"The devil said to him... 'All this will be yours, if you worship me.'" Jesus faced temptation, like we all do. His forty-day fast in the desert wasn't full of supernatural consolation and delight. He was subject to "every temptation" and when the forty days were over, "he washungry." In other words, he was human. Jesus' divine nature didn't cancel out his human nature. He facedstruggles just like we do--both physical and spiritual--in his body and his soul.
As we see in today's Gospel, the strategy Jesus used to fight these physical and spiritual battles was to immerse himself in God's word. To silence the devil during this fast, Jesus quoted Scripture. He rooted himself in these eternal truths, relying upon them in his moments of trial. And these sacred words had a dramatic effect. Every time Satan tried to seduce him with a new promise, Jesus responded with a Bible verse. And each time, Satan was silenced and had to try a new angle. Finally, when all the devilish angles had been tried, "the devil departed from him for a time." Jesus won the victory using the weapon of God's word.
As we enter into the season of Lent, we can be armed in the same way. We now embark upon a battle against our own pride, sloth, and greed as we commit to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Ultimately, we are working to put God first, instead of bowing down to our selfishness and our desire for comfort. The devil would like nothing more than to see us "worship" him in these ways. But, instead, let's be equipped to proclaim--and to live--the words Jesus himself used: "You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve."