atheist who confessed that even though she lacks faith, she loves the person of Jesus and desires to imitate His footsteps. I think that she is on the road to discover what it means to live a blessed life.

We are slowly coming out of our wilderness. I tried doing it towards the end of last year but Covid got a hold of me. Now, I am taking baby steps back into the world. It seems like things have gone from bad to worse. The country is going through one of the worst economic crisis and unemployment is record high. Consequently, crime is on the rise. We have witnessed robberies with such frequency that it is creating a sense of revolt within me. I have always had a great disdain for crime and even stopped watching movies because in some shape or form, they tend to sensationalize criminal behavior. Personally, I am having a hard time separating the perpetrator from the sin. It is easier to succumb to the temptation of despising both. To our dismay, there has been an increase in number of teens involved in crime. Some of them are so deep into it that their physiognomy is beginning to reflect their criminal behavior. The situation is quite discouraging and there is a growing sense of hopelessness. It made me question if we can possibly make any impact in the lives of these young people. I walked past three young men. Two of them were teenagers and the one in the middle was slightly older. He was shirtless and his body was marked with tattoos telling a story to those who understood its symbols. They were robbers taking a break. As I walked by, the one in the middle called to me. They looked extremely intimidating and dangerous but I wasn’t afraid for some reason. The tattooed young man looked at me and said, “God bless you and your family, sir! I really mean it.” It wasn’t exactly what I expected to hear. I was taken off guard and mumbled back something like a weak “same to you”. Something special happened at that moment. I did not recognize him but he acted like he knew me. I walked on and saw Kawanna sitting alone. I sat next to her.

She is a quiet girl. It is best not to inundate her with questions to make her talk. She usually does it on her own time. She has been very dear to us over the past few months. There was a time she was just as dangerous as the three young men, possibly even worse. She spent most of her teenage life incarcerated in the juvenile detention center. They even said that she was a hopeless case. However, she has left criminal activity behind. Now, she composes music and poems. She has a written quite a number of them. We just gave her a notebook for her birthday so she could record more of her compositions. She just turned 22. She eventually started talking. She told me that she wants to use music to get out of this situation. She meant her homelessness and poverty. However, she wants to do something to help the others. She said that she was involved in crime once and she knows that most of them want a way out of it. They need help and most importantly patience.

Her words brought me back to this world and our focus. Jesus did not bring us to this place to be a judge. There are ample number of judges around. He did not bring us here because it was easy. He brought us to see the suffering and tormented souls who need healing. The devil wants me to focus on the outside and seek an easy way out. Jesus confronts the dire reality and brings a message of hope and love. Today, I received healing from two unlikely sources. I was healed of my blindness and now I can see that the circumstances have changed but the gospel still remains powerful. It is still able to heal and restore. The devil wants me to focus my energy on other things mainly myself. Jesus said, “No!” We want to say “yes” to Jesus.