The young son of some friends of mine performed a piano recital a few weeks ago.  The young musician chose to play a piece by Franz Liszt, a composer and performer renowned for the difficulty of his compositions.  

After the recital, I suggested to the young musician that he played Liszt’s composition well enough to imitate Liszt’s antics at performances.  From time to time, Liszt would lean toward the audience at a concert while he was playing and say, “I can do this, but you can’t.”  Liszt was well aware of both his extraordinary talent and the extraordinary difficulty of performing his compositions. 

One might be forgiven for thinking of Jesus as being as smug as Liszt.  In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus faced extreme temptations presented in the most unusual circumstances.  He was taunted by the devil to do something about the hunger caused by a long fast – the same hunger he satisfied for the crowds who followed him into deserted places.  Then, he was taken to the dizzying height of the Temple parapets and tempted to make a dramatic demonstration of divine power – the same power he would wield later to heal and reconcile.  Lastly, he was tempted with an offer of political power that would dwarf the power of the Roman Empire – the same political regime that would put him to death. 

Jesus resisted these temptations easily; he showed no sign of succumbing to the devil’s tricks.  Moreover, he had glib replies to all the devil’s attempts at coercion.  Obviously, the devil had planned these temptations to be effective; without any forethought at all, however, Jesus responded with Scripture quotes to refute the devil’s snares.  Anyone who has been in the uncomfortable situation of being coerced into acting contrary to their personal values might envy Jesus’ ability to make a snappy comeback. 

It might appear that Jesus was flaunting his abilities in the way that Franz Liszt did occasionally at concerts, but to do so would be to misunderstand the nature of Jesus’ temptations and the meaning of his responses.  The three temptations are direct references to the history of Israel’s Covenant with God. 

God sent Moses to lead the People out of captivity in Egypt and provided for the People’s needs while they wandered in the desert.  God provided water, manna, and quail for the People, but they still complained and rebelled against God.  When Jesus fasted in the desert, he remained faithful to God by not worrying about his experience of hunger and thirst. 

God settled the Israelites in the Land of Promise where they had the freedom to offer faithful worship in the Temple, but they turned their attention to false gods and superstitions.  When Jesus was brought to the Temple and witnessed its great glory, he could think only of serving God rather than himself. 

God chose the People of Israel to be God’s priestly people, the chosen race, a light to the gentiles, but the People repeatedly failed to give faithful witness to the glory of God.  When Jesus was offered near limitless political power, without hesitation he fulfilled the requirement of a central prayer in Hebrew religion; he acknowledged God’s power and no other. (Deut 6:4-6) 

The three temptations recounted the uneven history of Israel’s faithfulness to God.  Jesus’ responses to temptation were flawless fulfillments of the obligations that God’s People had failed repeatedly to fulfill.  His resistance to temptation was not meant to impress anyone – not the devil nor God.  Rather, his resistance to temptation was a demonstration of his faithfulness and obedience to God’s will; his resistance is also instruction for us about resisting temptation. 

Temptations are normal experiences for everyone; resisting temptation should also be a normal experience for everyone.  Resisting temptation requires no special abilities; anyone can do it.  When we resist temptation, we should not think of ourselves as doing something extraordinary.  Every Catholic will face the temptation to default on their chosen Lenten penance; every Catholic is obliged to resist temptation as Jesus did.  Every person, regardless of religious affiliation, will be tempted to be uncharitable toward those they find annoying; every person is obliged to resist this temptation. 

These and other temptations will require effort, but they are not impossible to overcome – provided one goes about resistance in the way Jesus did.  Jesus did not have to spend time preparing for temptation because he had already done the one thing necessary to overcome temptation; he heard God’s command of faithfulness and chose to fulfill it.  We can overcome temptation in the same way. 

Listen to God’s command, “Hear, O Israel!  The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!  Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength.  Take to heart these words which I command you today.” (Deut 6:4-6) 

When the One, True God is the only God one serves, then temptation loses its ability to sway one’s will away from what is true and good.  Jesus demonstrated how this is so.