First Sunday in Lent: February 13, 2004

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7

Psalm 32

Romans 5:12-19

Matthew 4:1-11

First Reading

In this older of the two creation accounts Yahweh settles the human creature in a paradisiacal garden where there is provided not only everything needed for physical life but also a place and purpose within the created order: "to till it and keep it." The command to avoid the tree of the knowledge of good and evil speaks to a privilege that God preserves for the divine. The knowledge, which the tree ascribes, is not omniscience, which fallen creatures certainly do not possess. Neither is it moral discrimination, which, as sentient beings, humankind possessed already prior to the fall. Rather, it is "the power of deciding for himself what is good and what is evil and of acting accordingly" (The New Jerusalem Bible, ed. Henry Wansborough [Doubleday, 1973]). To disobey God and eat of the tree stakes a human "claim to complete moral independence by which man refused to recognize his status as a created being" (ibid.). There is a drastic consequence for such behavior: death (2:17) or at least the "pain of death" (3:3).

The serpent that beguiles the woman into eating the fruit is generally interpreted to be an embodiment of all the forces that oppose both God and humankind, although a specific correlation between the serpent and Satan does not appear until the later Old Testament writings and throughout Christian tradition. It is a logical conclusion to draw, however. The serpent first tests how the woman understands God's command, then challenges that understanding with an appeal that transcends the limits of creature-hood: "You will be like gods." A subtle simile that yet makes no substantive promise for change in the human condition is enough justification for disobedience. Subsequent to eating and sharing the fruit, the man and woman find themselves aware of the vulnerability of their condition and, in the first consequence of their sin, work to hide themselves from each other and from God.

Although routinely included in lists of the seven penitential psalms, Psalm 32 is also considered a psalm of thanksgiving, and indeed, in some circles considered more a lesson in the practice of penitence than an actual psalm by form. Its structure opens with a rehearsal of the benefits of God's forgiveness. Verse 2 is quoted by Paul in Romans 4:6-8 as support for his argument that God credits righteousness solely on the basis of faith. This is followed by a description of the burden of guilt, the power of confession, and the resultant relief that God's mercy brings. The psalm closes with an extended testimony to those who would learn from the psalmist's experience. As a response to the Genesis reading, it reasserts the primacy of trust in God versus the willful disobedience of humankind.

The logic by which Paul parallels Adam and Christ is central to the notion of original sin as developed by Augustine and others. But it is hardly the primary focus of these verses (5:12-19). Instead, the Genesis text of temptation and fall and the Gospel texts of temptation and triumph form the background for Paul's commentary. By postulating death as the result of the sin of Adam, the apostle argues for the universality of sin by evidence of the universality of death. All since Adam have died; therefore sin has reigned in all since Adam, and further, all in sin and death are cut off from God. Conversely, the resurrection of Jesus is evidence of the triumph of perfect obedience to God (something that Adam could not accomplish) and results in life and righteousness before God. Christ has undone what Adam did, and the choice for humanity could not be starker.

Christ's victory, however, is not yet clearly evident. So the role of faith is to sustain those who believe that what God is accomplishing by grace in Christ Jesus is sufficient and will be revealed in the final day.

The spirit of God, which guided the prophets and leaders of Israel, takes Jesus into the wilderness. Fasting as a cleansing for the receiving of God's word and as a sign of devotion to God's demands is a comprehensible discipline within first-century Jewish practice. There is also a parallel for this with Moses (Exod 34:28). Israel's own forty-year sojourn is clearly in Matthew's mind as he describes the time frame for Jesus' experience. So, too, are Israel's struggles with obedience to God. Like his ancestors, Jesus faces hunger and the temptation to seek sustenance apart from God. Jesus is lured to substitute the acclaim of religious spectacle for humility and true devotion. Finally, Jesus is transported to that place from which all the nations of the world can be seen (another Moses parallel to Deut 34:1-4?) and promised, albeit by the father of lies, lordship over all the kingdoms of the earth in exchange for allegiance. In each case, Jesus (with Moses still seeming to look over his shoulder) dismisses the devil's empty promises with the words of Deuteronomy. But more: Jesus' contentions with the devil make plain the kind of messiah he will be ... one not molded by the usual notions of power but whose true authority resides in a stead-fast focus on the will of God.