February 27, 2009
Sunday Scripture
First Sunday of Lent
BY FATHER DONALD DILGER
The tradition of Jesus being tempted to sin as other human beings are tempted is older than the gospels. It is expressed in Hebrews 2:17-18, “He (Jesus) had to be made like his brethren in every way, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make expiation (reparation) for the sins of the people. For because he suffered and has been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.” The author of Hebrews later adds this statement, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every way has been tempted, but without sin.”
The wilderness temptation initiated by the devil, which followed immediately upon Jesus’ baptism, is found in Mark, Matthew and Luke. Mark’s version is the oldest and seems to be the most original. Matthew and Luke, writing fifteen years later, and using Mark as their foundation for the story, expanded their version of the temptation of Jesus. Since this is the Marcan Year, Cycle B, our concern here is with Mark’s version. In Mark’s Greek the story consists of two sentences.
The first sentence: “The Spirit immediately expelled him into the wilderness.” What Spirit forces Jesus into the wilderness? It is the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit who had just witnessed to Jesus as Son of God at his baptism. Mark’s language implies that the human nature of Jesus was not thrilled by the prospect of being expelled into the wilderness or into the desert. Therefore the word, “expelled.” The usual translation is “drove,” but that does not accurately express the meaning of Mark’s word to hearers for whom “drove” expresses the use of a conveyance with wheels. Jesus’ expulsion marks the beginning of a theme that will run throughout Mark’s gospel, the abandonment of Jesus by all, both his divine family and his human family. The climactic moment of abandonment comes just before Jesus dies, “My God! My God! Why have you abandoned me?”
The second sentence of Mark’s temptation of Jesus story has four parts. The first part: “He was in the widerness forty days.” The usual interpretation of the forty days is that it symbolizes the testing of the Israelites in the wilderness for forty years. It may just as well be Mark’s intention to recall the trials of Moses and Elijah, who will appear with Jesus at his transfiguration. Moses went without food or drink forty days on Mount Sinai, Exodus 34:28. Elijah underwent his forty days without food or drink, in 1 Kings 19:8-18, en route to the mountain. Matthew develops the concept of Jesus as a new Moses, while Luke develops the concept of Jesus as a new Elijah, a concept Luke also tries out on John the Baptizer. Both authors depict Jesus fasting forty days. Mark says nothing of fasting.
In the second part of Mark’s second sentence on the temptation he mentions only that the temptations came from Satan. Biblically speaking, temptations coming from Satan were a rather new idea found only in the later parts of the Old Testament. Before that, temptation was attributed to God. In later Old Testament theology God does not cause temptation but permits Satan to tempt. The next clause seems strange, “He was with the wild beasts.” Since the theme of Jesus’ suffering and death pervades Mark’s gospel from the beginning, the reference is probably to Psalm 22, where wild beasts surround the sufferer, a Psalm often applied to the sufferings of Jesus on the cross. Finally Mark writes, “And the angels came and ministered to him.” As Matthew and Luke will recognize, this refers to Psalm 91, which speaks of the protection of God for God’s faithful one, “He will give his angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways, etc.” Jesus began to take on the burden of sinful humanity at his baptism. The process continues during his temptation.
The theme of this reading is covenant. A covenant is a solemn agreement between two parties to maintain the promises contained in the agreement. Our reading describes only God’s promises. Noah’s participation was expressed in the previous chapter of Genesis by his sacrifice to God after he and his family exited from the ark. We have here a new creation. Promises made in the original creation are repeated with additions. The first Sunday of Lent can remind us of the covenant into which we entered with God in our baptism. Lent is a time for renewal of that covenant. That renewal will be solemnly expressed when we renew our baptismal vows on Easter Sunday.
The first letter of Peter seems to be a homily to accompany baptism. In our first reading today we heard about the ark. Peter compares to Christian baptism the ark of Noah in which eight people were kept secure from the waters of chaos, when he writes, “This prefigured baptism, which saves you now.” Of general interest is the author’s statement that “Jesus preached to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient while the ark was being built.” This statement is the origin of the statement in the Apostles’ Creed, “He descended into hell, etc.” An awkward English mistranslation of the First Letter of Peter!