The Preacher’s Study
First Sunday of Lent, Year C
John
W.B. Hill
Deut. 26:1-11;
Psalm 91:1-2,
9-16;
Romans
10:8b-13;
Luke 4:
1-13
The Gospel readings for Year C in ‘ordinary time’ (which
includes the Sundays after Epiphany as well as the Sundays after Pentecost) are
sequential selections from Luke’s version of the story. In Lent, however, the selection of Gospel
readings reflects the special agenda of the season. The first Sunday of Lent is a good example:
the story of Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness is the inevitable aftermath
of his Baptism (which we celebrated some
weeks ago on the first Sunday after the Epiphany). Why this flashback?
Lent originated as a season of testing for those
preparing for baptism — testing whether they had the will to do the will of God
— and those candidates for baptism would be enrolled for this testing on the
first Sunday of Lent. So the Gospel
readings during Lent reveal how Jesus’ own commitment to do the will of his
Father was tested, not just by the devil’s cautionary counsels, but by his
people’s growing resistance to him, including resistance from his own
disciples!
So the challenge for us this Sunday is whether we will
learn to resist evil as Jesus himself did, or whether we too will end up unwittingly resisting the way of Jesus. But how will we be able to recognize the evil
that must be resisted?
The temptations of Jesus arise out of the experience
of his baptism (see verse 1); yet Luke has inserted between these two episodes
a genealogy of Jesus, starting from “the son (as was thought) of Joseph,” and
moving all the way back to “son of Adam, son of God.” In other words, when the devil says to Jesus,
“If you are the Son of God...”, Luke wants us to hear in this not only a
reference to the heavenly voice at Jesus’ baptism, but also a reference to his
vocation to be the true son of God that Adam had failed to be. Jesus can only be the Lord’s Messiah and the
Redeemer of the world if he proves to be the new Adam who refuses to take the
tempter’s bait: the one faithful child of earth who will not live by bread
alone, who will worship and serve only God, and who will not put the Lord to
the test. “If you are the Son of God...”
invited mistrust of the God who had affirmed him at the Jordan, invited
suspicion of the divine intent — just as the serpent had done in Eden: “You
will not die; for God knows that when you eat of the fruit your eyes will be
opened, and you will be like God.” But
what exactly are the temptations represented in this story?
In Luke’s version, the first helpful suggestion the
devil makes is that Jesus “command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Unlike Matthew’s version, this is about one
loaf only — enough to mitigate Jesus’ own hunger pangs, certainly not enough to
buy the support of a crowd. Just enough
to satisfy a modest sense of entitlement.
The devil’s second helpful suggestion is that Jesus
learn from a real pro: “To you I will give the glory and the authority of the
kingdoms of this world; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to
anyone I please. If you, then, will
worship me (i.e., imitate me), it will all be yours.” After all, Adam was supposed to “have
dominion over” the whole created order, and now we know how that can be
achieved.
The devil’s third helpful suggestion builds upon a
specifically religious fantasy: ascending to the very top tier of cultic life,
the very pinnacle of the temple. A
dangerous position indeed, not a position you would want without some
confidence that God ‘had your back’!
Within the kingdoms of this world, it is
often difficult to recognize the face of temptation. If only the devil had a face, and could be
recognized! Sin is woven into the very fabric
of the society in which we live, into its structures, politics, systems and
values. It can be extremely difficult to
recognize as evil when it is an accepted part of our everyday lives. Jesus’ relation to his Father models for us
the possibility of freedom from this pervasive power of evil.
The reading from Deuteronomy foresees the temptations
that will assail Israelites after their settlement in the Promised Land. They will forget who they are and how they
got there, and begin to assume an entitlement to the fruits of the land. They will need a ritual of remembrance and
thanksgiving to remain true to their calling.
That is why we in our time and place need to “continue in the apostles teaching
and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers.” And this is not complicated; “The word is
near you, on your lips and in your heart,” as St Paul reminds us the reading
from Romans.
But even more than a ritual of remembrance and
thanksgiving, we need to pay attention to Jesus himself and learn from him what
it means to be a true child of earth, a genuine son or daughter of God.
John
Hill is a presbyter in the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC). A member of APLM
Council, John served as chair for the Primate’s Task Force on Hospitality,
Christian Initiation and Discipleship Formation in the ACC. The work of this
group led to the development of ‘Becoming the Story We Tell.’
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