Temptation and forgiveness

We move ever closer to Palm Sunday and Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Only days later will this same crowd turn against Him at the urging of the current religious leaders. And Jesus is aware of this as He was aware of all things. But He went forward knowing that although suffering and death awaited, the glorification that would come after far outweighed any of this.
  Several years ago, there was great opposition to the film 'The Last Temptation of Christ.' In the film, Christ marries Mary Magdelene, and this was the basis of the protest. But I have watched the movie, and the marriage to Mary is taken out of context. As Christ is on the cross, the last temptation is to use His power to avoid His death. As the movie progresses, Christ comes down from the cross, not ready to die, and walks away to live the rest of a human life. He then marries Mary, has a family and works in society. But He sees how much anger, bitterness, sufferings are in the world and what was not overcome by His changing His destiny. We are then brought back to the cross, finding that this was only Jesus' thoughts and never really happened. He had seen what the world would become without salvation and has overcome the temptation.
  Many times, we are tempted not to follow our faith. We are tempted to put ourselves first. We are tempted by power, materialism, some of the same things that Satan tempted Jesus with while in the desert. And many times we give in, letting our own temptations get the better of us. How can we be so weak? How can we fail so often? How can we be so easily swayed despite our best intentions?  The answer is simple. It is our human frailty.
  But we have a loving God. A merciful God. A forgiving God. And just as the prodigal son realized his mistakes and returned home to find a father who never stopped loving and caring for him, so does our Father in heaven love and care for us.
   Temptations surround us at every turn, but as long as we keep trying, Jesus will be right there with us, to cast away those who would condemn us and speak the same words we heard this Sunday, "Go and sin no more."