On March 4, 2025 the yearly festivities of Mardi Gras will commence. For Catholics (and perhaps some Protestant denominations) , this means the linens will become purple in hue and the Alleluia and Gloria cease until the great celebration of Easter; for all Christians, this means entrance into season of Lent. This forty days of fasting, almsgiving, and prayer, at least in Catholic tradition, is modeled after the forty days Christ spent in the desert before beginning his public ministry. Now, the Gospels do not share many specifics about these forty days, but they do share what happened at the very end of these forty days, the temptation of Jesus by Satan; in this story, we see exactly how to resist temptation. Yet, this has even more meaning when the entirely of the Bible is taken into consideration, in particular, the story of King Solomon, the son of King David.
When I took Biblical Studies II at Franciscan, I recall being taught Jesus did perfectly what Solomon could and did not do. And what was that? Follow the commands of his father David. In 1 Kings 1-9 it states:
"When David's time to die drew near, he charged his son Solomon, saying: 2“I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, be courageous, 3and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn. 4Then the Lord will establish his word that he spoke concerning me: ‘If your heirs take heed to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail".
This instruction cuts to the heart. It truly puts the first things first: God. David knows first hand what it is to not 'keep the charge of the Lord Your God" as Solomon's older sibling died in childbirth as a consequence of David's double sin of adultery (with Solomon's mother, Bathsheba) and murder (of Uriah, Bathsheba's first husband). While we are aware of some of the "bigger" statutes and commandments of God (yes, I'm talking about the Decalogue/Ten Commandments), some may not be as familiar with the statutes concerning the conduct of the King of Israel. Recap so God created man to be ruled by him, but Moses prophesies in Deuteronomy 17:14 that Israel will ask for a king (this is fulfilled in 1 Samuel 8 when Israel does, in fact, ask for a king). Yet, Moses sets out rules for the future ruler to live by; in Deuteronomy 17:17-20 Moses states:
"Even so, he [the king] must not acquire many horses for himself, or return the people to Egypt in order to acquire more horses, since the Lord has said to you, “You must never return that way again.” 17And he must not acquire many wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; also silver and gold he must not acquire in great quantity for himself. "
The king, as seen here, should be a moral man and lead the community not only secularly. Though somewhat more direct in the temptation of Jesus, these limits are meant to keep the focus on God. The admonishment of acquiring many horses has. to do with creating a large army, as we see even in modern times winning military pursuits lead to fame and glory; so not building a massive army keeps one humble perhaps as it may more easily allow people to point to the Lord when one wins. The admonishment of not acquiring many wives can easily be as not to give into fleshly pleasures though the bible does show that polygamy leads to problems without directly saying it's against God's design for marriage. Lastly, the admonishment towards acquiring gold can be seen as lust for wealth. Though wealth can make one feel more secure, it makes it easier to believe one did it all themselves other than seeing the wealth as a gift from God to do as God wishes to do with. Now let's see how Solomon holds to these statutes of kingship by lookin at 2 King 11 and 2 Chronicles 10.
In 2 Kings 11:3 it states:
Among his wives were seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines
Then, 2 Chronicles 8:10, 18 reads:
"0These were the chief officers of King Solomon, two hundred fifty of them, who exercised authority over the people.
They went to Ophir, together with the servants of Solomon, and imported from there four hundred fifty talents of gold and brought it to King Solomon."
So as it is obvious that Solomon did not uphold the statutes of Moses nor does he listen to David's instructions. HIs wives will lead him to sacrifice to foreign gods and he will eventually become a tyrant not per se cause of his wealth and army, but because his wisdom (asked for so he could serve God, and rule, well) made him famous. His yoke is heavily on his people, when his son, Rehoboam ascends the throne, Rehoboam only makes it heavier, leading to the breakup of Israel. Centuries later though, Solomon's descendant, will not only show the world how to resist the wiles of the devil, but will perfectly fulfill the law of Moses in his example. That descendant is,of course, Jesus, the Son of God. Now let's look at the temptation of Jesus.
Though all the Gospels, well at least the three synoptic Gospels, share the story of the temptation in the desert, we wil look at Luke's telling (as for Catholics this is the reading that will be read at Mass):
St. Luke writes in his Gospel in Chapter 4: 1-13:
Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan
and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days,
to be tempted by the devil.
He ate nothing during those days,
and when they were over he was hungry.
The devil said to him,
“If you are the Son of God,
command this stone to become bread.”
Jesus answered him,
“It is written, One does not live on bread alone.”
Then he took him up and showed him
all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant.
The devil said to him,
“I shall give to you all this power and glory;
for it has been handed over to me,
and I may give it to whomever I wish.
All this will be yours, if you worship me.”
Jesus said to him in reply,
“It is written
You shall worship the Lord, your God,
and him alone shall you serve.”
Then he led him 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.”
Now, one may say "wait, Jesus has been baptize, even though he's God and doesn't need it, so why does he now need to go and fast in the desert?". Well, in a way this musing has merit, no Jesus probably didn't need to go and fast in the desert for himself, but Jesus is the most generous of teachers and rulers and wants us to know how to fight temptation (cause it's part human experience). So how does Christ fight the devil...he quotes scripture. He through his actions affirms the power of scripture over the devil. Though most importantly, Jesus is deeply rooted in his identity as the Son of God. and knows he doesn't have to "test" God the Father to prove his worth or his belovedness. He recognizes there is more to life than fame, fortune and the body, though humanity is intrinsically linked to the body, for it will last into eternity. Now, certainly we can quote scripture in times of temptation, but we first need to be aware that we are being tempted. This can be obvious at times like if we'd like to just grab that beautiful Barnes and Noble classics edition off the shelf at Barnes and Noble. Yet sometimes it can be hard in the case of something like gossip can be hard to discern at times, for there is another form of revealing difficult situations or 'bad" situations called venting. It's hard because it comes down to intentions what do you or I intend? do you or I want to make someone look bad? or do you Or genuinely want to find a solution? or need to figure out how you or I feel? In those times where you or I are about to speak negatively about another, perhaps pause and ask if you or I are experiencing a temptation to gossip. Then use scripture to combat the temptation. Regardless, fulfilled both Moses' and David's command perfectly and so to conquer appeal to scripture and Jesus. I hope all have a very fruitful Lent. May God bless you. Come back again for another peek into my merry life.
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