GRACE TO HOLD ONTO THE SONSHIP/DAUGHTERSHIP

We are in the first Sunday of the holy season of Lent. The readings of today are about temptations of the first Adam and the second Adam with the theological exposition from St. Paul who elucidates the advent of death into the world through the sin of the first Adam contrasting with the advent of abundant grace through the faithful obedience of the second Adam for whole fallen creation.

The satan in the gospel tempts Jesus by stating Jesus’ Sonship; if you are a son of God (Mt 4:3, 6). Satan calls Jesus as Son of God not on the basis of Jesus’ natural Sonship with God the Father but a Sonship which Jesus gained through adoption for being a faithful human person. Every human person is called to become sons and daughters of God the Father. Whoever is faithful to the commandment of God will be called as Sons and daughters of God. First human being on earth lost that Sonship due to his/her sin. Adam and Eve lost their relationship with God the Father as children of God because of their disobedience to God. Jesus gave up His status of divine Sonship with God the Father to take up the human form. As a human person Jesus gained the adoptive Sonship through His humble obedience to the will of God the Father. Jesus’ perseverance in the desert for 40 days with strict fasting and prayer empowered Him to conquer the evil of any kind. During lent we fast, abstain and do charity to repent for our sins. At the same time all those penances should empower us to gain grace to resist evil thereafter. From Easter Sunday onwards we are not allowed to go back the way we were before Lenten season but to lead a life with grace which we have gained in this holy season through our ascetic practices and penances.

Jesus’ victory over Satan after 40 days of fasting and prayer in the desert shows that He has gained the grace to face the evil with divine power. Jesus chooses God’s word and Sonship over wealth and an honour as miracle worker. He has fixed his gaze on God. He could not be distracted by the lust of flesh (food) and the lust of eyes (wealth). For Him being a Son of God was greater than wealth, food and honour. Jesus even neglects to test God because that would be a showcase of his pride as son of God. Satan incites Jesus to doubt and test God’s fidelity, but Jesus’ does not listen to the devil. The devil comes only to sow doubt, suspicion and disrupt the authentic relationship. Jesus recognized the devises of the evil one because of the spiritual power which he has gained in the desert. Lent is a time to be in the desert – to throw ourselves completely into the hands of God and take shelter onto his bosom. This season is not just to repair our relationship with God but to gain strength through which we can never break our relationship with God in the post Lenten period.  

In the first reading, the Satan tempts Eve by putting forward a negative question: “Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?” (Gen 3:1). God has allowed Adam and Eve to nourish themselves from the fruits of all the trees in the garden except for the one: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2: 17). The Satan exactly points out that one prohibition as the greatest treasure which should be attained at any costs even if that pursuit involves of losing all the other fruits in the garden. The devil tempts us by presenting the prohibition as a block. He sows the seed of suspicion and doubt over the prohibition. Adam and Eve doubted the prohibition and acted on it to find out why God had forbidden them to eat that particular fruit. Adam and Eve loose the focus. They are distracted to look at the one and only prohibition as the only thing to be focused on and worried about rather than enjoying the whole goodness present in the garden. Thus, we need to be careful in listening to the voices of the devil in our lives. The gossips and fake news that are around us tempt us to focus only on those little defection. They hinder our insight and reasoning. To overcome those things we need to train ourselves through prayer and fasting. Jesus overcame the devises of the evil one through these means. We should not fall into the snares of the devil. May this holy season of lent be a time of prayer and fasting with sincerity of hearth. Thus, we may receive necessary graces to have control over the voice of the evil one.    


 

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