Satan's Tactics - Reflection on the Gospel of the 1st Sunday of Lent

Jesus has just finished fending off Satan for 40 days in the desert. That’s 40 days without food. 40 days in the heat, with sand everywhere, without a shower. 40 days of saying “no” to sin and “yes” to God. Sounds like Lent, or what it’s meant to be! It’s at this point – when we are tired, beaten down, think we have it all figured out and when our human nature is most vulnerable - that the devil attacks again and reveals 3 of his tactics.

“If you are the Son of God”.  The condescending and sarcastic “If” that is designed to raise our blood pressure. Satan knows full well who Jesus is. His demons are cast back to Hell at the mere mention of His name. His first tactic is to distract us from asking the question “I can but should I?” Appealing to our pride, he wants us to forget the morality of an action and focus on the execution. I am able to do this so I’m just going to go ahead and do it without taking the time to think about the moral consequences. What’s even more dangerous is the subtlety in how he tempts us to do this by presenting the most benign situations. Turning a stone into bread doesn’t appear to be an immoral act and Jesus just finished 40 days without eating – He deserves a snack doesn’t He?!? But Jesus knows that anything that comes from Satan can never be good no matter how small and resists. The physical comfort of eating that bread would satisfy Him now – temporarily – but doing so would ally Him with Satan and not God and therefore deprive Him of the food that will satisfy for eternity. The devil’s first tactic promises instant gratification. Jesus holds out for eternal salvation.

The devil then makes a startling claim – he is allowed to dole out power and glory of all the kingdoms of the world to whomever he wishes and he’ll give all that power to Jesus if He but worship him. Positions of leadership can be a conduit of God’s grace but only if we remain humble and accept the responsibility to do as Jesus did and remember not just who we are, but whose we are. Do we use power and status to make the lives of those we lead more fulfilled, less stressful and closer to God or do we take advantage of this position, using it to inflate our ego, receive special treatment and make our lives more comfortable? Jesus doesn’t discredit Satan’s claim that he has control of all the kingdoms of the world(scary!) but He reminds Satan that God alone shall be worshipped. The devil’s second tactic is power and glory. Jesus resists with humility and obedience.

In the final temptation, Satan comes back at Jesus with the same sarcastic “If you are the Son of God…” opening but now tries to use Jesus’ own tactics against him. After fending off the first two temptations with Scripture passages, Satan tries to turn Scripture around and tempt Jesus into putting God to the test. Look how the Devil tries to undermine the things that make us strong. If he can put a small crack in our foundation, he thinks the whole building will come down. Jesus is not shaken. His foundation is rooted deep in not just the words of Scripture but their true meaning. The devil’s third tactic is to turn our strengths against us. Jesus counters with confidence in God.

The devil shows that he’s subtle, cunning and persistant but we’re given hope in 2 things. 1) Jesus faced these trials and won giving us an example and model to follow. 2) God gives us the tools to be victorious. This Gospel starts by telling us that Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit after finishing His 40 days in the desert. It’s as if God knew that He would be tempted again after the 40 days and through those 40 days, encouraged Jesus to develop the skills to remain faithful. It’s common to feel that God is distant during rough times but it’s during these trials that He builds within us the resolve, humility and confidence to take on what He knows is coming down the road. The end of this Gospel reminds us that the devil only departs for a time. We know he’ll be back. Will we be ready?