9 March 2014 - trust exercised

9 March 2014 - trust exercised

The serpent tempts Adam and Eve with the fruit of a tree.  It isn't as though they are hungry.  There is a garden full of fruit trees from which they may eat. 

Jesus, at the end of forty days of fasting, is hungry.  Yet he does not command stones to become loves of bread. 

Adam and Eve ignore God's word.  They accept Satan's alternative interpretation of the situation instead.  "You certainly will not die!"  As CCC 397 tells us:

Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command. This is what man's first sin consisted of.

Jesus clings to trust in his Father no matter what.  He doesn't let Satan reinterpret his time in the desert.  Satan would tell him that it is a time of deprivation, a time of suffering, a hard time because his Father doesn't really love him enough to make it easy.  And he should therefore insist on that love by force.  Jesus will have none of it:

One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth
from the mouth of God.”

Jesus knows who his Father is.  He knows that he is trustworthy.  He knows that even if his will is hard, even if it means the cross, it is ultimately for the best.  He will accept no shortcuts.  He won't act recklessly to force his Father's hand.

“Again it is written,
You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”

He is the LORD of all but he won't allow himself to be revealed as king except in the way his Father intends.

“Get away, Satan!
It is written:
The Lord, your God, shall you worship
and him alone shall you serve.”

The temptation Jesus faces is this: There is an easier way.  There must be if your Father loves you.  But the trust of Jesus in his heavenly Father is unshakable.  Whereas Adam and Eve buy the lie that there is something being held back from them Jesus knows better even though he must endure much greater trials.

Through Adam and Eve "death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned".  Their lack of trust has hurt us all.  We all have a tendency to mistrust God.  We know on one level that God wants what is best for us.  We know that he works all things together for the good of those who love him and who are called according to his purpose (cf. Rom 8:28).  But we so often fail to live from this conviction.  We instead let the urgency of the immediate drive us to sin.  Only mercy can set us free.  We have inherited this heart from Adam and Eve.  Only God can make it new.

A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.

And he does want to make our hearts new.  He does want to pour out his Spirit upon us.  Since our problem is always trusting in ourselves more than God he makes trust the door by which we come to him. But human efforts are not enough.  We believe in Jesus.  We believe in Jesus, by his power.  In the power of Jesus, we believe.  In the face of whatever circumstances, whatever lies of the enemy, by the power of Jesus we believe.  His victory over temptation in the desert is our hope of victory.

For if, by the transgression of the one,
death came to reign through that one,
how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace
and of the gift of justification
come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.

He longs to restore to the whole world the joy of our salvation which he intends for us from the beginning.  He longs to hear our sincere praises.  He himself empowers us to open our lips.

Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.