24

1^st Sunday in Lenten Season —— Year A

甲年，四旬期第一主日

Fr. Jijo Kandamkulathy CMF

甘天霖神父

Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11 （玛4：1-11）

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread." He said in reply, "It is written: 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.'" Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you and 'with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.'" Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, "All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me." At this, Jesus said to him, "Get away, Satan! It is written: 'The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.'" Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.

Homily： The Temptation of an Illusory Happiness

The passage of the temptations of Christ is a theological text. Using biblical language and imagery, the author conveys that the whole life of Jesus was a dramatic confrontation between him and the tempter.

The most dramatic of his temptations was on the cross when he cried out to the Father: “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?” (Mk 15:34). These words might sound blasphemous to those who do not understand that at that time, Jesus was praying. He was reciting Psalm 22. As he had done throughout his life, even during the agony he hearkened back to the Scriptures.

Jesus’ answers to the tempter refer to three events of the Exodus: the murmurings of the people for the lack of food and the gift of the manna (Ex 16), the protests for the lack of water (Ex 17), the idolatry represented by the golden calf (Ex 32). Jesus, therefore, relives the history of his people. He is subject to the same temptations and overcomes them.

 The first: “Order these stones to turn into bread” (vv. 1-4).

In the desert, the Lord said to Moses: “Now I am going to rain down bread from heaven for you…. ‘Each one gathers as much as he could eat. Let no one leave any of it till morning.’ But they did not listen and some of them left it till morning. It bred worms and became foul” (Ex 16:4, 19-20).

It is a typical case to teach his people to control greed. God wanted to rescue them from the frenzy of possession and the desire to accumulate food. He did not succeed: the seduction of the goods of this world is almost unstoppable. It is difficult to settle for the “daily bread” to allow everyone to have enough to live on.

Jesus was tempted to use his ability to produce “bread” for himself. He reacted by referring to Scripture: “One does not live on bread alone but also from everything that comes from the mouth of God” (Dt 8:3).

The only one who considers his life in the light of the word of God is capable of giving the right value to the reality of this world. The goods of this world are not to be despised, destroyed, rejected, but not considered idols. They are fleeting and transient creatures, not absolute reality.

The selfish use of accumulated wealth for oneself, living by the work of others, and squandering in luxury and superfluity, while others lack the necessary things, are behaviors dictated by the evil one.

The second temptation: “Throw yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple” (vv. 5-7). The diabolical proposal is even based on the Bible: “It is written …” says the tempter.

The evil presents itself with an attractive face, assuming a prayerful stance, making use of the same word of God—maybe crippled and so foolishly interpreted—to lead astray.

The ultimate goal of evil is not to cause some moral subsidence, fragility, weakness, but to undermine the relationship with God. This is achieved when in people’s mind doubt creeps in that the Lord does not keep his promises, misses on his word, does not ensure his protection but at crucial moments abandons those who trusted him. 

The need “to demand proofs” arises from this doubt. In the desert, the people of Israel, exhausted by thirst, succumbed to this temptation, and exclaimed: “Is the Lord among us or not?” (Ex 17:7). It provoked God by saying: If he is on our side, if he really accompanies us with his love, let him manifest himself by giving us a sign, perform a miracle! Israel challenged God to see if he really loved her.

Even Jesus was subjected to this test but did not budge. Unlike Israel, even in the most dramatic moments of his life, he refused to ask the Father for proof of his love. We give in to this temptation every time we demand from God signs for our benefits.

The third temptation: “All this I will give you if you kneel down and worship me” (vv. 8-11). It is the temptation of power, of domination over others. The choice is between to master and to serve, to compete and to be supportive. One can also use one’s abilities and talents to humiliate those who are less gifted. Those who have power and are rich can serve the poorest and most disadvantaged but can also lord it over them. The greed for power is so overwhelming that even those who are poor are tempted to overpower those weaker than them. Authority is a charism and is God’s gift to the community so that everyone can be in one’s place and feel accomplished. Power instead is evil, even if it is exercised in the name of God. Where dominion is exercised over persons, where people struggle to prevail over others, where someone is forced to kneel or bow down in front of another, the logic of evil is at work there.

Jesus did not lack the talent to emerge, to climb all the steps of the religious and political power. He was intelligent, lucid, courageous, and charmed the crowds. He certainly would have been successful… but on one condition, that he “worshiped Satan”—to comply with the principles of this world, to compete, to resort to the use of force and oppression, to ally with the powerful, and to use their methods. He made the opposite choice: he made himself a servant.

The people of Israel in the desert got tired of their God and worshiped a golden calf: the material idol, the work of human hands. Jesus never bowed down before any idol. He was not seduced by political power, money, the use of weapons, friendship with the great of this world, and proposals of success and glory. He always listened only to the word of the Father. The voice that excites in us the thirst for power that invites to promote the cult of personality is insistent and insidious.

The latter part of the Gospel is an invitation to reconsider our lives and make us aware that privileges are not offered by God but by the tempter. To his children, the Father of Jesus presents only… services humbly rendered to the sisters and brothers.

证道：信赖上主的慈悲，不让怀疑蔓延，成为谦卑的仆人！

基督受试探的段落是一个神学性的经文。圣作者使用圣经语言和比喻，表达耶稣整个的生命是一个在他与诱惑者之间的戏剧性对抗。

耶稣最具戏剧性的诱惑是当他在十字架上，向父亲喊道：“我的天主，我的天主，你为什么舍弃我？”（谷15：34）的时候。那些话语对那时不理解的人来说，必然听起来像是亵渎天主的，但事实上，耶稣正在用诵读圣咏22首来祈祷。正如透过他一生所做的一样，甚至在他内心极度痛苦期间也倾心聆听圣经。

耶稣对诱惑者的回答涉及了出谷纪中的三个事件：1，十六章中以色列子民抱怨缺少食物和天主赐予玛纳的礼物；2，十七章中因为缺水导致的抗议；3，三十二章中以金牛为代表的偶像崇拜。然而，耶稣使以色列人的历史得以重生。耶稣经受了同样的诱惑，并战胜了这些诱惑。

第一个诱惑：命令这些石头变成饼吧。

在旷野中，上主对梅瑟说：“看，我要从天上给你们降下食物，百姓要每天出去收敛当日所需要的；谁也不准将一些留到早晨。但他们没有听梅瑟的话；有些人把一些留到早晨，但都被虫子咬烂，发生臭味。”（出16：4，19-20）

这是教导人们控制贪欲的典型例子。天主想要从占有的狂热和积攒食物的欲望中拯救他们。天主并未取得成功，因为这个世界财富的诱惑力几乎是无法阻挡的。很难接受的是“每日食粮”能够使每个人都有足够的生活所需。

耶稣受的诱惑是用他的能力为他自己变出“饼”。耶稣引用圣经作为回应：“人生活不但靠食物，而且也靠上主口中所发的一切言语生活”（申8：3）。

只有那将自己的生命置于天主圣言关照下的人，才能够给予这真实世界正确的价值观。这世界的财富不能被轻视、破坏和慢待，也绝不能被视为偶像。它们都是短暂飞逝的受造物，而不是绝对的存在。

自私地把积累的财富都用于自己，却靠别人的劳动来生活；在豪华奢侈中挥霍的同时，其他人却缺乏生活必需品，都是受到邪恶者支配的行为。

第二个诱惑：“你自己从圣殿顶上跳下去”。甚至恶魔的提议也是基于圣经，诱惑者说：“经上记载”。

邪恶者以迷人的容颜显示自身，并摆出虔诚的姿态，使用同一个天主的话语——很可能是残缺和极其愚蠢的解读——为引人进入迷途。

邪恶者最终的目标不是要造成一些道德沦丧、脆弱和缺点嗜好，而是逐渐削弱人与天主的关系。当怀疑在人心思中蔓延，质疑上主未曾遵守许诺、忘记了自己的话语，没有确保他的保护，反而在至关重要的时刻放弃了那些信赖祂的人；这样，邪恶者的目标就实现了。

“要求证明”的需求是源于这种怀疑。在旷野中，以色列人由于口渴而筋疲力尽，从而屈服于这种诱惑，并大喊道：“上主是否在我们中间？”（出17：7）。这话激怒了天主：如果祂在我们这一边，如果祂真的以爱伴随我们，那就让祂借着赐予我们一个征兆，行一个奇迹，来彰显祂自己吧！以色列人向天主发出挑战，看天主是否真的爱以色列人。

甚至于耶稣也遇到了这种诱惑，只是耶稣没有让步。与以色列人不同的是，即使是在他生命最引人注目的时刻，耶稣也拒绝要求天父证明这份爱。我们每次屈服这种诱惑，都是因为我们为自己的益处而要求天主的征兆。

第三个诱惑：“你若俯伏朝拜我，我必把这一切交给你”。

这是权力和统治别人的诱惑。这是在受人服侍和服侍人，对抗和支持之间作抉择。人也能使用自己的能力和天赋去羞辱那些缺乏这些恩赐的人。那些有权力和财富的人，能服务极其穷困的人和弱势群体，却也能主宰他们。对权力的贪婪是如此势不可挡，甚至那些穷困之人也受到诱惑，去压制那些比他们更加脆弱的人。权威是天主的恩赐，是天主给团体的礼物，能够让任何人各司其职，并拥有成就感。相反，即使权力是以天主的名执行，也是邪恶的。在对人行使统治的地方，在人们努力击败别人的地方，在一些人于另一些人前被迫跪下或弯腰的地方，邪恶的逻辑就在那里运行。

耶稣并不缺乏出人头地的才能，也不缺乏攀登所有宗教和政治权力阶梯的才能。他是明智的、思路清晰的、勇敢的，并吸引群众。他肯定会成功的，但是有一个条件，那就是“朝拜撒殚”——即是遵守这个世界的行为准则，去对抗，去求助于暴力和压迫，去与权贵结盟，使用他们的方式。耶稣却作出了相反的选择：他使自己成为一个仆人。

旷野中的以色列子民厌倦了他们的天主，去朝拜了一头金牛：物质的偶像，人手的作品。耶稣从未在任何偶像前低头哈腰。耶稣不受政治力量、金钱、使用武器、与世界上的伟人建立关系、成功和荣耀的提议所引诱和怂恿。耶稣总是仅仅听从天父的话语。那激发我们对权力饥渴，并邀请我们推崇个性文化的声音，是反反复复和阴险的。

福音的后一部分邀请我们重新审视我们的生活，使我们意识到：特殊待遇并不是天主提出的，而是诱惑者。为天主的子女来说，耶稣的天父仅仅展示的是谦卑服务兄弟姐妹。