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April 10, 2022Then he [Satan] led Him [Jesus] to Jerusalem, made Him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to Him, “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.’” Jesus said to him in reply, “It also says, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’” Luke 4: 9-12
In this third and final temptation, the evil one tries to pit Jesus against His Father. Another way of translating this temptation would be, “if God really loves you, then he won’t let you die by jumping off this building.” How many times has the evil one whispered that temptation in our own ears?
If God really loves you, He won’t let you die from cancer.
If God really loves you, He won’t let them fire you.
If God really loves you, you’ll pass this exam.
If God really loves you, your spouse will stop cheating.
And the list goes on and on for each of us.
The evil one wants us to fall for this lie out of our own fear (remember the evil ones three weapons: lies, fear, and temptations) so that we will inevitably test God and when the bad thing happens, we will stop loving God. Satan doesn’t want us to remember the truth of who God is, like Jesus did while standing on the parapet of the temple.
So, who is God? “God is love.” (1 John 4:8) What is love? “Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.” (1 Corinthians 13: 4-6) This is what we need to remember when suffering comes our way. When we and our loved ones get sick, lose our job, feel like failures, feel like everything is going wrong and falling apart in our lives we need to remember God is love. The evil one wants us to blame God for our suffering, but the truth is God does not make us suffer, rather He wants to walk with us through our suffering.
Look to the Cross. Did God put Jesus on the Cross? No. Jesus’ own people screamed “Crucify Him” to Pontius Pilot. Jesus’ own people spat at Him as he walked to Calvary. Jesus’ own disciples (our first Bishops), except for St. John, ran out of town leaving our Lord behind out of fear they were next. God the Father didn’t put Christ on the Cross, but the Father was with Jesus every step of the way.
When our personal choices, and the personal choices of others, make our life hard and miserable it is ourselves and others who made our life miserable. If our bodies fail and we get sick, it wasn’t God who made me sick, it was my body doing what bodies sometimes do. God is love. The evil one loves to distract us from that objective truth and instead blame God for everything that is wrong with us and our lives.
REJECT THAT LIE! When you start hearing and believing any lie that makes God out to be anything but love, reject it! Pray this simple prayer, “Lord Jesus I reject the lie that _(fill in the blank)__.” It’s a simple yet powerful prayer that tells the evil one “I will not listen to your lies!” Look to Christ and seek His help and grace to reject these temptations, lies, and fears that the devil uses daily to make us stop praying, going to the Sacraments, and practicing the works of mercy. In the end, those are the things that keep us in the light and on the right path:
- Sunday Mass
- Regular Confession (every 4-6 weeks)
- Practice the Works of Mercy
- Daily Prayer
Do those things and you will never need to worry about the devils lies, fear, and temptations.