Tempted in Every Way as We Are
- Rev Robert Moses
- Feb 22
- 5 min read
Lessons for Lent 1: (RCL, Year A): Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7; Psalm 32; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11
While I usually draw my themes from the lectionary texts assigned for Sunday in the Revised Common Lectionary, my goal is to find an intersection between our personal stories and the narratives of Jesus, the Apostles, and ancient Israel. After all, we are part of the same unfolding story of God in the world. My hope is that we can enter this story, live it out, and ultimately share it with the world. Generally, I tend to stay close to the sacred scriptures.
However, today I’d like to deviate from that pattern and focus not on a specific biblical text but on the Liturgy. More specifically, I want us to begin with the Proper Preface for the season of Lent (Rite 2, Prayer A or B). The Proper Preface is the short phrase at the start of the Great Thanksgiving that changes according to the season or feast. It comes after the Sursum Corda (the dialogue between the priest and the congregation) and right before the Sanctus (Holy, holy, holy). Every Preface (for Prayer A or B) starts with the phrase, “It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth…” Then comes the specific part that changes with the season:
“Through Jesus Christ our Lord; who was tempted in every way as we are, yet did not sin. By his grace we are able to triumph over every evil and to live no longer for ourselves alone, but for him who died for us and rose again” (BCP 379).
Let’s begin with the first of the two assertions made in the preface: Jesus “was tempted in every way as we are, yet did not sin.” When I was in youth group at my church, someone explained to us the temptations that Jesus faced in the wilderness and why he was able to overcome them. This person said that Jesus was able to resist temptation because he was God, and God cannot sin. I remember thinking, “Well, I’m in trouble.” Sitting there with my peers, we all wondered, “If Jesus couldn’t sin, then was he really tempted?” Was Jesus truly tempted in “every way” as we are if he could not sin?
I don’t know about you, but I sometimes find it very challenging to be a follower of Jesus. Following Jesus calls me to love my neighbor, even when I sometimes would rather not. It requires me to be generous with my possessions, even when I want to keep them for myself. Being a follower of Jesus means disciplining my words when I’d prefer to lash out. It calls me to be content rather than greedy and to practice chastity rather than gluttony. The standards and expectations of following Jesus can be hard to uphold, which often leads me to give in to temptation. The opening Collect or prayer with which we started the service even acknowledges that we are “assaulted by many temptations.” That resonates with me; temptation truly feels like a constant assault.
Is it possible that Jesus experienced temptation in the same way we do? Did he really feel what it’s like to be human? For me—and for the long tradition of following Jesus—the answer is “Yes.” It must be “Yes,” because if the answer is “No,” then the incarnation loses its significance. If Jesus wasn’t tempted as we are, then he wasn’t fully human and didn’t fully engage in the struggle of humanity. As ancient theologians often stated, “That which Christ did not assume, Christ did not redeem.” If Jesus didn’t take on our humanity, then our humanity is not redeemed.
For our faith in Jesus to hold relevance in our lives, it must be true that Jesus was tempted in every way as we are. If that’s not the case, then our efforts are in vain.
The good news about the temptations of Jesus is that it means we are not alone in our own temptations. We worship a God who is present with us in our struggles. We have a savior who intimately knows temptation, along with the struggle and suffering that accompany it. Jesus overcame temptation through grace and his unity with the Father and the Spirit. That’s why our faith is not in vain.
Notably, the Lenten Proper Preface doesn’t conclude with the topic of temptation. The second assertion states that “by [Christ’s] grace we are able to triumph over every evil, and to live no longer for ourselves, but for him who died for us and rose again.” We are not condemned to a life of temptation and failure. Instead, through Jesus, we have been shown a path to freedom from sin—not freedom from temptation, but freedom from the grip of sin itself.
Through God’s grace and the path set by Jesus, we can triumph! For someone who sometimes finds it difficult to follow Christ, this is truly good news. We are not alone in our temptations or our victories—Christ is with us from beginning to end. He is with us as individuals, but even more importantly, Christ is with us as the community of God, as his own Body. By God’s grace with us, by God’s grace in us, and by God’s grace as a body, we can overcome every evil. This happens when we embody Christ for one another and for the world. We possess the victory—God has promised that! Let us live out this victory over temptation, sin, and death, not just as individuals, but as a community and as humanity.
Here are two relevant applications for Lent that connect with our contemporary lives:
First, our Lenten practice should reflect the work of reconciliation. Because we are all equally tempted and fall short of God’s glory—and even more so, because we have all been redeemed and granted victory—we should operate under the assumption that no one should be excluded from love’s embrace. Our relationships with others do not depend on their moral performance and, therefore, cannot be undone by their failures (Miraslav Volf, Exclusion and Embrace, 84-85).
We, the “sinful others,” have been embraced by the Trinity—with the same love that the persons of the Trinity have for one another. Think about that! The divine persons have made space for us within their eternal embrace. It reminds me of the open-arms embrace of Christ on the cross. I struggle with the violence of the crucifixion story; yet, in that moment, Jesus embraces all of creation and calls me to do the same without reservation. That level of self-giving is the challenging work of Lent.
Second, as a follower of Christ in America today, our Lenten practice should testify to the need for social and communal conversion to the Gospel values of justice, nonviolence, and reverence for all living beings. We must advocate for an end to the sinful wars, violence, and injustice committed in our name.
We could approach Lent by giving up sweets, but I hope we can also use these forty days to engage in actions that lead to Lenten repentance and a commitment to Gospel nonviolence: join a peace vigil, write to political leaders, participate in peace movements, or meet with church leaders. As we journey with Jesus from the desert to Jerusalem, we see him confronting structures of injustice and violence, giving his life for all of creation in loving, nonviolent compassion.
The Proper Preface is just a brief moment in the Liturgy—it’s truly the beginning of something larger and often goes unnoticed. Take time to reflect on its meaning today and throughout this Lent. Remember, Jesus understands what it’s like, and he calls us to take up our cross and follow him.
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