On this first Sunday of Lent, today’s gospel (Luke 4:1-13) describes Jesus’ temptation in the desert which occurs shortly after his baptism and immediately before Jesus embarks on his public ministry.

The thing that grabs my attention about this gospel passage is the very first verse – that Jesus was “filled with the Holy Spirit”, and “led by the Spirit” into the desert.   Jesus is tempted with the allure of pleasure, wealth, and power .  But Jesus is able to resist and overcome these temptations.  And what is the key to Jesus’ successful rejection of evil?  It is his trust in, and obedience to, his Father.  It is his recognition of his dependence on his Father.  It is his willingness to dispose himself to God’s Spirit.

And it is the same for us – we are constantly being hit with a barrage of temptations – the same temptations Jesus faced.  And whenever we put our pursuit of pleasure, wealth, or power before our pursuit of God – the God who relentlessly pursues us – we are being led astray.

And like Jesus, the key to our faithfulness, is to turn ourselves to God in trust, obedience, and dependence.  With faith in God and by disposing ourselves to the power and grace of God’s Spirit – just as Jesus always did – we will be better equipped to overcome those things that separate us from God.  There’s no doubt that we will stumble and fall.   There’s no doubt that we will stray from the path.  But if we stay close to God we will, in the end, find our way.

Another thing that grabbed my attention in this gospel passage is the very last verse – “when the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from Jesus for a time”.  The phrase “for a time” seems to indicate that Jesus was tempted in many other ways throughout his ministry.  And of course we see this temptation most explicitly during Jesus’ passion when the same words posed to Jesus in the desert – “if you are the son of God” – challenge Jesus to come down from the cross (Matthew 27:40) and to once again abandon his mission.

So we see Jesus’ ministry “bookend-ed” by temptations to cast aside his humanity and act like God.  But Jesus never succumbs to this temptation.  Instead Jesus embraces his humanity and remains true to his identity as God-incarnate out of his love for all of us.

And in some respects it is similar for us – when we open ourselves to God’s Spirit and allow God to empower us to resist temptations we also embrace our true identity as humans – humans who will most certainly be tempted, but also humans who can overcome temptation because of God’s spirit dwelling in us, and  -maybe most importantly – humans who, even if we stumble, will still be brought back to God because of Jesus’ saving work.

So with this in mind we now travel with Christ and each other this Lent.  We travel from the desert to the cross.  We go forth with the power of God’s Spirit working in us.  We proceed with Jesus in his mission to save us.  And we open ourselves every day to the salvation he offers.