Pastor's Weekly Message

As we consider this image of the Temptation of Christ, we are arrested by the intensity of Jesus’ gaze. He looks directly at us, and the light that illuminates His Hands and Face draw us into His gaze. And then, we realize something else is there in the painting, another figure, one in the shadows that does not dare show its face to the Face of Mercy Himself. It is the devil tempting the Lord by claiming that it has the power to make Jesus Christ the King and Master of all that is under its domain. We see the tarnished crown that it tries to place on the Sacred Head of Our Lord. Notice that the crown the devil holds does not shine, because the devil’s is not a reign that will last. Our Savior Jesus Christ refuses this illusion of power, refutes the devil, and chooses the only Crown He wills to wear on this earth: a Crown of Thorns. Jesus looks at us to invite us to join Him in refusing such an empty and hollow promise and, with Him, to turn our gaze to God the Father in Heaven to beseech Him to grant us His steadfast Grace at times of temptation. We can do this with confidence, for the Lord Jesus Himself teaches His disciples to pray: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Jesus’ own resistance to the temptations of the evil one reveals that God the Father is always willing—and able—to deliver us from evil.  Image: Temptation of Christ by Georg Cornicelius