First Sunday in Lent, Cycle A
God’s gifts of life and free will, humankind’s choice of sin and disobedience, humankind’s need for forgiveness and redemption, and God’s gifts of grace and forgiveness, especially through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ who resisted evil and temptation and was obedient to God — these are the great themes of the texts selected for the First Sunday in Lent, Series A.
Except for the specifically Christian solution in Jesus as the Lord and Savior, these are the great themes within all of the major religions that had their origin in the Ancient Near East (Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam, and their various derivatives). It will be well for us, therefore, on the First Sunday in Lent to look at the big picture that shall be elaborated upon during the entire Lenten season and not become bogged down in minor details on this occasion.
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
If we insist that this group of readings contains a record of precisely what happened in terms of actions and conversations between God, Adam and Eve, and the serpent, we shall have some very serious theological problems. We might even have to say that it appears that God set a trap for these young, innocent, idyllic people, Adam and Eve, using the tree of knowledge of good and evil and, with only slight prodding from the clever serpent, Eve and then Adam fell into the trap that God had set for them. Once this had occurred, God had to condemn them to death as God had threatened to do. Since God must know everything, God must have known that they would fall into sin. If God had been certain that they would sin, why did God set them up in a situation such as this? If this group of readings contains a record of precisely what happened, what kind of God is God?
On the other hand, if we have some awareness of the nature of religious language and of the use of storytelling to convey a theological message, differences in genres, life situations, and so on, we can approach the great subject under consideration here in a much different manner. Then we can see that perceptive early Israelites, believing in God as Creator-Redeemer to whom they were accountable, reflected theologically on the human situation as they saw it, and claiming the inspiration of God to validate their explanations, with inspired creativity developed these stories about the first man and the first woman, of good and evil in pristine form, of the serpent, and of their own struggles and mortality. These stories — so familiar to us now that we can practically visualize every detail, even (thanks to movies and videotapes) of a snake crawling in a tree — express the human condition over against God as the early Israelites and their Jahwistic folk tradition perceived it. The stories that they told to their children and grandchildren were expressed so well that even small children could and still can gain understanding from them. Children then and now can perceive it in the form of a fascinating fable in which there is actual fruit and a snake that talks in Hebrew, English, and/or any other language as needed. Adults can recognize in these stories what these early People of God believed about their origins and their present situations. These stories are true, valid, and even historical in the best sense of compressed history, oral and literary gems in the messages that they convey. Then we ask not, “Why did God set such a trap for that poor, simple, young woman Eve?” but “Is this not the way that it is for me today also?” Then we can say, “God permits me to sin, and I sin. I cannot blame God for that. I can, however, thank God that God provides grace and forgiveness, particularly in Jesus as my Lord and Savior.”
Psalm 32
The psalmist begins with a beatitude, “Blessed is the person whose sin is forgiven.” The wicked are contrasted with the righteous and shown to be foolish for not turning to the Lord; they are like a mule, without understanding. The psalmist then demonstrates how reasonable it is to acknowledge one’s sin to the Lord and to receive forgiveness and peace. As an Individual Hymn of Thanksgiving, Psalm 32 is most persuasive; those who hear can hardly fail to respond.
Romans 5:12-19
Paul provides a specifically Christian solution to the problems that we face in our human condition. Unlike Genesis 2 and 3 and unlike Matthew 4:1-11, Paul did not use a vivid story to express his message and to share his good news. Paul used what he considered to be a persuasive, logical argument in comparing the one man Adam who sinned to the one man Jesus Christ who was obedient to God. We note how freely Paul adapted the Genesis 2 and 3 materials in the presentation of his message of good news here and in Philippians 2:1-11. Paul did not blame the woman Eve here for the sin that spread to all people. Therefore, once again on this occasion the gospel is in the epistle!
Matthew 4:1-11
In the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Mark) it is merely stated that Jesus had been driven by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by Satan. The Matthean and the Lukan redactors (and possibly Q traditions before them) chose to go farther to provide a vivid story complete with Satan in human form leading Jesus around and quoting Scripture texts to him. Is there any new religion among those that have their origin in the Ancient Near East in which the primary founder of the religion is not acclaimed as the hero of faith who triumphantly overcame every human temptation? The stories differ in their details, but the stories are always there, and they are helpful to us, especially when we recognize them as stories that have great theological significance for us.
