First Sunday Of Lent – Jesus in the Desert – March 9th, 2025
A GREAT LIGHT DAWNS IN GALILEE
SOME SAY MADMAN, SOME SAY KING
WONDER WORKING REBEL PRIEST
JESUS CHRIST THE NAZARENE
HE KNEW WELL WHAT IT WOULD TAKE
TO FREE US ALL FROM SIN AND GRAVE
A PERFECT MAN WOULD HAVE TO DIE
AND ONLY HE COULD PAY THAT PRICE
FRIDAY’S GOOD ‘CAUSE SUNDAY IS COMING
DON’T LOSE HOPE ‘CAUSE SUNDAY IS COMING
DEVIL YOU’RE DONE, YOU’D BETTER START RUNNING
FRIDAY’S GOOD CAUSE SUNDA IS COMING
A perfect man would have to die. And only He could pay that price.
As we all know that journey through Lent to the cross is not the end of the story. Friday is good because Sunday is coming. We will celebrate His resurrection, and that is the greatest joy in the history of humanity. God became man, so that man could become like God…to live forever.
But before that celebration, before that resurrection, we are called to take this 40-day journey. Jesus spent these 40 days in the desert, and hopefully, we have all begun that 40-day journey with him. And by the way, if you haven’t begun that journey, it is certainly not too late – just start now!
Lent has always captured our hearts. We have a desire, or feel the need, to do something special during Lent.
So, along these lines, and back to today’s Gospel, Jesus went into the desert for these 40 days. Why? We just heard in the Gospel: “Filled with the Holy Spirit, after just having been anointed, Jesus returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit, into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil.
Why would Jesus do that? Would anything have changed about Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension if he had not gone into the desert for 40 days to be tempted by the devil? He could have still created His church through Peter, walked, taught, died for our salvation, rose and ascended. So why did he do it?
Well, as usual scripture tells us exactly why, in Paul’s letter to the Hebrews (4:14), it says:
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin.”
Also, this “going into the desert or the wilderness” is repeated throughout the bible. In the OT, in the book of Deuteronomy, God led the Israelites into the desert for 40 years. Why? Scripture tells us: “to humble and test them”. So they would become closer to God.
Maybe that’s why Lent has always captured our hearts. The Holy Spirit within us is seeking a closer relationship, drawing us into the desert…closer to God. And as part of having the Holy Spirit within us, we recognize this internal need to accompany Jesus…as He prepares to die…for us. Now, if we acknowledge walking through these 40 days with Him, He will help us carry our cross, help us embrace it. Similarly, if we ask Him to show us how to strip ourselves of attachment to the things of the world; and instead, to persevere in His love for one another, He will show us the way. But we have to ask, to be very intentional, and be willing to do the hard things.
On this Lenten journey, some of us can accomplish this intentionality through:
Prayer – scripture says go to your inner room and talk to your Father in private. Acknowledge His presence. Sit quietly and listen to that still small voice that God speaks to each of us, personally.
Abstinence and Fasting – Don’t look gloomy when you pass by that piece of chocolate or skip that meal. Do it with joy. Walk with Him as He prepares to die for us.
Almsgiving, or Giving to Others – Offer quiet, helping hands when you see others in need. Persevere in love for one another. Write a note, call, reach out to someone you know is suffering or in need. Do it 40 times!
In addition to all of this, sometimes Lent brings to mind personal struggles with the power and reality of temptation and sin, addiction. If that is true for you, always recognize that you can go to Him. Go to Him in prayer. Go to Him in Reconciliation. If that is not true for you, go to Reconciliation anyway. He will forgive you, no matter what you bring to him. But you have to ask.
Mother Church tells us these are not the only ways to honor these 40 days of Lent. There are many opportunities for us to walk with Jesus in that special way to which He calls each of us individually, personally, privately. Think of it like this: Can you imagine walking for 40 days alone with someone in the desert and not becoming closer to them? Please, don’t pass up this opportunity to walk with Him.
Friday’s good because Sunday’s coming. But we have to walk that journey.