First Sunday of Lent, March 13, 2011

(Genesis 2:2-9;3:1-7; Romans 5:12-19; Mt. 4:1-11)

With Lent here we have two temptation tales. The first one from Genesis
shows failure. The second one from Matthew shows success. Wedged in between
them we have Paul’s remark that through one man sin entered the world, and
through logical deduction all died because all sinned. Paul of course refers to the
scene from Genesis.
The tempter plays the role well, dressed as a talking serpent. It demonstrates
its cunning by deceiving the woman, whose own creation is passed over. The man
had been formed out of the clay and the Lord God had blown into his nostrils the
breath of life, which enabled him to become a living being.
The man had been told not to eat from tree of the knowledge of good and evil:
“for as soon as you eat of it you shall die.” The serpent asks a question it knows is
wrong by asking if she is really not allowed to eat from any tree in the garden. She
knows that there is only one forbidden tree and she also knows that death is in the
offing for those who eat of it.
The serpent assures the woman that “You (second person plural) certainly will
not die!” Before this the serpent has spoken only to the woman. It knows that if she
does it, so too will the man and thus it uses the second person plural. The author
already knows that they (woman and man) will eat and thus he allows the serpent to
have knowledge of what is going to unfold.
In fact, they do not die, but they discover their nakedness and commit the first
“cover-up” in what will become a long line of such cover-ups in the course of
human history. That is to say they do not die immediately. According to Gen. 5:5 it
took Adam 930 years to die but he got there eventually. There is no report on Eve’s
death.
By comparison, Jesus is led into the wilderness “by the Spirit, to be tempted
by the devil (“diabolos” in Greek).” After Jesus has fasted for forty days in the
desert, he is hungry and at that vulnerable moment he is beset by “the tempter.”
Jesus responds to each temptation with a quote from the book of Deuteronomy.
Once, the devil himself quotes from Psalm 91. At the end of the scene Jesus calls
the tempter “Satan,” using the same words (“Begone, Satan” in bygone days; “Get
away, Satan” today) he will use to rebuke Simon Peter later for “thinking as man
does, not as God.”
Its use in connection with Peter is particularly striking since even Peter, who
had just confessed Jesus to be “the Christ, the son of the living God” and then
received the Keys to the Kingdom, is still subject to Jesus’ rebuke for opposing
God’s plan (see Mt.16:23).
Jesus survives the period of temptation in the desert, unlike the humans in the
garden and unlike Israel in the desert. He survives in his weakest moment (after the
40 day fast) by carrying out the Law even when it was difficult. It becomes the
perfect contrast with Adam and Eve in the Garden and it is that theme which
interests Paul in the Romans reading.
When Paul notes that by the sins of the one, all died, it follows that by the
death of the one all have life. He says “the many” (vs.15). He means “all” (vs.18).
The third edition of the Roman Missal says many. It means all. The core of the
argument is simple. Adam brought death (to all). Christ brings life (to all).

Fr. Lawrence L. Hummer