Text Study for the First Sunday in Lent

The Rev. Joseph Winston

March 13, 2011

Commentary
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
The lesson from Genesis contains God’s instructions to the human race. They in-
cluded the work of keeping the garden in tip-top shape and the requirement not
to eat from the tree known as “the knowledge of good and evil.” The lesson then
skips pass the creation of the woman to the story of the testing. In it, the ser-
pent asks an honest question about what fruit humanity may consume. Certainly,
the form of the question gives one the chance to doubt the original request by
God. The woman’s response to the serpent differs slightly from the original com-
mandment. Rather than naming the tree, she gives its location. It is as if the name
itself has some power. She also adds the new requirement that the tree cannot be
touched. The serpent answers with the truth. Death will not come immediately
and that knowledge will be given to all who consume the fruit. Something in the
discussion pushed humanity over the edge. The woman sees the fruit, takes it, and
eats it. The man takes and eats. They are given one of the gifts promised by the
serpent. They have been given the knowledge of nakedness so they create clothes.

Genesis 2:15 to till it and keep it – Some people maintain the view that work
comes sometime after the “fall.” Clearly, this is not the case in this account.
Responsibility for an honest day’s labor is part and parcel about being a
human.
The need for work in the garden also reflects the view that the garden is kept,
as in the area surrounding an official residence. This is not an unspoiled
wilderness.

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Genesis 2:16 You may freely eat – There is only one fruit that cannot be con-
sumed. In the next verse we learn that its name is “the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil.” Apparently this is not the tree of life also in the middle of
the garden (Genesis 2:9). After humanity leaves the garden, the L ORD God
keeps them way from the “tree of life” and not ‘the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil” (Genesis 3:22-24).

Genesis 2:17 for in the day that you eat of it you shall die – Given what occurs
later, the death must be first metaphorical and then actual.

...

Genesis 3:1 the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal – This state-
ment must either play on humanity’s fear of the snake or a well known story
that the audience already knows about the wisdom the serpent possesses.
Did God say – This opening has the possibility of introducing doubt.

Genesis 3:2 The woman said to the serpent – The interaction between the two of
them is surprising since no other animal speaks. Notice that the man never
speaks up even though he is present during the entire episode (Genesis 3:6).

Genesis 3:3 You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the
garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die. – This seems to be a well
rehearsed line because it is more formal than is needed. A simple “Yes”
would have done. Then there is the face that the entire party is standing
within an arms reach of the tree.

Genesis 3:4 You will not die – Physical death does not immediately occur. Tradi-
tionally, this is viewed as a gift of grace from God.

Genesis 3:5 your eyes will be opened – This happened in a way that neither
expected. The knowledge given to humanity included the realization that
clothes are needed.

Genesis 3:6 the woman saw – There appears nothing to drive them away from
the tree.

Genesis 3:7 they knew – Knowledge came to humanity but at a tremendous price.

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Psalm 32
The psalmist is pleased that his sins are forgiven.1 Without confession, his body
became sick. After the sin was spoken, its power over him left because God for-
gave the sin. God protects him by hiding him, keeping him safe, and teaching him.
The wicked are troubled but the Lord’s children are loved.

Psalm 32:1 Happy – The RSV, KJV, Vulgate, and LXX all use a word that pri-
marily means blessed. The NRSV uses happy, which is the primary meaning
of the Hebrew text.
are those - The text is masculine singular not plural neutral.
whose transgression is forgiven – The first image of absolution is when God
no longer remembers the sin.
sin is covered – The second idea is that the stain is hidden from view.

Psalm 32:2 the L ORD imputes no iniquity – This is a concept that most people
would rather forget, that the L ORD gives some people immoral behavior.

Psalm 32:3 While I kept silence, my body wasted away – The unspoken assump-
tion here is that the poet is not speaking the word of confession.

Psalm 32:4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me – The L ORD brings
pain and suffering to cause a response in the author.

Psalm 32:5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you – The word was out. This now
makes all the difference in the world.
I will confess my transgressions to the L ORD – The message is not for an-
other man. It is for the L ORD.
you forgave the guilt of my sin – Without sacrifice of any kind, the L ORD
overlooks what is wrong.

Psalm 32:6 offer prayer to you – Speak and the L ORD will listen.

Psalm 32:7 You are a hiding-place for me – In the present age, the L ORD protects
those who call on Him. While this can easily be construed as a “theology of
glory,” the text is clear at this one point. The L ORD helps.
1
Unlike Evangelical Lutheran Worship and the NRSV translation, verse 1 is masculine singu-
lar.

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 If the creator and sustainer of the universe lends aid to people, what we must
resolve to understand is why humanity so often hurts instead of assisting the
other.

Psalm 32:8 I WILL INSTRUCT YOU AND TEACH YOU THE WAY YOU SHOULD
GO – This part of the psalm seems to be words from the L ORD who will
provide leadership for the author.

Psalm 32:9 else it will not stay near you – The allusion appears to be one of
intelligence. Continue along the path of wisdom and the L ORD will be near.
Go elsewhere and the instruction will cease.

Psalm 32:10 steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the L ORD – The evil
that exists in every age sounds a strong discord with this part of the psalm.
It seems as if the L ORD is powerless against the pain and suffering found in
this world. Maybe, we are asking the wrong questions. These queries might
need to include soul searching questions about our inability to love and our
fascination with power that overwhelms the opposition.

Psalm 32:11 shout for joy – The psalmist attempts to tell us of the excitement he
feels when God forgives. Now, just try this in a “mainline” church and see
what happens. The saints will not appreciate your yelp when God forgives
your sin.
all you upright in heart – This is not about feeling right but instead those
people who choose correctly between good and evil.

Romans 5:12-19
Paul is in the process of explaining the work of being made right (justified if you
will) before God. The logical argument presented here is one of archetypes. Since
one person allowed sin and its results to enter the world therefore one person can
reverse the process also. Paul also points out that the gift given to humanity is
more than the reversal of what has already happened. It includes the removal of
the debts owed by humanity to God.

Romans 5:12 just as sin came into the world through one man – The Greek
uses ἄνθρωπος, which indicates humanity or a certain man. The reading of
a human with a certain gender is troubling because one must go through

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 mental gyrations to say that the silent but fully participating partner is the
responsible one for all the troubles in the world.
When the group is held responsible, the issue becomes the example of
archetypes breaks down. Now many cause the problem but only one can
fix. This ruins the logical argument.
all have sinned – The reality is that everyone makes the same decision to
disregard God.

Romans 5:13 sin was indeed in the world before the law – The phrase the law
must refer to the rules given at Sinai because the law is obviously in place
before this time. The L ORD God said a certain tree could not be consumed.
This line of reasoning is clear in the second half of the sentence that reads
“but sin is not reckoned when there is no law.” If Paul’s words referred to
what happened in the Garden, then humanity could not be charged with any
offence since “the law” did not yet exist.

Romans 5:14 Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses – Paul recog-
nizes the weakness of his case, so he injects the obvious reality.
even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam – Paul
wants illustrate the difference between the rest of the world and what “Adam”
did. “Adam” brought sin into the world but everyone else just added to that
sin. However, see the comment for verse 12 on the difficulty of pinning the
blame on a male named “Adam.”

Romans 5:15 the free gift is not like the trespass – Paul wants to separate out into
two logically different categories what happens because of Jesus. One part
is the repudiation of the action performed by, to use his terms, “Adam.” The
other is to allow God to accept humanity with all of its flaws.

Romans 5:16 brings justification – While Christians are want to read this section
as making a specific person “right” before God, the arguments presented by
Paul are for all of humanity. See verse Romans 5:18.

Romans 5:17 death exercised dominion through that one – The unquestioned
assumption that Paul uses is that God’s judgement on the action performed
by “Adam” is just. By not raising the question of how the crime fits the
punishment, Paul does not have to address the giving of life to all in verse
18.

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 Romans 5:18 Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so
one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. – This
conclusion only holds if one does not look too closely at Paul’s assumptions
on how this occurs.

Romans 5:19 For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made
sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. –
The same problem discussed in Romans 5:18 occurs here.

Matthew 4:1-11
After not eating or drinking for forty days and forty nights, Jesus is obviously
hungry and thirsty (Matthew 4:2). To Him comes this individual that we know by
many different names: devil (Matthew 4:1), tempter or tester (Matthew 4:2; 4:7),
or Satan (Matthew 4:10).
Each of these identifiers tells us a bit about who is there with Jesus. Devil
comes to us from the Old English word dēofol through the Latin word diabolo,
which is pronounced in Greek διαβόλος. This word in its original language liter-
ally means to “to throw across” and it contains the idea of trying to trip someone
up. Today we might say the word slander. The devil is trying to ruin Christ’s rep-
utation. Or to say the same thing another way, the devil wants to tell Jesus what a
savior really does.
The next name of Christ’s opponent that we hear in today’s lesson is tempter.
The idea behind this word is to change a person’s mind. The devil wants to change
the definition of savior. A second way to translate this idea from Greek into En-
glish is to use the word tester.2 The devil is trying to determine what a savior
is.
The final name used in the Gospel lesson for the devil is satan. This Hebrew
word indicates an opponent. Satan disagrees with Christ’s definition of savior.
Satan also means adversary and it best can be explained using the language of
2
This way of reading the text makes it much easier to see the association between what is
happening to Jesus in the wilderness and what occurred to the people of Israel during the exodus.
It also recalls the testing of Abraham (Genesis 22:1) and the command to only take enough for the
day in the giving of manna to the Israelites (Exodus 16:4). The general idea is that God may test the
people however the people may never test God (God testing: Deuteronomy 8:2; 8:5; 8:16; 13:3b;
Not able to test God: Deuteronomy 6:16). Daniel J. Harrington, S.J.; Idem, editor, The Gospel of
Matthew, Volume 1, Sacra Pagina Series, (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1991),
p. 66.

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a courtroom. This is the person who is bringing charges against you. Satan is
attempting to tell Jesus that He does not know what a savior is.
The first concept about savior that is up for discussion revolves around food.
Instead of asking Jesus to turn a single stone into one loaf of bread, the tester tells
Jesus to convert all the stones into many loves of bread (Matthew 4:4). And the
way that the opponent does this is very clever. The phrase “If you are the Son of
God” can also be expressed in English as, “Since you are the Son of God.”3 The
one who confuses states, “The reason you are the Son of God is that you feed the
world.”
On face value, this is true. God does give us all food. And think about what
kind of world it would be if Jesus does exactly what Satan suggests. All that we
would have to do get all the bread that we would ever need is to be in the right
place when the stones are changed. Nothing else would be required of us. All that
we would have to do is come and eat. What could be a better savior than that?
Christ’s response to satan, “’One does not live by bread alone, but by every
word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4) tells us something more
is at stake. When we come to the table just because there is food on it, we become
nothing more than mindless animals moving to the feed trough after the farmer
has filled it with slop. This is not what we were created for nor is it our job in life
to be mindless zombies that only want to fill our hungry stomachs. God made you
and I to love God and our neighbor. That is why you are here.
The second test given to Jesus by the tempter paints a fantasy world where
there are no accidents, no injuries, and no pain. Anytime that this might happen to
you, God’s angels would swoop right on in and keep you safe from any harm. In
order to bring this new order into the world, all that Jesus needs to do is to jump
(Matthew 4:6).
Once again, the offer before Jesus sounds like our ideal dream. The devil wants
a world without any of the bumps, scrapes, and scars. We no longer would have
to take care of our neighbors because they never would be sick, lonely, or in need.
We would be death defying humans. What could be a better savior than that?
Jesus tells all of us that would like a world without suffering, “Do not put the
Lord your God to the test” (Matthew 4:7). The world that Jesus loves requires His
followers to do the same thing that He does. We must pick up our cross and to
follow Him (Matthew 16:24).
This way of life that Christ tells us to live is very impractical because people
3
This seems a reasonable assumption to make because we have already been told by God’s
voice at Christ’s baptism that Jesus is God’s Son (Matthew 3:17).

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will take advantage of you up to the point of your death.4 In fact, Jesus emphasizes
that this way of giving may bring out the worst in people.5 Then why does Jesus
tell us to follow Him to the death? Because this is exactly what God does for you
and for I.6 God dies so that you may live. The devil wants God to live so that you
will die.
The final attempt at redefining savior happens in the last test. The devil offers
Jesus the entire universe if and only if Jesus falls down on His face and worships
satan (Matthew 4:10).7
This carefully architected arrangement proposed by the tester would move
God off into the dustbin of has-beens and place Jesus as the ruler of this world.
Once all computation for our attention has been removed, we would not need to
make any choice in the matter of whom we worship. Our allegiance would be
crystal clear. What could be a better savior than that?
The plan presented by the tempter has a nice ring to it. No longer would we
have to ignore the devil’s messages. All that we would hear is his propaganda.
There is one small downside to satan’s suggestion. In loosing the conflicting mes-
sage that fight for our attention, we have lost our savior.
Jesus simply responds with, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him”
(Matthew 4:10). And the devil left Him.

Matthew 4:1 into the wilderness – The exact location of the testing of Jesus is
not important because this phrase should make us recall the testing of Israel
in the desert (Deuteronomy 8:2).8
to be tempted by the devil – Harrington translates this as “to be tested by the
devil” (πειρασθῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου).9 This way of reading the text makes
it much easier to see the association between what is happening to Jesus in
the wilderness and what occurred to the people of Israel during the exodus.
It also recalls the testing of Abraham (Genesis 22:1) and the command to
only take enough for the day in the giving of manna to the Israelites (Exodus
16:4). The general idea is that God may test the people however the people
4
Arthur C. McGill; Lindell Sawyers and Ray T. Woods, editors, Suffering: A Test of Theologi-
cal Method, (Philadelphia, PA: The Geneva Press, 1968), p. 49.
5
Ibid., p. 50.
6
Ibid.
7
Never accuse satan of not having large dreams. In Matthew 4:8, the tester says “πάσας τὰς
βασιλείας τοῦ κόσμου” (all the kingdoms of the cosmos.
8
Harrington, The Gospel of Matthew, p. 65.
9
Ibid.

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 may never test God (God testing: Deuteronomy 8:2; 8:5; 8:16; 13:3b; Not
able to test God: Deuteronomy 6:16).10
The other times that Matthew uses the same verb for testing can be found in
Matthew 16:1; 19:3; 22:18; 22:35. In each of these examples, Jesus proceeds
in the same way. He responds to the tester in today’s lesson by answering
either directly or indirectly with Scripture.
The devil is the English translation of διαβόλος, which means tester or
tempter.11 The pattern in the Old Testament is that before the Jews were
taken in Babylon in the 6th century BCE, God is the tester and afterwards
this task is given to Satan (Job 1-2; Zechariah 3:1-2; 1 Chronicles 21:1).12
All of these readings either explicitly or implicitly state that God is in con-
trol of Satan.13 For example in today’s lesson, we hear that God’s Spirit
leads Jesus to this location. The understanding of God and Satan does not
follow the idea in Zoroastrianism where there are two gods: one of light and
one of dark.
Here where we live, we are extremely familiar with the idea of testing all the
elements of a chemical plant. Welds are inspected. Calculations are checked.
Plans are verified. All of this work is done not to cause an accident at the
plant but to protect the plant and its workers from harm.
The welding inspector, the supervisor or coworker that runs the equations a
second time, and the chain of responsibility that double checks procedures
could be correctly called the devil. With management’s full support, they are
testing the system. This is exactly what happens in the Bible. Satan is given
a set of parameters that he can work within when he tests Job. In today’s
lesson, it is God’s Spirit that sends Jesus to meet up with the devil.
Matthew 4:2 forty days and forty nights – This might refer to the forty years Israel
spent in the wilderness during which they were tested (Deuteronomy 8:2) or
it might be an allusion to the forty day fasts taken by Moses (Deuteronomy
9:18) or Elijah (1 Kings 19:8).14
Matthew 4:3 The tempter came – The Greek has καὶ προσελθὼν αὐτῷ ὁ πει-
ράζων. The selection of πειράζων over διαβόλος seems to say that the role
10
Harrington, The Gospel of Matthew, p. 66.
11
Ibid.
12
Ibid.
13
Ibid.
14
Ibid.

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 is one of testing and not confusion.15
If you are the Son of God – This phrase (εἰ υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ Θεοῦ) could be also
translated as “Since you are the Son of God.”16 This seems a reasonable
assumption to make because we have already been told by God’s voice at
Christ’s baptism that Jesus is God’s Son (Matthew 3:17). It could be that the
tests are given to see what kind of Messiah Jesus really is.17
command these stones to become loaves of bread – An interesting part of
this text is the plural form of stone and bread that appears. After fasting
for forty days, a single loaf of bread would be enough to fill you. It seems
that the tester is asking for something else. Maybe it is that Jesus is being
asked to put aside his humanity and become totally divine and feed all the
hungry of the world.18 Another reading would be one of trusting in God.
Does Jesus trust God’s providence or would he fail like Israel did in the
wilderness (Psalm 78:18-20)?19

Matthew 4:4 One does not live by bread alone – This response is from Deuteron-
omy 8:3. This verse also tells us that God’s Word is life.

Matthew 4:5 took him to the holy city – This testing occurs in Jerusalem. There
is no information in the text that anyone else saw what was happening so it
is dubious at best to state that Christ’s testing was one of not showing off.
the pinnacle of the temple – The Greek reads, “τὸ πτερύγιον τοῦ ἱεροῦ.” The
Greek πτερύγιον is from the word for wing.20 It either makes reference to
an area of the temple that we have no record of or it could just be a location
that is prominent.21

Matthew 4:6 If you are the Son of God – This could also read “Since you are the
Son of God.”22
15
Harrington, The Gospel of Matthew, p. 66.
16
Brian P. Stoffregen, Matthew 4.1-11 1st Sunday in Lent - Year A, http://www.
crossmarks.com/brian/matt4x1.htm.
17
Ibid.
18
According to Stoffregen, this question is raised in the section on Matthew in the New Inter-
preters Bible. Ibid..
19
Harrington, The Gospel of Matthew, p. 66.
20
Ibid.
21
Ibid.
22
See notes on εἰ in 4.3.

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 He will command his angels concerning – This and the following test in 4:6
refers to Psalm 91. It seems that the tester would like Jesus to validate God’s
promise of protection.

Matthew 4:7 Do not put the Lord your God to the test – This is from Deuteron-
omy 6:16. Jesus does not follow Israel’s example.

Matthew 4:8 to a very high mountain – Mountains are the traditional home of
gods. This might be giving a nod to this idea.

Matthew 4:9 fall down and worship me – This action of homage is what hap-
pened during the visit of the Magi (Matthew 2:1-12). The tester wants the
roles reversed.

Matthew 4:10 Away with you, Satan – A similar phrase is used in Matthew 16:23
when Peter refuses to accept the role of the Messiah. It could indicate that
people also bring tests that stand in the way of God’s will.

Matthew 4:11 the devil left him – But the Spirit that drove Jesus to this place
stays and does not tell Jesus to go anywhere else.

References
Harrington, S.J., Daniel J.; Idem, editor, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1, Sacra
Pagina Series, (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1991).

McGill, Arthur C.; Sawyers, Lindell and Woods, Ray T., editors, Suffering: A Test
of Theological Method, (Philadelphia, PA: The Geneva Press, 1968).

Stoffregen, Brian P., Matthew 4.1-11 1st Sunday in Lent - Year A, http://www.
crossmarks.com/brian/matt4x1.htm, Last checked on February
8, 2008.

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