1. Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit, so he might

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SERMON 15: THE First Sunpay IN LENT 1. Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit, so he might be tempted by the devil. Matthew 4:1.

[Protheme] If any of you are wanting in wisdom, let that one ask it of God who gives abundantly to everyone, and does not reproach. James 1:5. Any preacher at the beginning of his sermon should consider the three things understood in the passage chosen from blessed James.

The first is the indigence of human deficiency. Second is the insistence of devout prayers. Third is the affluence of divine liberality. The indigence of human deficiency is noted, therefore, when it says: If any of you are wanting in wisdom; truly the insistence of devout prayers is noted when it adds: let that one ask it of God; but the affluence of divine liberality is also noted when it states: who gives abundantly to everyone. On that account, dearly beloved, since we know from experience the indigence of our deficiency and the affluence of divine liberality, let us have recourse with the insistence of devout prayer to God, the Father of lights"*! and the bestower of wisdom, so that with his accustomed piety, God might give us his wisdom, so we are able to offer something worthwhile to his praise and the consolation of our souls. Amen.

[Sermon] 2. Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit, so he might be tempted by the devil. Since life persuades more effectively than the tongue and example more than

251 See James 1:17.

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a word, Our Lord Jesus Christ, whose "every action is for our instruction,"2°2 wanted to be directed by the Spirit, to then remain in the desert, and later to be tempted by the devil, so that by the example of his life, he might inform others how to better resist the devil. So that we receive perfect instruction and resist the devil as we should, three things are put forward by Christ in the proposed text: first, the interior inspiration of the Holy Spirit to direct; second, a secure dwelling to resist; third, the exterior attack of the devil to subvert. First, the interior inspiration of the Holy Spirit to direct is noted, when it says: Jesus was led by the Spirit; second, the secure dwelling to resist when it adds: into the desert; furthermore, the exterior attack of the devil to subvert, when it adds: so he might be tempted by the devil. And these three things are properly ordered, as is required for the one who wishes to triumph over the devil after the example of Christ, since that person, first of all, should be directed by the Holy Spirit, then remain in a fortified place, so as to later sustain the constant attack of the devil.

3. First, the introduction or inspiration of the Holy Spirit to direct is noted, when it says: Jesus was led by the Spirit. We find, however, in the Sacred Scripture that Jesus is led or inspired by a multiplicity of spirits; since, even though the Holy Spirit is one in substance, it is multiple in effect. First, Jesus was led by the Spirit of truth to teach the ignorant; second, by the Spirit of equity to denounce inequity; and then third, by the Spirit of fortitude to prevail against the devil; the result being that the first is against the spirit of subverting error, the second is against the spirit of disguised adulation, and the third is against the spirit of fainthearted submission.

252 See Sermon 3 n. 11 above.

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4. First, therefore, Jesus was led by the Spirit of truth to teach the ignorant. Whence Isaiah 61:1 says: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to preach to the meek, to heal the contrite of heart, and to preach a release to the captives and deliverance to those that are shut up. The example of Christ pertains to anyone with the office of preaching, according to the content of this text: first, the person should be chosen according to sanctity of the soul as indicated when it says: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Second, the person should be instituted according to the equity of judgment given what follows: because he has anointed me, before my companions, as I loved justice and hated iniquity."°* Later, in fact, the legate sent by God should exercise the power of the office, which is noted when it says: he sent me to proclaim to the weak; the exercise of the office should be done to heal or console the sad from the grief and tribulation of punishment, to cure the body sickened by the wound of sin, and to liberate the captive from the prison of the devil.

5. Second, Jesus is led by the Spirit of equity to denounce iniquity. Whence Isaiah 11:4 says: He will reprove with equity for the meek of the earth, and he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he will slay the impious. Indeed the Lord Jesus Christ did not silence the truth in fear of losing earthly power, nor in the love of acquiring the profit of worldly cupidity, nor with the desire of pleasing an ambiguous similitude of falsity, but to the contrary, both the great and the small are "equally struck by the javelins of truth.""* He was led

253 See Ps 44:8: "You have loved justice and hated iniquity. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions."

254 See responsory 6 at Matins for the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua.

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by this spirit into the temple at which time he does not prepare ears to hear, but a whip to strike those who are buying and selling"® spiritual things as if they were temporal things; neither did he refrain from saying that they had turned the house of prayer into a house of business, in fact, he drove the merchants out of the temple.

6. Third, he was led by the Spirit of fortitude to prevail against the devil. Whence Psalm 142:10 says: Your spirit will lead me to a right land. The desert, to which the Holy

Spirit led Jesus, is spoken of as the right land, because it is a place suitable for performing abstinence, whereby sensuality is subjected in all things to the proper order of reason, lest reason be provoked to sin. Although there was no conflict between the flesh and spirit in Christ, since that most blessed flesh always followed that most blessed spirit; for the sake of your name, O Lord, give me life in your justice, as if to say: Lord Father, I need the assistance of your support, because I have afflicted my body with such fasting in this desert, that it is reduced to almost nothing and feels like dying. And you will lead my soul out of tribulation, namely, from the tribulation of hunger and diminishment; and in your mercy you will disperse my enemies,"* of course especially the devil, who wicked and proud, pressures me, by trying to subvert me through attacks. Whence Jesus was led by the spirit of fortitude into this desert, because he did not abhor remaining in solitude where he sustained the bitter hunger and the malignant enemy, indeed he advanced into the wild place and happily overcame him.

55 See Matt 21:21 and John 2:16.

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7. Second, in the proposed passage the secure dwelling to resist is noted, when it says: into the desert. Indeed, because of the threefold characteristics of the desert, it was an extremely suitable place and secure dwelling for resisting diabolical temptation, which he was expecting from nearby since the desert is a bitter, sterile, and despicable place. Since he was waiting to be tempted from the devil nearby with gluttony, avarice and vainglory in order to inform us by the example of his life, he wanted to be led by the Spirit into the desert. First, because it is a bitter place to exercise the abstinence of corporal sanctification; second, because it is a despicable place to confound the vainglory of worldly ambition; third, because it is a sterile place to subject the avarice of destructive accumulation.

8. First, he wanted to be led into the desert, because it is a bitter place to exercise the abstinence of corporal sanctification. Deuteronomy 8:2-3 is able to develop this further: Your Lord God led you for forty years through the desert, so that he might afflict and tempt you, so what remained in your soul might be made known. He afflicted you with want and gave you manna. Your Lord God led you for forty years, that is, forty days, in that a year is calculated as a day according to the common custom in the Sacred Scripture; through the desert, of bitterness, so that he might afflict you, with hunger together with want; and tempt you, that is, he permitted the temptation; so what remained in your soul might be made known, that is, retained, for all the people, such that they be instructed by the example of your patience. He afflicted you with want and gave you manna. What a marvelous divine dispensation! The consolation of celestial food is not given unless the affliction of terrestrial food precedes it. Thus, the manna from heaven rained down on the children of Israel

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in the desert of bitterness and want, and not in the Egypt of fertility and abundance.

9. Second, he wanted to be led into the desert, because it is a despicable place to confound the vainglory of worldly ambition. Whence 2 Maccabees 5:27 says: Judas Maccabeus, who was the tenth, withdrew into a desert place, and lived with his people among the wild animals in the mountains. Judas, who is interpreted as the triumphant because of his strength, signifies Jesus Christ, who due to his humility and virtuous conduct became the glory of God by taking on humanity. He is said to be the tenth, however, due to his eminent perfection. Truly here for the sake of confounding the vainglory of worldly ambition, he greatly humbled himself, so that taking the form of a servant?*"" he might live with humanity, and he even disparaged himself a great deal because he wanted to become the reproach of humanity and the outcast of the people,"** leading his life in the desert with the beasts.

A member, therefore, should be embarrassed to be raised on high by ambition when his head chose to be lowered to the deepest depths by humility. What a monstrous thing it is then, if the foot or some other member supercedes the head, which should be in command.?°?

10. Third, he wanted to be led into the desert, because it is a sterile place to subject the avarice of destructive accumulation. Whence 1 Maccabees 2:27-30 says: Mattathtas cried out in the city with a loud voice, saying: Everyone who has zeal for the law and maintains the testament let him come out after me. So he and his sons fled into the 257 See Phil 2:7.

*°8 See Ps 21:7: "But I am a worm and not human, the reproach of humanity and the outcast of the people."

*°° The critical edition refers to Bernard, Sermon 25 n. 8 on The Song of Songs. See SBOp 1.168 for the gist of this observation.

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mountains and left everything they had in the city. Then many, who were seeking justice, went down with him to remain there. Mattathias, who is interpreted as gifted? due to his eminent sanctity, signifies Christ who is gifted to the human race by God the Father. Here he cries out by preaching, so that everyone who has zeal for the evangelical law, through which the testament of peace and friendship with God has been established, may come out after him from a worldly manner of life, leaving everything at least in affection; for he and his sons, that is, the apostles, who had despised everything in the world, so that they might run quickly after him with open hearts to the mountains, namely, the eminence of evangelical perfection. Then many sons went down, that is, perfect religious, who left all things in common or private, went after him into the desert of true mendicancy and need, seeking judgment through the punishment of wrongs, and justice through the fulfillment of precepts. Consequently, they remained there by quieting the mind and reposing the heart, and allowing for no concern from worldly cares, they instead zealously pursued only devout prayer and sacred reading.

But there are those today, however, who go down into the desert of religion, not to remain there, but to be disturbed by distraction of mind and inquietude of heart, always accumulating temporal things while seldom, if ever, taking time for devout prayer. They do not pay attention, even if they know by experience what Gregory says in Book

Eighteen of the Moralia: "The perturbed minds of the worldly call out because of this, as they are uneasy, separated from divine wisdom."**! Consequently, one must not be accused of laziness when pursuing the work of knowing the truth because it is of greater merit than corporal

260 See CCSL lxxii, 141: "Mathathia means gift...."

261 See Book XVIII, c. 43 n. 70 of Gregory's Moralia in Iob in CCSL cxliiia, 936.

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activity. Whence Ambrose observes: "The one who studies the word of God is not lazy, nor is the one who works outside of greater merit than the one who practices the work of knowing the divine.""® 11. Last, the exterior attack of the devil to subvert is noted when it says: so he might be tempted by the devil. Now the devil tempted Christ in the three matters, with which he tempted and even deceived the first parents. First, in fact, he tempted Christ with gluttony in the desert; second with vainglory in the temple; and indeed, third, with avarice on the mountain. Certainly, the devil was not dealing with foolish, ignorant Adam, but with the astute, wise Christ. He defeated the temptation of gluttony with abstinence, the temptation of vainglory with humility, and the temptation of avarice with poverty. Even if the devil was bold in the attack and evil in method, he nevertheless withdrew in shame when he was unable to discover any certainty due to his doubt, take away any glory due to painful temptation, and allege any excuse due to his confusion, because he was overcome by one famished and weak, despised and contemptible, and ordinary and needy. What a stupendous struggle of warriors! What imitable perfection of patience! What admirable redoubling of wisdom!, when the leader of life is tempted by the prince of death and crucified by his members. Nevertheless the prince of death himself is overcome by that leader of the life that encourages testing. First, he tempted Christ with gluttony to corrupt the purity of soul and body; second, with vainglory to lead to the vanity of worldly pretension; third, with avarice to deceive with the delight of worldly beauty. He defeated

*©? Bonaventure adapts Sermon 11 n. 11 of Ambrose, Expositio in Psalmum David CXVIII. See PL 15:1423C. Bonaventure quotes this same passage in his Sermon 12 n. 10.

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the first temptation of gluttony with the continual tasting of spiritual food; he defeated the second temptation of vainglory with the humility of voluntary abasement; and he defeated the third temptation of avarice by despising all earthly goods.

12. First, then, he tempted with gluttony to corrupt the purity of soul and body, when he said: If you are the Son of God, speak, so these stones become bread," as if wanting to take hold of him through gluttony, which is the easiest vice, and ready for all other crimes. This is in accord with what the Gloss says: "If gluttony is not restrained first, one labors in vain against other vices."?*

The Lord taught how to defeat this temptation of gluttony through the continual tasting of spiritual food, when he responded to the devil: A person does not live by bread alone, but from every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,"® as if to say: for a person is composed from two substances, that is, corporal and spiritual, and just as the body needs to be restored and sustained by material food, so too the spirit by spiritual food, which is certainly the word that restores the spirit if it is reverently heard, diligently understood, and delightfully committed to memory. And because of this, the Lord said to the apostles in Luke 22:40: Keep watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. Keep watch, he says, by curbing nourishment, since watching for wealth consumes the flesh; as stated in Sirach 31:1; and then, with lustfulness removed, pray to taste the sweetness of the divine word through the elevation of the mind. For this kind of demon, that is this

263 See Matt 4:3.

264 The critical edition refers to the Glossa Ordinaria on Matt 4:1.

265 See Matt 4:4.

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vice of gluttony, is not driven out unless with fasting and prayer.?®& 13. Second, he tempted with vain glory to lead to the vanity of worldly pretension, when he said: If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down," as if wanting to attract him to the pretension of worldly boasting. Whence

Chrysostom says: "To fly through the air is not a proper work of God, because it is not useful to anyone, neither to the soul or the body.""*° The Lord taught how to defeat this temptation of vainglory with the heartfelt humility of profound abasement, when he said: Jt is written: You shall not tempt the Lord your God, as if to say: Do not seek to learn about me with a pretentious sign, because the one who does this tempts God with a triumphant presumption. Behold, dearly beloved, from the example of Christ we learn that one who humbles the self with contempt for vainglory overcomes vices, but the one who exalts the self is defeated and overcome. And thus Sirach 18:23 says it well: Prepare your soul before prayer, not as one who tempts God. If we want our prayer to be acceptable and free before God, we must prepare our soul through profound humility of heart, such that we consider ourselves as nothing and refuse to be as one who tempts God with the assumption of pride by considering ourselves to be something great, when we are nothing," like that Pharisee who was casting aspersions against certain people"" and, in his rash presumption, judged

*°° See Matt 17:20: "But this kind can be cast out only by prayer and fasting."

267 See Matt 4:6.

*68 See Homily 5 on Matt 4:6 (Opus Imperfectum) in PG 56:666.

The quotation is almost verbatim.

769 See Gal 6:3: "For if anyone thinks: himself to be something, whereas he is nothing, he deceives himself."

270 See Luke 18:9.

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that he was just; and because of this, the Publican, by reason of his humility, went back to his home justified as opposed to that proud one.2"!

14. Third, he tempted with avarice to deceive with the delight of worldly beauty, when he said: J will give all this to you if you fall down and adore me," by displaying the beauty of things as if wanting to take hold of him with illicit pleasure to lead him to the sin of idolatry. Christ taught how to defeat this temptation of avarice by thoroughly despising worldly prosperity, when he responded:

For it is written: You will adore your Lord God and serve him alone,?"* as if to say: It is idolatry when someone adores God for the sake of gold or something else,?4 but the one who has contempt for all things for the sake of God serves only God, because that person accepts nothing to the contrary, makes no allowance for anything different, and unites the affections to nothing else than to the one in whom the entire heart finds delight. And because of this the wise apostle says in 1 Timothy 6:8-10: Having food and sufficient clothing, with these let us be content. But those who seek to become rich fall into temptation and into the snare of the devil, and into many useless and harmful things, which plunge people into destruction and damnation. Cupidity is the root of all evil. The apostles, namely, were content with food, but the devil placed the delights of worldly beauty before the avaricious and greedy, who, drawn to them by such a blind love of cupidity, allow themselves to be entangled by the devil and led into the ruin of eternal perdition. Whence Bernard states:

"Avarice is the root of all evil, a secret vice, a hidden pes271 See Luke 18:14.

272 See Matt 4:9.

273 See Matt 4:10.

274 See Eph 5:5: "... no covetous one (for that is idolatry) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God."

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tilence, the mother of hypocrisy, the parent of ill-will, the tinder of crime, the rust of virtue, the worm of generosity, etc."2"> Let us ask, therefore, etc.

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