Readings:
Genesis 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11

Then the serpent said to the woman, “No! you will not die! God knows in fact that on the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3:4, 5

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, after which he was very hungry, and the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to turn into loaves. But he replied, “Scripture says: Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.‘
Matthew 4:1-4

Whether we believe in the devil or not, every human being is confronted by the problem of evil and searches for an explanation. The description of the Fall in the book of Genesis is Israel’s answer to the problem. The people’s more prosperous and powerful neighbours had a variety of explanations, all of which exonerated the individual from any evil they might do, putting the blame on the gods, who had either made them evil, or prompted them to particular evil acts. Religion was concerned with keeping on the right side of warring gods, placating them by suitable offerings, which might include human sacrifices. Israel answers stating that there is only one God, that his creation is good, that human beings, both men and women, are made in his image, and that evil is not outside but within us. The serpent makes the suggestion, and Adam and Eve consent to it. Evil is conceived and born within the human heart.

The serpent’s suggestion in the garden and the devil’s in the desert are both very reasonable. Why not accept what looks good and promises power, and why not turn stones into bread to satisfy our own and other people’s hunger? The first Adam accepts the suggestion, the second Adam rejects it. Why are the temptations portrayed in this way so subtle and so reasonable? The answer is because they are describing the nature of evil, that it creeps on us like a snake and offers what appears to be good and reasonable.

It is good that we should care for our health. Wealth is a form of energy, and it is good that we create and enjoy it. Society would disintegrate without some form of law and order, without some form of control. It is right for us to try to develop our talents and abilities. However, if we pursue any of these good things for our own individual, group, or national benefit, and do so at the expense of other people, then the good we pursue becomes destructive, not only to others, but also to ourselves. Our twentieth century is full of terrifying examples of this truth. The Third Reich promised to restore Germany to greatness and within a few years its dominion spread from the channel ports to the Urals. The restoration brought death to twenty million Russians, six million Jews, several million German and Allied troops. The evil infected the Allies, who then deliberately bombed innocent civilians, leaving most German cities in ruins.

How are we to preserve ourselves against the subtleties and deceits of evil? Of ourselves, we cannot. That is why we have to pray, to submit ourselves to the word of God, allowing it to enlighten our minds and hearts. Then we can begin to distinguish between what is creative and what destructive within our own hearts, thanking God for what is creative and pursuing it, showing him what is destructive and asking to be delivered from it. There is no evil from which he will not rescue us, whether evil done to us, or evil we have done. ‘If it is certain that death reigned over everyone as the consequence of one man’s fall, it is even more certain that one man, Jesus Christ, will cause everyone to reign in life who receives the free gift that he does not deserve, of being made righteous’ (Romans 5:17).

Prayer
Grant, Lord, that as we contemplate Jesus in the desert, our hearts and minds may be enlightened by his truth, so that we may recognize the deceits and lies of the evil one masquerading under the appearance of good in ourselves, in our churches and in our nation. We ask you this through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.