We are starting the time of Lent. At the beginning of this journey, we read the gospel which describes the temptation of Jesus in the desert. Jesus is tempted by the devil, whose name is diabolos in Greek, which means the “separator.” The devil is the one who divides and breaks our communion with God, with our neighbors and within ourselves. Surprisingly enough, he works out his evil plan in an amusing and convincing way. He tempts Jesus even by manipulating the sacred scriptures for his own purpose.

Jesus is about to begin his messianic mission, and then he is challenged by three temptations which summarize three great decisions which every disciple must make in his life. The first is the temptation of bread, that is letting the preoccupations of our daily live become so large to obliterate the need for nurturing our relationship with God. We need bread, but we need much more communion with God and the awareness of His infinite love for each one of us. Then, the second temptation is the one manipulating God so to make him an instrument of one’s interests. Religion becomes a tool for becoming a sensational messiah, one who operates miracles and wonders to convince, to appeal, to get followers, to collect more… “likes.” Jesus indeed performs miracles, but he does so for loving people in need and for fostering their faith, and never for pursuing sensationalism and easing the reception of his demanding message. Finally, Jesus faces the temptation of compromising with earthly powers. It is the temptation of entrusting his lives to others but God, in order to get benefits, solutions, support… Compromising with worldly power unavoidably blunts the radicality of the Gospel. Any time the church has relied on earthly powers has weakened her capacity to clearly testify the prophetic message of the Gospel.

Jesus does not fall into these temptations. He does not dialogue with the devil and does not commit sin: “Get away, Satan!” Jesus chooses to believe in his Father’s love and sticks to his mission of being a humble Messiah without compromises and half-measures, up to the end: he “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.” (Phil. 2:7)  

We too, therefore, who claim to be his disciples, will be brought to the desert to face the same challenges, that is choosing among two opposite ways of being disciples: to follow the devil with his proposal of compromising with hedonism, manipulation, and power, or to become disciples of Jesus. We are called to decide whether to let us fall into temptation and so to follow the “separator” who brings us to a destiny of death and solitude, or to freely accept the “risky” way of Christ’s discipleship, believing that only through Jesus we can achieve the communion with God, with our neighbors, and within ourselves. We are called to take a stand, to choose between an easy way of living which ends up in nothing, or a more challenging path which brings us to life and communion with God and with others.