Holy Martyr Callistratus and His Companions; Our Venerable Father Nilus, Founder and Hegumen of the Grottaferrata Monastery.
Ephesians 5:25-33; Luke 4:1-15.
Read Luke 4:1-15
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
We have read St. Luke’s account of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness for forty days by the devil. Jesus was tempted to turn a stone into bread to satisfy the pain of hunger, with worldly glory and authority to rule over all the kingdoms of the world, and with tempting God to send His angels to save Him if He throws himself off the pinnacle of the temple. After Jesus overcomes these three temptations, Luke records: “Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time” (Lk. 4:13).
Notice that in two of these three temptations, Satan enticed Jesus with flattering words: “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread” (Lk. 4:3); “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here” (Lk. 4:9). St. John Chrysostom points out that Satan didn’t tempt Jesus by saying, “because you are hungry,” turn this stone into bread (Homily XIII on Matthew IV). Although Jesus was extremely hungry, the temptation was to prove that He is the Son of God and deserves to be treated like a king. As the Son of God, He deserves not to be hungry. He deserves to have all the glory and power of the world. He deserves to have the angels protect Him at His Father’s command so the world could see His glory. The temptation was the thought “You deserve better than this.”
We read these three temptations in this chapter, but later on we read another. After Jesus was crucified, the rulers sneered saying, “‘He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.’ The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, ‘If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself’” (Lk. 23:35-37). Once again, Satan returns to attack Jesus in His agony on the cross. Again, the thought, “You deserve better than this,” must have crossed His mind. However, Jesus was always obedient to His Father and never chose sin. By enduring temptation in the wilderness, Chrysostom says that Jesus “teach[es] us that we must overcome the devil, not by miracles, but by forbearance and long suffering, and that we should do nothing at all for display and vainglory” (Homily XIII on Matthew IV).
In humility, Jesus, “being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:6-8). Jesus is almighty God, and yet He chose to become a poor, lowly human, accepting even death on a cross for our sake. He chose love and self-sacrifice over worldly glory. He would one day triumphantly enter Jerusalem seated on a donkey’s colt and not on a majestic beast. He would be crowned with thorns instead of jewels and precious metals. Hanging on the cross, He may have been tempted to prove He was the King of the Jews, the chosen One of God, by coming down from the cross and demonstrating His divine power and authority. Instead, He humbly accepted death on that cross for the salvation of the world.
Let us learn from Jesus’ example. By God’s grace, we have the power to overcome temptations. We cannot do it by our own efforts. Christ conquered sin and death. His victory is not His alone but one He shares with all of us who live in Him, who have died and risen with Him. Let us imitate His extreme humility, for “a servant is not greater than his master” (Jn. 13:16).
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