During their forty years in the desert, people were tested. They were hungry and wondered if God would pay attention. They were divided in their hearts about God: they wanted to trust him, but their empty stomachs made them doubt. The promised land seemed far away, and their hunger was here and now. They were told there was a purpose in their hunger: ‘’to make you understand that man does not live on bread alone but… on everything that comes from the mouth of the Lord’’ (Deuteronomy8:3). The great commandment asked them to be wholehearted in their commitment to God.
It is against that background of Israel’s testing in the desert that the story in today’s Gospel is told. Jesus is the new Israel; he has spent forty days in the wilderness; he is hungry and is tested. And he is tested to see if he will keep the ancient law of his people: to serve God with his whole heart, with his whole soul, and with his whole might.
Jesus is tested to see if he is totally committed or not. Is he like Israel in the desert-half -hearted about God’s plan? Can you be hungry and still trust God? Can you follow, God with your whole heart even when you are aware of the vacancy inside you? The Gospel tells us that Jesus is wholehearted in his commitment and stays loyal to his Father’s plan. And when he preaches Jesus sets great store by the undivided heart: ‘’You must not set your hearts on things to eat and things to drink…. Set your hearts on God’s kingdom, and these other things will be given you as well’’ (Luke12:29). Jesus is also tempted to believe that he can serve God without pain. Do a swan dive from the parapet of the Temple and land without a scratch! The question is: can Jesus’ love God with his whole soul even when his own life is in danger? Will Jesus risk his life for the sake of his mission, or will he opt for self-preservation? Can you love God even when your life is slipping away?
Jesus’ whole life answers yes to this question. He will teach us that we will be saved; he does not tell us that we will be safe. In the end, Jesus’ own death on the cross proves that he loves more than life itself - when no angels will come to keep him from harm.
Finally, Jesus is tested about his attitude to power and wealth. To get power, will he go to any lengths? Will he love God with his whole might, with everything he is and has? Or will he grasp for the kind of power and prestige that most people aspire to, and most people admire? Will he base his kingdom on twelve shaky apostles or on the firm ground of real estate?
-Jesus’ whole life says no to that kind of power and authority. And he will teach his own followers to avoid that kind of power: ‘’You know that among the pagans the rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. This is not to happen among you. No; anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant’’ (Matthew 20:25-26). Jesus teaches that with his whole life: he is the Servant of God. Jesus lives his life facing real temptations and that is a measure of his humanity. As we enter Lent, we ask ourselves how we face those temptations too. When times get rough and we feel hungry and alone, do we still trust in God? When our life just seems a vast vacancy, do we still believe in the father who loves us? Are we willing to risk our necks for the sake of the Gospel, or do we settle for guarding our own security? Do we make our authority felt so that people are degraded, or is it a real service to others?
These are not easy questions. They were not easy for Jesus. That is why we need forty days: to let these questions reach us again so that at Easter we can proclaim with an undivided heart that Jesus is the Lord of our lives.