Where is your desert, your wilderness?
The Temptation of Jesus First Sunday of Lent 2020 - Reflection on the Gospel Matthew 4:1-11 This Sunday’s Gospel presents one telling of Jesus’ testing or temptation. It is an event recorded in each of the synoptic Gospels. Just prior to this passage, Saint Matthew recounts that Jesus sees ‘the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him’ (27:16). In today’s Gospel, this same Spirit leads Jesus out into the desert to be put to the test by the devil. Only after his forty day fast, when Jesus is hungry, does the tester approach. The devil’s twice-repeated taunt, ‘if you are Son of God,’ is not a doubt regarding Jesus’ identity. At the Jordan, all present had heard the voice from heaven proclaiming clearly who Jesus is: ‘my Son, the Beloved’ (27:17). Rather, this is a question of how Jesus will exercise his Sonship, of how he will live and indeed how - or whether - he will die. Later, as Jesus hangs on the cross, this same taunt echoes again ‘if you are God’s so...