A reading from the book of Genesis (2:7-9, 3:1-7)
The Lord God shaped man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there put the man he had shaped. From the soil, the Lord God caused to grow every kind of tree, pleasant to look at and good to eat, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Now, the snake was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. It asked the woman, ‘Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?’ The woman answered the snake, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. It was of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, “You must not eat it, nor touch it, under pain of death.” ’ Then the snake said to the woman, ‘No! You will not die! God knows that the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good from evil.’ The woman saw that the tree was good to eat and pleasing to the eye, and that it was desirable for the wisdom that it could give. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realised that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together to make themselves loincloths.
It is no surprise that the first reading on the first Sunday of Lent takes us back to the beginnings. This story of the creation of human beings, from the earth and the breath of God, reminds us of a profound reality, that human beings are both vulnerable and glorious. It is God who plants the garden in readiness for the human beings, and they who are entrusted with the care of creation. Our reading also offers the opening verses of a second symbolic story, the story of the loss of the garden of God. The origin of evil is mysterious and symbolised by the snake which successfully tempts the woman and man to violate the limits laid down by God. There are limits to the freedom of choice given to human beings, and the violation of these limits brings consequences. The human couple become aware of good and evil, and hurriedly sew fig leaves to hide their shame. The two stories, of creation and sin, set the scene for history, both biblical and secular.
Psalm 51 (50) This penitential psalm, known as the Miserere from its opening words ‘have mercy’, is fitting after the story of the sin of our first parents, and prepares us for Paul’s assertion that ‘everyone has sinned’.
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans (5:12-19)
Therefore, just as through one man sin came into the world, and through sin death, and thus death has spread through the whole human race in so far as everyone has sinned – sin already existed in the world before there was any law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. Nonetheless death reigned over all from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sin was not after the model of Adam’s transgression, who prefigured the one who was to come.
Yet the free gift is not like the offence. If death came to many through the offence of one man, how much more plentiful has been the grace of God and the free gift in the love of the one man Jesus Christ coming to so many! Again, the gift is not like the effect of the one man who sinned. For the judgement after the one offence issued in condemnation, while the gift after many offences issued in justification. If it was by one man’s offence that death came to reign through one man, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign through the one man Jesus Christ! Well then, as one man’s offence brought condemnation to all, so one man’s good act has brought justification and life to all. Just as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience are many to be made righteous.
In this difficult passage St Paul draws a parallel between Adam and Christ, and compares what they bring to the human race. As we were reminded in the first reading today, Adam brings sin into the world. Paul tells us that sin spreads, ‘in so far as everyone has sinned’, and that death comes into the world through sin. But what Jesus brings is life. Paul uses various terms to describe the ‘gift’ brought by Jesus. While sin brings condemnation, the gift brings ‘justification’, ‘abundance of grace’, and ‘the gift of righteousness’. Paul’s profound reflection on the gift Jesus brings is the fruit of his encounter with Christ, his love of Christ, and his years of preaching about the ‘mystery’ of Christ.
A reading from the holy gospel according to Matthew (4:1-11)
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the desert to be put to the test by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, after which he was hungry, and the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are Son of God, tell these stones to turn into loaves.’ But he replied, ‘It is written:
A human lives not on bread alone
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’
Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the parapet of the Temple, and said to him, ‘If you are Son of God throw yourself down, for it is written:
He will give his angels orders about you,
and they will carry you in their hands
in case you trip on a stone.’
Jesus said to him, ‘It is also written:
Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’
Next, taking him to a very high mountain, the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, ‘These shall all be yours if you fall at my feet and worship me.’ Then Jesus replied, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written:
The Lord your God shall you worship
and him alone shall you serve.’
Then the devil left him, and see, angels appeared and looked after him.
It is fitting that the gospel for this first Sunday of Lent speaks of the forty days of Jesus in the desert, which inspired the Christian Lent. The evangelist Matthew elaborates the fundamental tradition found in Mark, that Jesus was tested by the devil. There is a catechesis here about sin, and its insidiousness. The devil attacks Jesus in his time of weakness, as he suffers the hunger of forty days’ fasting. He then abuses the human craving for recognition and praise, urging Jesus to do something spectacular to show he is better than others. To add strength to this temptation the devil also uses Scripture, but this temptation also fails. The final temptation is about power, and the compromise needed to obtain it. Jesus does not dialogue with Satan, but simply quotes from the Scriptures. The power of God’s word prevails.
Was Jesus really tempted?
For those who are crushed by the temptations of pleasure, prestige and power, we pray.