Lent-1-B-Gen 9:8-15; 1 Peter 3: 18-22; Mk 1:12-15 

The primary purpose of Lent is spiritual preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ death and Resurrection. The Church tries to achieve this goal, leading her children to  “repentance” by the reordering of their priorities and the changing of their values, ideals and ambitions, through fasting, prayer and self-control. 

Mark, presents Jesus as the new Israel, and presents with almost shocking brevity, three major events in the history of Israel as happening in the life of Jesus: In a new exodus Jesus recapitulates the journey of Israel from Egypt. His baptism represents the crossing of the Red Sea, Jesus’ temptation in the desert, represents the Hebrews’ 40 years in the desert, their test and failure, and the result that all except Joshua and Caleb died in the desert;  and Jesus’ preaching good news is compared to the entry into the promised land.

(The Gospel says that Jesus fasted in the desert for forty days. The Old Testament is replete with examples of the use of forty: God punished mankind by sending a flood over the earth that lasted forty days and forty nights (Gen 7:12); the people of Nineveh repented with forty days of fasting when Jonah preached the destruction of Nineveh (Jonah 3:4); Moses and the Hebrew people
wandered in the desert for forty years (Num 14:34); the Prophet Ezekiel had to lie on his right side for forty days as a figure of the siege that was to bring Jerusalem to destruction (Ez 4:6); the Prophet Elijah fasted and prayed on Mount Horeb for forty days (1 Kings 19:8); and, Moses fasted forty days and forty nights while on Mt. Sinai (Ex 34:28). )

No sooner was the glory of the honour of Baptism was over than there came the battle of the temptations in the life of Jesus. The great lesson it imparts is that we cannot miss temptations. In this life it is impossible to escape the assault of temptations. But, temptations are sent to us not to make us fall; they are sent to strengthen us. They are not meant for our ruin, but for our good. They are meant to be tests from which we emerge better warriors of God.

The temptations Jesus faced and defeated help us to understand the conflicts that were in Jesus' own life and which will be found in ours too.  Instead of yielding to the temptations, Jesus said a firm “Yes” to his Father's plan, even when it came to giving over his life.    

There are two equally damning lies Satan wants us to believe: 1) Just once won't hurt. 2) Now that you have ruined your life, you are beyond God's use, and might as well enjoy sinning. With convincing lies he traps us.

A story is told of four high school boys who couldn't resist the temptation to skip morning classes. Each had been smitten with a bad case of spring fever. After lunch they showed up at school and reported to the teacher that their car had a flat tire. Much to their relief, she smiled and said, "Well, you missed a quiz this morning, so take your seats and get out a pencil and paper." Still smiling, she waited as they settled down and got ready for her questions. Then she said, "First question--which tire was flat?"

No lie has ever remained uncovered forever. To cover one lie a chain of lies are needed.

An ancient rabbi said, “Sin begins as a spider’s web and becomes a ship’s rope.” You and I add those strands that change the spider’s web into a rope; but because we add just one strand at a time, and because each one is usually so small, we don’t realize what we’re constructing. Sometimes, on the other hand, the growth seems to happen almost of its own accord. It is as if we planted a seed in the soil of the soul by some small act of sin and, without our seeming to attend it or care for it, it develops into a full-grown tree. Sometimes, verily, a forest!

The basic, underlying temptation that Jesus shared with us is the temptation to treat God as less than God. We may not be tempted to turn stones into bread, but we are constantly tempted to mistrust God’s readiness to empower us to face our trials. None of us is likely to put God to the test by leaping from a cliff, but we are frequently tempted to question God’s helpfulness when things go awry; we forget the sure promise, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (II Corinthians 12:9).

Mark says that the Angels were helping him. Jesus was not alone to fight his battle. Neither are we. We are always supported by God and Men, when we begin our battle. While God allows us to experience temptations, He never gives us more of these than we can bear. He will give us means to overcome our sinful habits with His guidance and grace through prayer. 

Like Jesus during this lent, we should go into the desert of ourselves and face our demons there; otherwise we will project them onto other people and try to destroy them by destroying people. We do not become good by fighting evil  -  we become good by doing good. 

The desert is a place where our illusions of self-sufficiency and comfort fade away. When we are in the desert, either literally or figuratively, we quickly realize that we need God. In other words, the desert is the opposite of the Garden of Eden. It is the place of suffering and hardship that sin has led us to.

Lent should be a time for personal reflection on where we stand as Christians accepting the Gospel challenges in thought, word and deed.  It is also a time to assess our relationships with our family, friends, working colleagues and the other people we come in contact with, especially in our parish. 

During this Lent, let’s fight daily against the evil within us and around us by practicing self-control relying on the power of prayer and Scripture. Let’s open ourselves to the invitation of Jesus to repent and believe in the Gospel.