Traditionally the lesson that is to be read on this Sunday, the first Sunday in the season of Lent, is the story of Jesus' Temptation. There is a reason. Lent begins forty days before Easter, excluding the Sundays. Forty days were chosen as the length of the season because Jesus was in the wilderness during his temptation for forty days.

The number has an even more ancient significance. Israel spent forty years in the wilderness, in what is called the Exodus. The Exodus and the Temptation are tied together, not only by the number "forty," but also by their purpose. The Jews believed that they were in the wilderness to prepare them for their vocation as the "chosen people." And Jesus was in the desert for forty days to prepare him for his special vocation as the "chosen one," as the Messia…