Journeying through the Revised Common Lectionary

9 min readFeb 1, 2016

Readings for the First Sunday in Lent, February 14, 2016
by Dennis Haugh

THE READINGS

First Reading: Deuteronomy 26:1–11

When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, “Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.”

When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, you shall make this response before the Lord your God:

A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.

You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.

Worth Noting: The recitation of the saving action of the Lord is believed to be one of the oldest creeds in the Hebrew Bible. Jews use the prayer today in the Passover liturgy. How has your experience of faith been shaped by your ancestors?

Psalm 91:1–2, 9–16

You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
will say to the Lord,
“My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.”
Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
the Most High your dwelling place,
no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder,
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
Those who love me, I will deliver;
I will protect those who know my name.
When they call to me, I will answer them;
I will be with them in trouble,
I will rescue them and honor them.
With long life I will satisfy them,
and show them my salvation.

Worth Noting: The psalmist opens with two names of God, elyon and shaddai, here translated “Most High” and “Almighty” respectively, emphasizing the transcendent and numinous character of God. This God, the psalmist promises, will guard the righteous, though they will face plagues, wars, and natural disasters. The reality of suffering surely did not escape the notice of the psalmist. How then can we appropriate the psalm’s confidence in the loving protection of a transcendent God?

Second Reading: Romans 10:8b–13

“The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Worth Noting: The quotation in Romans 10:11, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame” is a reasonably accurate translation of Isaiah 28:16 from the Greek version of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) but not of the Hebrew text. The latter is translated (as in the NRSV) as “one who trusts in him will not panic.” Is it possible that Paul, proud of his training, did not know — or actively use — Hebrew? Are the two versions of Isaiah saying the same thing?

Gospel: Luke 4:1–13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished.

The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”

Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”

Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”

Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Worth Noting: The conclusion of the story has the devil withdrawing, temporarily defeated, to come again “at an opportune time,” presumably at the time of Jesus’ arrest, passion, and death (see Luke 22:3). How long does it take for a serious temptation or other experience of evil, to no longer affect us?

CONNECTING WITH THE SCRIPTURES

During Lent, the Church prepares for the Great Vigil of Easter and the celebration of the Resurrection on Easter morning. Western Christians celebrate Easter at the same time as the Jewish celebration of Passover, focusing on two things: the tie between the Last Supper as a Passover meal and the metaphor of Jesus Christ as the Passover lamb sacrificed for all.

The First Readings for Lent 2016 mark important points in the faith journey of Abraham, Sarah, and their descendants. The reading for the first Sunday from Deuteronomy summarizes the great event in the history of Israel, the liberation of the people from slavery in Egypt and their journey to the land of milk and honey. In subsequent weeks we hear the story of the covenant God made with Abraham and Sarah, reinforcing the promises made for a land and progeny. The reading for the third Sunday moves forward from Abraham and Sarah to the revelation to Moses of the name of God, Lord, and the promise to remove the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt. The next Sunday’s reading commemorates the first Passover celebrated in the Land. At that celebration, the gift of manna ceased: the people had their own food. On the fifth Sunday we remember the return of the people to bondage and the Lord’s resolve to make all things new, a word of hope to the people in Babylon. Then on the sixth Sunday, the Sunday of the Passion and the last Sunday in Lent, the reading completes the circle but leads on once again. In it, Isaiah speaks of the Suffering Servant. The original context of the text points to Moses as the Servant, completing the circle back to the readings from Deuteronomy and Exodus while the Church has read this as prefiguring and foretelling the ministry of Jesus Christ.

These readings chronicle the journey of a people to live into the call to be a servant of the Lord, their God. For the Christian, they remind us of our origins in personal and communal struggle. The history covers approximately 1000 years, from the time of captivity in Egypt to the exile in Babylon. For Lent, the chronicle dampens any expectation that accepting and enfleshing the vocation to serve God will be a matter of six weeks’ work. The annual celebration of Lent, we see, is not a crash diet, but a periodic health checkup on a lifelong journey.

Entering into the Scriptures

Why was Jesus tempted? What did it prove? An obvious response: Jesus was tempted, first of all, because all humans are tempted and nothing foreign to humanity was left unsacralized in Jesus’ incarnation. Because Jesus was tempted, my temptations become sacred moments. In the second place, Jesus was tempted in order to demonstrate his unwavering righteousness, his continuing intimate relationship with the Creator of all.

It is also true that all of God’s elect are tempted at some time and in some way. Perhaps the most famous temptation in the Old Testament is that of Abraham when God asks that he sacrifice the life of his son (Genesis 22:1–18). English versions of the Genesis account, however, use the verb “test” (see NRSV) rather than “tempt.” In some part, the translators are avoiding the theologically problematic notion that God would tempt Abraham. More generally, the Old Testament understands that God tests Abraham and others in order to prove their righteousness. Because God is God, however, and because God should know everything — including their righteousness — who is the proof for? First of all, passing the test is testimony for future generations of the righteousness of Abraham and Jesus. Perhaps, however, the testimony is really meant to provide assurance to the person tested, to Abraham and to Jesus, that they can be obedient to God and they can survive. Trust in God works.

Lent: The Take-Home Test

Jesus’ three temptations roughly conform to a hierarchy of human needs: food or material wealth, political power, and immortality — jumping from high places will not result in death. The test is whether Jesus will allow his life and ministry to develop with faith in God or instead seize the material goods, power, and immortality on offer to demonstrate beyond dispute that he is the Messiah — deliverer and ruler of Israel, as his closest companions one day would demand.

During Lent, Christians test themselves to find how they might extend their limits. The three traditional Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving may be taken as contemporary analogues of Jesus’ three temptations. Prayer is meant to raise the whole person into communion with the one God, the only one worthy of worship. Communal prayer reminds us of our connections with each other and forms a community of disciples. Fasting helps us know that yes, we can forgo food, and other less vital goods. Almsgiving forces us to acknowledge that “our” time, talent, and treasure were placed in our care so that we might hasten the coming of the City of God. Practiced faithfully for the season of Lent, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving help restore, refresh, and re-create our relationships with God, others, and all of creation.

Prompting Conversations

Luke uses Psalm 91’s promise of God’s care for the righteous as part of the devil’s temptation. Jesus reproves the devil, claiming that this is an unholy “test” of God. If so, then how should we understand prayers of petition? Do these test God?

What are three temptations or tests you face? How will Lent help you meet them?

What role do the three traditional Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and charity work in your life?

Journeying through the Revised Common Lectionary

THE READINGS

CONNECTING WITH THE SCRIPTURES

Written by Colorado Episcopalian