Old Testament Deut 26
26 When you have entered the land
that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken
possession of it and settled in it, 2 take some of
the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land that
the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to
the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his
Name 3 and say to the priest in office at the time,
‘I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land
the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.’ 4 The
priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the
altar of the Lord your God.5 Then you shall
declare before the Lord your God: ‘My father was a wandering Aramean,
and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a
great nation, powerful and numerous. 6 But the
Egyptians ill-treated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh
labour. 7 Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of
our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil
and oppression. 8 So the Lord brought us
out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and
with signs and wonders.9 He brought us to this place and
gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; 10 and
now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me.’
Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him.11 Then
you and the Levites and the foreigners residing among you shall rejoice in all
the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your
household.
Epistle Romans 10
‘The word is near
you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the message
concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 if you declare
with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him
from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with
your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that
you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As
Scripture says, ‘Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.’ 12 For
there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of
all and richly blesses all who call on him,13 for, ‘Everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Gospel Luke 4
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory. I am the
light of the world, says the Lord, whoever follows me will have the light of
life. Hear the gospel...
Jesus is tested in the wilderness
4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, ‘If you are
the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’
4 Jesus answered, ‘It is
written: “Man shall not live on bread alone.”’
5 The devil led him up to a high
place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And
he said to him, ‘I will give you all their authority and splendour; it has been
given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.7 If
you worship me, it will all be yours.’
8 Jesus answered, ‘It is
written: “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”’
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and
had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ‘If you are the Son of God,’
he said, ‘throw yourself down from here.10 For it is
written:
‘“He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”’
to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”’
12 Jesus answered, ‘It is said:
“Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’
13 When the devil had finished all
this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Sermon
Today’s gospel reading is an account of the testing of Jesus
in the wilderness by Satan representing the forces of evil. The same story in
Mark’s gospel is very short indeed — barely 2 verses — but the versions in
Matthew and Luke are longer, and almost identical except that the three tests
in a different order.
One of these readings is used every year on the first Sunday
of Lent. The reason is probably because the season of Lent represents a
dramatic shift in the church’s year, when we are invited to go back to basics,
and re-examine our faith at a fundamental level. Reading what Jesus went
through in the wilderness helps us understand our own temptations and how to
overcome them.
Many of the glimpses we get of the life of Jesus are not
just historical narratives, but invite us, in some way, to share in what he
went through. In doing so, we learn more about our faith by sharing his
experiences. At the same time, as God incarnate — fully God as well as fully
man — Jesus experiences what is like to be human, and shares fully in our
humanity.
Let’s look at the testing in brief, and try to understand
what is going on and why. The first point to make is that some translations
translate the word testing as temptation.
Jesus cannot be tempted: he is fully God
and God is not subject to temptation, nor can a perfect God sin.
The second point is that God has confirmed at his baptism
that Jesus is Son of God and Messiah. But the way Jesus interprets
these identities can vary widely. This is the subject of his testing by the
forces of evil. What kind of Son of God will he be? What kind of Messiah? Is he
going to me the kind of triumphalist, military leader the disciples have come
to expect? Is he all-powerful, sweeping all evil before him and powerfully
restoring justice in the world?
There were three examples of testing:
1. If you are the Son of God you can banish
hunger, both yours and people’s generally, if you make these stones into bread.
Jesus replies that the children of Israel were tempted in
the Sinai for 40 years. God fed them with manna, so they might understand
people do not live by bread alone but faith in their Creator.
2. Jesus is
invited to take earthly power to himself and rule. Why follow the path of
suffering, when all authority and splendour can be yours? Just say the word.
Jesus again thinks of the Israelites in the wilderness.
Before arriving in the promised land, God gave them a creed — the Shema (Deut 6:13) “Hear O Israel...”— warning them to remember who gave them the land
and worship only him.
3. Jesus is
invited to get absolute proof of his sonship, by throwing himself off a high
place, and God will save him from certain death. Jesus replies that the people
of Israel tested God over and over again in the wilderness, but were exhorted
not to put him on trial.
All three tests are paralleled in Sinai, and all three
concern the nature of Jesus’ power. The contrast is that Jesus remained
faithful when put to the test: the children of Israel were unfaithful again and
again, yet God still redeemed them.
Remember Jesus went straight from the high point of his
baptism to these trials. Likewise we are filled with God’s spirit at our own
baptism, and our vocation as Christians is tested throughout our lives, just as
Jesus was.
Through baptism, we are called to be obedient and to serve
the Lord alone. But our faith is tested in the course of our lives, from birth
to death. There is comfort in knowing, however, that God remains faithful, even
if we fail.
The connection between Jesus’ testing and our own was
recognized by the author of the Letter to the Hebrews: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet
without sin” (4:15).
Let us pray:
O Lord God, you led
your people through the wilderness and brought them to the promised land. Guide
us now, so that, following your Son, we may walk safely through the wilderness
of this world toward the life you alone can give, through Jesus Christ our Lord
Amen
