Faith in JESUS CHRIST: Our Lord and Our MODEL

This first Sunday of Lent, we read how Jesus Christ, who is our Lord, our God and our model, was tempted. To those on the way to be saved, he is Lord. He is God. As St. Paul writes, ‘if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved’ (cf. Rm 10:8-13). The gospel narrates that Jesus Christ our Lord who was full of the Holy Spirit was led into the wilderness for forty days and tempted by the devil. 

Beloved People of God, we therefore acknowledge that Jesus Christ is our Lord. We believe that God raised him up from the dead. This means that we are saved already. In addition, Jesus Christ is also our model, the author and finisher of our faith. There is no doubt that we have been saved, yet we have to work out our salvation, learning from our model, Jesus Christ. He has left us an example on how to resist the devil so that he will run away from us. This is an example that we ought to follow. In his temptations, we learn that he who is like us in everything except sin, has been tempted in every way but did not fall. His victory was secured because he prayed. He fasted. Moreover, he knew the Scripture which points to him for he is the Word made flesh.

We pray that though we have been saved through faith, through prayer, fasting and charity, we too may defeat the tempter, our ancient enemy. This Season of Lent especially, and always, may we read the word of God and be equipped with answers from the Scripture that will surely help us to refute the tempter’s words and empty promises. 

Fr. Ted