Life is a battle, both within and outside

February 22, 2026 - First Sunday of the Lent

Gen 2: 7-9, 3: 1-7; Rom 5: 12-19; Matt 4: 1-11

Life is a battle, both within and outside

The greatness of a person lies in the choices they make under pressure. Life constantly places us in moments of decision; between holding on or letting go, between self-interest and self-giving, between obedience and compromise. This is precisely what the today’s readings present before us: the places of choice and decision making; the readings recount to us the journey from the Garden of Eden through the Desert to the glory of the Cross.

Temptation is an inner struggle: I would prefer to analyse these pericopes not only as an outward experience of Jesus, Adam and Eve but as their inner struggle/inner battle. Because the temptation first finds its place in the heart before finding expression in words and deeds.

Garden a place of Right Relationship: The root cause of all temptations is, can one be a human without trusting the Father (God)? Adam said YES and Fell, Jesus said NO and restored the humanity. The garden is not just a physical place; it is a place of right relationship. The garden stands for harmony with God, one another, with creation and within oneself. God’s only one prohibition not to eat a fruit is not a restriction meant to frustrate human freedom, but a boundary meant to protect trust. The narrative reveals how the temptation works and how the serpent operates. The serpent does not command, but he questions; ‘Did God tell you?” Hence, temptation begins by distorting the reality. The serpent does not deny God instead, it plants suspicion; that God is holding something important and so, freedom lies in exploring that or freedom lies outside God. This is the root of all crises, distrusting the goodness of God. Sin is born not from a desire but from suspicion. Adam and Eve chose to refuse to trust that God is good. When trust is broken, the relationship shatters. Consequently, they hid from God, from each other and from themselves.

Desert, a place of trust: While Adam doubted, Jesus trusts, while Adam clenched, Jesus surrenders. Jesus was led to a desert, desert is not a place of punishment, but a place of truth where the heart is exposed, the reality emerges. Jesus faced three fundamental temptations that humanity has always faced. This could also be a subjective experience of Jesus, i.e. Jesus is with himself and in solitude emerges the inner struggle, the real self and desire to establish his identity, a struggle to choose God or charms of this world, pleasure or pain, service or power - this is an inner battle.

Desires of the flesh: The desire of the flesh is a temptation to satisfy bodily needs. Jesus is genuinely hungry and has a real physical need. The temptation is not to satisfy the huger but to place physical need above God. Why to trust God, when Jesus himself has the power to satisfy his physical need? It’s a push to satisfy once physical need in once own terms. Jesus knew well that the needs are real, but they are not supreme. We too go through this experience of conflict between physical needs and needs of a higher value. The society struggles from the syndrome of dissatisfaction; not able to wait, no patience to postpone, and struggle to say it’s enough, I am happy – more the merrier.

Pride of life: The Satan takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and asks him to throw himself down. This is a conflict between pride and humility, where faith becomes a performance of spectacular stuff. The Satan even quotes scripture. This reminds us that sometimes temptation do come in delightful and dazzling packages. Jesus refuses to make God, the performer for applause. Our value is our trust in God. We live in an age of performance and visibility; social media, likes, thumps up, thumps down, popularity instead of integrity. God’s approval is permanent, human applause are fleeting.

Desires of the eyes: Jesus captures a panoramic view of the whole universe: What a vision it must have been; the cities, the fields, the flocks and everything the nature could offer with wealth and splendour spread before him - a conflict between power and service, cross and comfort. This is the temptation to choose short cuts to comfort and success. Good outcomes through wrong means. No pain no gain. Worship the Lord your God. What we worship we eventually resemble.

Our Takeaway

1. Temptation is an inner struggle. Temptation first finds its place in the heart before finding expression in words and deeds.

2. The Satan tempts by distorting the reality. The serpent does not deny God instead, it plants suspicion; that God is holding something important. Sin is born not from a desire but from suspicion, distrusting the goodness of God.

3. The temptation is not to satisfy the huger but to place physical need above God. The society struggles from the syndrome of dissatisfaction; not able to wait, no patience to postpone, struggle to say it’s enough, I am happy - instead more the merrier.

4. The Satan takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and asks him to throw himself down. We live in an age of performance and visibility; social media, likes, thumps up, thumps down, popularity instead of integrity and credibility. God’s approval is permanent, human applause are fleeting.

5. Worship me I will give you everything. This is the temptation to choose short cuts to comfort and success. Good outcomes through wrong means. No pain no gain. What we worship we eventually resemble.