Lent 1, Lectionary, March 5, 2017

Except for Lent 1, all of the Gospel readings this month come from the Gospel of John, specifically the second part Book of Signs (Jn 1.19-12.50).

The second Sunday through the fifth has Jesus confronting various characters – a educated Pharisee, a Samaritan Women, a blind man and a man recently deceased.

These texts from John are about revelation–the revelation of who Jesus is, the one sent by God, the begotten God, whose offer of life is in his presence and not necessarily delayed until his death.

The key is in the dialogues that the characters try to understand Jesus from their own backgrounds. Is he who he says he is ? How does he challenge Jewis teachings in the past ?

Along the way, it deals with man’s constant temptations and limits vs. Jesus as the source of light and eternal life. Jesus does make himself known in a significant way. It shows the power and glory of Christ and how humans confront it .

Are they going to find themselves within Christ ? Ultimately, how are we finding our way through Christ ? Will we recognize him? Will we witness for him? Will we see him and worship him? Will we come when we hear him call our names? Will we move as these stories show from darkness to light, from insecurity to testimony, from blindness to sight, from death to life?

Lent 1 -Jesus is tempted

Duccio di Buoninsegna – "Temptation of Christ on the Mountain" (1308-11)

One key word this week is “Sin” and it fits in well with Lent. We remember Jesus 40 day fast and resulting temptation by the devil this week. Jesus passed the "test" and resisted temptation.  Do we ? Lent is a special time of prayer, penance, sacrifice and good works in preparation of the celebration of Easter.  

As we begin Lent, let’s start at the very beginning and consider why we need to go on this trip in the first place.

What does it mean to be human ? From the Genesis story of Adam and Eve’s fall from grace, through Paul’s exploration of how Jesus functions as a "second Adam," to Matthew’s portrayal of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, these readings cut to the chase of what it is to be human. 

The other key word this week is "temptation."  As  Brian Stoffregen writes  “ Wherever it comes, the tempter/tester does not have the power to make someone do something. Temptation is not coercion. The serpent in the garden didn’t make Eve and Adam eat the apple. The devil in our text can’t make Jesus turn stones into bread. "To tempt" means to try and convince someone to do something. It means enticing someone to want to do something. Tempters can’t make someone do something bad, but try to make the temptee want to do something bad. They don’t take away the will. Rather, they try to change one’s will."

Following his baptism in the Jordan River in Epiphany, Jesus went out to the desert to pray and understand God’s will. He was alone in the desert for 40 days and nights. Satan waited until Jesus emerged from the desert before tempting Jesus to use his powers. Of course, Jesus was hungry after fasting for 40 days, so the devil tempted him first with food. “Command these stones to become loaves of bread,” was the first dare. Later the devil tempted Jesus to use his power to prove that God would send angels to help Jesus if he jumped from the top of the temple. Finally, Satan offered Jesus the glory and power of all the world if he would but worship Satan. To each temptation, Jesus held fast to what he knew was God’s will for him.

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