Solidarity with Jesus

The Catholic Liturgy for the First Sunday of Lent, March 10, 2019. Gospel – Luke 4:1-13. Theme: Solidarity with Jesus

Not everything that Jesus said and did is recorded for us in all 4 versions of the Gospel. We might find one story in Mark and then another one in Luke, and then maybe something unique and very different will pop up in John. We piece them all together to get the whole picture. But when something is of the utmost importance it tends to be found in all of them.

The Temptation of Jesus is one of these most cherished events. Since the Holy Spirit, who is the inspiration-source for all Scripture, made sure that this story was repeated in all four Gospels, we just have to ask ourselves what this must mean. I think that one important truth He wants us to know through this story is the utter reality of Jesus’ true and full humanity.

The Temptation story reveals this to us in an unmistakable way.  For what could be more raw and real for a human being that to suffer and struggle with temptation? To wrestle with desires that seek to draw us away from God, from others, from doing what is right? To endure thoughts and feelings that try to break us down and drag us away from our dignity as children of the Father? We see that Jesus endured these very dilemmas in the temptation story proclaimed to us today.

I think the Holy Spirit is reminding us in this Gospel that Jesus did not merely pretend to be human or simply put on humanity the way an actor might put on a costume for a role. He became a real, true, full 100% human being from conception through death. What this means is that when Jesus came among us as God-in-the-flesh, He not only came down TO us, but he came down TO OUR LEVEL.

In this solidarity with us, the eternal Son of God, in entering our world and living on planet Earth, willingly and freely gave up His claim, His right, to make use of His divine power for His own sake, on His own behalf.  He did not want to live or act in any way different from what is possible for us. This is why we see in today’s Gospel that He refuses to turn stones in bread.  He refuses to squash Satan under His feet.  He refuses to perform supernatural feats like jumping off the top of the temple and floating safely to the ground. He came to experience and endure all aspects of human life with us. This means that Jesus wants to live in solidarity with each one of us.

We have a word for this kind of solidarity, and it is a quality that we all honor when we see it in others and want to possess in our own lives.  It is called empathy. In its most basic literal definition, empathy means “to suffer with”. It means to be able to enter into and help bear the struggles of another person and share deeply and meaningfully in their hardship, their situation.

Empathy creates a bond between persons, allowing the one who is suffering to see that he or she is not alone, that someone understands and cares. And it is for this reason that the God of love Himself came down in the flesh, to let each one of us know that we are not alone as we make our way through this oftentimes demanding and difficult world. As we struggle with temptations that entice us to leave the path that leads to loving others, to life with God here and in Heaven, Jesus takes us by the hand and leads the way.

But there is, indeed, a very important difference between Jesus and us when it comes to temptations.  As the God-Man, He had within Himself an unbreakable moral strength and integrity that never went away or astray. This did not lessen in any way, shape or form the very real struggles He had to endure like us, but it did enable Him to claim victory over temptation.

And it is especially in time of temptation that Jesus’ solidarity with us can come to our rescue. Because of our intimate spiritual union with Him through Baptism, we can share in His strength, in His firm rejection of temptation, and in His holiness. And through His Real Presence in the Eucharist, Jesus will live and act within us, if we allow Him to do so by opening up our hearts and receiving Him with real trust and love.  And as Pope Francis is so fond of frequently reminding us, through Holy Communion Jesus becomes strength in our weakness, medicine in our sickness, comfort in our suffering and healing balm in our woundedness.

So, let’s each claim this solidarity with Jesus by allowing Him to walk with us as our companion throughout this Lent. By our commitment to daily prayer from the heart and frequent reception of Holy Communion, we can indeed claim victory over temptation for we will have living within us our Beloved Brother and Lord, who came to set us free.