Road to Emmaus First Sunday of Lent

Feb 25, 2009

(Cycle B)

First Reading – Gen. 9:8-15

Responsorial Psalm – Ps. 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

Second Reading – 1 Pt. 3:18-22

Gospel Reading – Mk. 1:12-15

The Liturgical Season of Lent

We now have reached the liturgical season of Lent. The word Lent comes from the old English word lencten which means "Spring season." Liturgically speaking, Lent is the English name for quadragesima, a Greek word which means "fortieth day." As you are aware, Lent marks the period of 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday (excluding Sundays).

During Lent we undergo an intense period of preparation for the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ at Easter.

The number 40 has many biblical references: the 40 days Moses spent on Mount Sinai with God to receive the covenant (Ex. 24:18); the 40 days Moses spent on Mount Sinai fasting to renew the covenant (Ex. 34:28); the 40 days and nights Elijah spent walking to Mount Horeb/Sinai after he had fasted (1 Kgs. 19:8); God made it rain for 40 days and 40 nights in the days of Noah (Gen. 7:4); the Hebrew people wandered 40 years traveling to the Promised Land (Num. 14:33); Jonah in his prophecy of judgment gave the city of Nineveh 40 days in which to repent (Jon. 3:4).

These were all times of testing, purification and preparation before God did something profound. In the Gospel reading for the First Sunday of Lent, we encounter the number 40 when Jesus goes into the desert to be tempted, while fasting. We already know that he will go on to do many profound things, the most significant being his Passion, Death and Resurrection from the dead, for the sake of our salvation.

During the 40 days of Lent we mystically join Jesus in the desert to fast, pray, undergo temptation, so that we might be tested, purified and prepared for our participation in the Resurrection of Christ.

The readings during Lent

Here I feel I must say a few words about the structure of the readings during Lent. Throughout the liturgical seasons of Advent, Christmas and Ordinary Time the structure of the readings have always involved a specific connection between the Old Testament reading and the Gospel reading. This specific correlation is what I have been commenting on in this column. However, during Lent there is not necessarily a direct connection between the two readings.

With regard to the Old Testament readings during Lent the "Introduction" to the Lectionary says, "The Old Testament readings are about the history of salvation, which is one of the themes proper to the catechesis of Lent. The series of texts for each Year presents the main elements of salvation history from its beginning until the promise of the New Covenant" (97a).

During this Liturgical Year, Cycle B, the five Sundays of Lent cover Salvation History in the Old Testament in the following way:

(Column continues below)

1. First Sunday – The covenant with Noah

2. Second Sunday – The covenant with Abraham

3. Third Sunday – The covenant with Moses

4. Fourth Sunday – The exile of the Southern Kingdom of Judah to Babylon and the promise of return.

5. Fifth Sunday – The promise of the new covenant in the prophet Jeremiah.

With regard to the readings from the Letters of the Apostles, they "have been selected to fit the Gospel and the Old Testament readings and, to the extent possible, to provide a connection between them" ("Introduction," 97a). So, the second reading, if possible, is the hinge showing the fulfillment of the Old in the New.

Then of course there are the Gospel readings which take on Lenten themes, preparing us for the Sacred Triduum. These will be my primary focus during Lent - although, as you will see, we will have many occasions to journey back into different parts of the Old Testament.

Jesus is tempted

Mark’s Gospel for this Sunday presents Jesus being tempted in the desert, and then proclaiming the need to repent and believe.

Mark gives us by far the shortest account of Jesus’ temptation. Given this fact I will not be able to resist drawing from the accounts given in Matthew and Luke.

We first hear in Mark that the Spirit "drove him [Jesus] out into the wilderness" (Mk. 1:12). This comes right after Jesus has received the Spirit in his Baptism. But, why would the Holy Spirit want him to go into the wilderness?

First, Jesus has just associated himself with sinners by undergoing the baptism of repentance. So, as the new Adam who has come to undo what the old Adam did, he is driven into the wilderness, much like Adam was driven out of Eden. Jesus, like Adam will be tempted by the devil, except for the fact that Jesus is obedient, whereas Adam was disobedient.

Second, Jesus has come, not to defeat Rome, but to defeat sin, death and the devil. He goes therefore into the wilderness to do battle. But this tempting does not take place until he has first prepared himself through 40 days of fasting (cf. Mt. 4:2-3).

Mark makes clear Jesus’ mission by reminding his readers that in the wilderness "he was with wild beasts" (Mk. 1:13). The wilderness in Scripture is frequently associated with evil powers portrayed as beasts. Isaiah refers to the wilderness as "the haunt of jackals" (Is. 35:7).

On the other hand Scripture also portrays the wilderness as a place of special intimacy with God. Jeremiah says, "I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness…" (2:2).

So it is through fasting and intimacy with the Father that he will do battle with the devil. St. John tells us in no uncertain terms, "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil" (1 Jn. 3:8).

Jesus and Israel in the wilderness

One of the main themes of Mark’s Gospel is an emphasis on the new and greater exodus prophesied by Isaiah (cf. 40-55).

Mark, and perhaps more so in Matthew, now depicts Jesus as reliving the life of Israel during their exodus and years of wandering in the wilderness. As Israel passed through the Red Sea then journeyed into the wilderness for 40 years, so too Jesus passes through the Jordan then into the wilderness for 40 days.

The event sets in relief the stark contrast between Israel’s disobedience during their 40 years, and Jesus’ obedience during his 40 days. There are many parallels between the two events. For example:

1. Both Israel and Jesus are called God’s son (Ex. 4:22; Mk. 1:11).

2. The temptations of both are preceded by a baptism (Ex. 14; 1 Cor. 10:1-5; Mk. 1:9-11).

3. Israel was tested 40 years; Jesus was tested 40 days.

4. The Spirit of God was seen to be particularly active during the Exodus and their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, so too is the Spirit active with Jesus during his 40 days (Ex. 40:34-38; Is. 63:10-14; Mk. 1:12).

5. There are parallels between Israel in the wilderness with the three temptations that Jesus endures. This is especially so given the context of the quotes he gives from Scripture which all come from Deuteronomy 6-8 (8:3; 6:16; 6:13). In these passages Moses is telling the children of those who have come up out of the Egypt, who are about to enter the Promised Land, why their parents failed. He is speaking to them at the end of the 40 years of wandering.

a. The first test has to do with hunger and provision. On several occasions the Israelites complain about food and water (Ex. 15:24; 16:2; 17:2).

b. The second test has to do with putting God to the test. For example in Exodus 17:2, when the people are murmuring about water, Moses says, "Why do you put the Lord to the test?"

c. The third test has to do with worshipping false gods. The Israelites were extremely prone to this. For example, no sooner to they come up out of Egypt, at Mount Sinai there is the incident of the worship of the golden calf (Ex. 32). Then 40 years later right before they enter the Promised Land there is the incident of the worship of Baal of Peor (Num. 25).

We too, like Adam, like Israel, like Jesus, enter into the wilderness during Lent. We too must do battle with temptation and the devil. How? As Jesus says when he comes out of the wilderness, "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" (Mk. 1:15). However, like John the Baptist told the Pharisees we must "bear fruit that befits repentance" (Mt. 3:8).

What are the fruits of repentance? In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus tells us in chapter 6 of the Sermon on the Mount about deeds of piety, or righteousness. They are almsgiving, prayer and fasting. This is exactly what the Church calls us to during this Lenten season. However, we must beware of being like the Pharisees who only practiced these deeds in order to be seen by others so as to be thought of as holy. These deeds must come with the interior disposition of repentance.