First Sunday of Lent: Who is at the center of your life?

Who is at the center of your life? Maybe it depends on which day we ask. The Gospel today is about who is at the center of Jesus’ life.  Satan’s temptation of Jesus lure him to live selfishly, using his powers only for his own good. We are all tempted to be the center of our own drama. We are tempted to push for our own agenda, conflating what we want with what God wants. Jesus’ response to the tempter always moves God and his will back to the center.
 
Deuteronomy: Moses and the Center
The first reading is from the closing chapters of Deuteronomy. Moses is delivering the law to the people about the limits on punishment and the obligation of providing your brother’s widow a child. He then recounts how the Lord lead the people through the desert and ordered the people to provide ‘first fruits’ to God as an offering of thanksgiving.  Moses teaches the people to put God at the center. In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses instructs the people how to sacrifice and worship God, saying to them,

“He brought us out of Egypt
 with his strong hand and outstretched arm,
with terrifying power, with signs and wonders;
 and bringing us into this country,
 he gave us this land flowing with milk and honey. Therefore, I have now brought you the first fruits
 of the products of the soil 
which you, O LORD, have given me.  '
And having set them before the Lord, your God,
 you shall bow down in his presence."  Dt. 26:4-10

 God must be at the center. The people are not to be distracted by extraneous concerns, no matter how important.
 
Luke:  Jesus and the temptation in the desert
Like God’s people escaping Egypt, Jesus is lead into the desert where he is tempted by Satan who approaches him three times. Three times Satan tries to lure Jesus away from his assigned task by appealing to Jesus’ self-concern. Three times Jesus answers with a saying from Deuteronomy, the law given by Moses, that moves God’s will back to the center of Jesus’ concern. These are not primarily temptations to which everyone is exposed, such as greed or pleasure or the arrogance of power. Instead, they are about the basic sin of the people of God, the sin to move self-concern to the center of our attention and God to the margins.
 
The people of God are called to live to honor God and draw others to God through their way of life.  If they live for themselves, they pervert God’s will.   Jesus’s temptations make sense in this context
 

1. "If you are the Son of God,
command this stone to become bread." Lk 4:3. Satan tempted him to get bread for himself; and
2. "I shall give to you all this power and glory;
for it has been handed over to me,
and I may give it to whomever I wish.
All this will be yours, if you worship me."
Lk. 4:6-7.  Jesus is tempted to put himself on display, and
3. "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, and:
With their hands they will support you,
lest you dash your foot against a stone."
Lk. 4:10-11.  Jesus is tempted to achieve what he wants by compromising with the chaotic powers

Misuse of power in the name of God is a terrible sin. Jesus resists the temptation by moving God back to the center.

1. “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word from the mouth of God.” Lk. 4 quoting Dt. 8:3
2. “You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.” Lk. 4:8 quoting Dt. 6:7.
3. “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” Lk. 4:12 quoting Dt. 6:16.

 The stories about Jesus’ temptations demonstrate that he was tempted by these things, to try to set things right the wrong way
 
The Gospels:  Jesus and Satanic temptation in his ministry
Jesus and Peter
One story of temptation is the when Jesus, as he and the disciples were walking on the road to Caesarea Philippi, asked his disciples “who do people say that I am?” Mt. 16:13-20.  Some of the disciples said, Elijah or one of the prophets. Peter said, “you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus then began to talk prophetically about his passion and death. Peter interrupted, “God forbid Lord! No such thing should happen to you.”  Jesus rebuked him, ‘Get thee behind me Satan!” Peter was being quite rational and prudent, but Jesus saw the temptation to put himself, not God, at the center.
 
Jesus on the Cross
When Jesus was on the cross, the chief priest, the elders of the law and the scribes mocked him,

Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, if you are the Son of God, [and] come down from the cross!” Likewise, the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. So he is the king of Israel!  Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now if he wants him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” Mt 27:39-43.

 So this profound conflict is about the will of God, the center of life. Jesus’ life illustrates that Creation is the story of God’s love for us and our love for God. The “will of God” is not that Jesus should be killed in Jerusalem but that Israel everywhere, including in the capital city, should be confronted with the Gospel of the reign of God and turn back to God with their whole heart. Jesus said about his crucifixion:

“I am troubled ^* now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hou r, rather, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again. ”  The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, “An angel has spoken to him. ”   Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out .  And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” Jn. 12:27-32

 Jesus death is the final response to the Satan’s temptation. Lent is about moving God back to the center of our life. We are supposed to love God with all our heart and strength and our neighbor as ourselves.  This commandment puts God at the center of Lent.