Our two young grandchildren came to stay for a few days over half-term. For the grandparents this is always a delightful challenge. This time one of the challenges came in the form of rather direct questions. ‘Who was I (Grandad) born of?’ was one of them. Another came while we were watching some of the Winter Olympics. It was one of the skiing events involving the amazing tricks the skiers perform. ‘Is this real?’ asked my granddaughter. In an age when viewing animations, computer generated images, AI, gaming and the like, it’s an interesting question to ask. As the skier twists through the air and lands perfectly the question arises. Is what I am seeing real? Is this a real human being doing this?
As we enter the first few days of Lent, a similar question arises for us. What is a real human life like? What does it mean for me to be real? Am I living a real life now? Is there an actual, real, true, life for me to live? And, if there is, what might it look like?
For Christians, there is a short answer. It’s Jesus Christ. Jesus is ‘the way the truth and life’, as he says in St John’s Gospel. But there is a longer answer as well because it involves our asking who Jesus Christ is, what his truth might consist of, and what is this life he offers.
Our Gospel reading was Matthew’s account of the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness. This comes just as Jesus is about to launch into his ministry. His ministry is to show us what true human living is because he is, not only true God, but also truly human.
Because he is truly human he is susceptible to temptation. In the reading this is told as an encounter with Satan. Recognising, facing up to, and facing down the temptations he will encounter is a necessary preliminary to his ministry. These temptations are not an unfortunate occurrence. Matthew, Mark and Luke are all clear that Jesus is led into the wilderness by the Spirit. This meeting with Satan is a spiritual encounter.
There are three temptations. The first is this: ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread’. Jesus has been fasting for 40 days and nights. He is hungry. To yield to the tempter’s temptation would be easy. Jesus’ response comes, like each of his responses to the other temptations, as an appeal to Scripture. So he replies, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ Yes, he is hungry, and bread is necessary, but the there is something more important: God. It is God’s word, God’s wisdom, God’s loving presence which is more fundamental. The temptation is to put self before God. It is God who feeds us. Everything, needful, bread included, is God’s gift.
Seeing everything as God’s gift is a spiritual attitude. A daily spiritual exercise begins with this address to God: ‘God, my creator, I am totally dependent on you. Everything is a gift from you. All is gift. I give you thanks and praise and praise for the gift of this day….’ Jesus, the Son of God, showing us the way of real human living, turns to his heavenly Father. Being a real human being comes from our trusting reliance on God.
The second temptation. The devil takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and suggests he throw himself down. He won’t come to any harm because ‘the angels will bear him up in their hands’. It must be true because the devil is quoting scripture, Psalm 91 in fact. ‘As Son of God, Jesus, you could do wonderful things, really impressive thing that would wow the people. Just think of it.’
But Jesus replies from scripture again. ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ Trust in God is just that: trusting in God. Jesus’ deeds of power, of which there are many in the Gospels, are not trying to prove anything, they are deeds that reveal the Kingdom of God. Jesus is not out to impress anyone but to lead them to the true God. As followers of Jesus we are not in the business of trying to impress others, let alone God. The opening of a prayer by Angel Ashwin, compiler of the very popular, Book of a Thousand Prayers: ‘Save me Lord from the distraction / of trying to impress others, / and from the dangers of having done so.’ Jesus, shows us what being a real human being is like. It certainly doesn’t include carrying the burden of trying to impress others.
The third temptation. The devil takes Jesus to the top of high mountain and shows him the whole world: kingdoms, riches, glory, you name it. It’s all yours, Jesus; just worship me! Jesus counters with the scriptural command: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’
The world and all that it contains doesn’t belong to the devil for the devil to give. The devil is trying to deceive Jesus. Thinking about what’s in the news at present, Jeffrey Epstein’s power was the ability to give people just what they wanted, the corrupt, illusory world of having just what you want. A world of no boundaries, moral or otherwise. A world of feeding and feeding again your selfish desires. Not a world of real human living at all.
At the signing of the cross in the rite of baptism the congregation says to the person about to be baptised: ‘Fight valiantly as a disciple of Christ, against sin, the world, and the devil.’ We pray in the Lord’s prayer that we may be ‘delivered from evil’. Christian faith is that we live in a fallen world, a world where it harder to do the right thing, so much easier to do the wrong thing. The opening of a prayer by a contemporary feminist writer:‘Deliver us from evil – not from the pain and trial / which test and brace us, / but from all that can damage our relation to you.’ That’s the key: our relationship with God. Turning to God, worshipping God, learning to trust God: this is the key. In the end, only God will do.
Living a real, true human life is not going to be easy. The temptations of Jesus show us the spiritual struggle needed. The good news is that he has faced down every temptation and revealed to us the real, human life that is his gift. Jesus, through his spiritual struggle has shown us all a way, revealed to us the truth of human living, and gifted to us life that is real.
Each and every Eucharist is food for our journey through this life. Jesus, the way, the truth and the life, feeds our hunger for what is real, and leads us every step of the way to life eternal.
Is this real? Yes, it is!
Service: Canon Bill Croft – 22nd February 2026. (St John the Baptist Church Peterborough UK)
Readings: Genesis 2.15-17, 3.1-7; Romans 5.12-19; Matthew 4.1-11