BIBLE STUDY #122


FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT

February 17, 2013



READING 1: DEUTERONOMY 26:4-10



Moses spoke to the people, saying:

“The priest shall receive the basket from you

and shall set it in front of the altar of the LORD, your God.

Then you shall declare before the Lord, your God,

‘My father was a wandering Aramean

who went down to Egypt with a small household

and lived there as an alien.

But there he became a nation

great, strong, and numerous.

When the Egyptians maltreated and oppressed us,

imposing hard labor upon us,

we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers,

and he heard our cry

and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.

He brought us out of Egypt

with his strong hand and outstretched arm,

with terrifying power, with signs and wonders;

and bringing us into this country,

he gave us this land flowing with milk and honey.

Therefore, I have now brought you the firstfruits

of the products of the soil

which you, O LORD, have given me.’

And having set them before the Lord, your God,

you shall bow down in his presence.”



The Word of the Lord



READING 2: ROMANS 10:8-13



Brothers and sisters:

What does Scripture say?

The word is near you,

in your mouth and in your heart

—that is, the word of faith that we preach—,

for, if you confess with your mouth 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.

For 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,

enriching all who call upon him.

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”



The Word of the Lord



GOSPEL: LUKE 4:1-13



Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan

and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days,

to be tempted by the devil.

He ate nothing during those days,

and when they were over he was hungry.

The devil said to him,

“If you are the Son of God,

command this stone to become bread.”

Jesus answered him,

“It is written, One does not live on bread alone.”

Then he took him up and showed him

all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant.

The devil said to him,

“I shall give to you all this power and glory;

for it has been handed over to me,

and I may give it to whomever I wish.

All this will be yours, if you worship me.”

Jesus said to him in reply,

“It is written:

You shall worship the Lord, your God,

and him alone shall you serve.”

Then he led him to Jerusalem,

made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said 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 guard you,

and:

With their hands they will support you,

lest you dash your foot against a stone.”

Jesus said to him in reply,

“It also says,

You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”

When the devil had finished every temptation,

he departed from him for a time.



The Gospel of the Lord



Reflection





By saying that Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit, it is Luke’s way of designating Jesus as a prophet. Jesus received the Spirit at his baptism and is equipped to overcome the devil. We, too, wit the help of the Spirit, can overcome the temptations in our lives.



Jesus is “led by the Spirit into the desert” which conveys a sense of deliberateness to this testing. This test isn’t random, but done on purpose. Satan is trying to deflect Jesus from his mission.



Jesus is in the desert for forty days, which recalls the 40 years that the Israelites were wandering in the desert.



After 40 days without food, Jesus is hungry, but this is not the test: the devils’ temptations are the tests.



In the first temptation, the devil tempts Jesus to turn stones into bread. Jesus responds, “It is written, One does not live on bread alone.” Life is more than material things, or jobs, or incomes, or status, or prestige. The devil wants to turn Jesus away from his spiritual mission to turn to a secular ambition. There is something deeper to life than secular ambitions or material things. This does not mean that we ignore people who need assistance with food, clothing, or shelter. It’s our duty as Christians to help those in need. We need to feed on the Eucharist and daily prayer so we can help build God’s kingdom on earth.



In the second temptation, the devil tempted Jesus with political power. In Jesus day, the people expected a messiah who was specially chosen by God to defeat the Romans and liberate the Promised Land from all oppression. The devil's idea of a kingdom would be to establish the kingdom by leaving a trail of death and destruction through conquering militarily. Jesus had a different idea. Freedom is only established by those committed to weakness, not power. Freedom comes when we serve each other in humility. We are to serve God, not ourselves. We do what God wants, not what we want.



In the third temptation, Jesus will not succumb to the devils request to test the Father; Jesus is not a show off nor does he need to prove anything. He is the servant, the perfectly obedient Son who carries out the Father's will without regard for the consequences. Notice how understated the resurrection is in the gospels. Jesus only appears to this followers, not to his enemies. Faith is not about drawing attention to ourselves, but about sharing the Good News. We shouldn't expect to be rewarded, thanked, or be publicly applauded for what we do.



Fr. Phil