The First Sunday in Lent, February 26, 2023

As we enter the season of Lent, the Gospels tell us that Jesus was tempted. He was tempted to deny his identity, to reject his vocation of love, and to pursue power, efficiency, and control. After all, that is what anxious people living in anxious systems in an anxious world do, they pursue power, efficiency, and control over the Way of love. It is comforting to know that Jesus is like us in every way, that he shares our humanity. And yet, most of us have never been tempted to turn stones into bread, or inherit the kingdoms of the world by worshipping the devil, or throw ourselves off a tower to prove that God will save us, so what are we to make of the temptations Jesus faced? What does it say to us as we strive to follow him, to be more like him, to take up the cross and follow?