Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for March 6, 2022 (Lent 1C)

First Reading: Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Lent has begun. We enter the 40-day season that our liturgy encourages us to observe through self-examination and repentance; prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.

Christ Tempted by the Devil (1818), oil painting on panel by John Ritto Penniman (1782-1841). Smithsonian American Art Museum. (Click image to enlarge.)

Sunday’s readings, though, don’t hammer us with thoughts of punishment and penitence. They invite us, rather, to be conscious of God’s love and protection, listening for our call to follow God’s way. We begin with an ancient harvest prayer from Deuteronomy. We hear Moses, addressing the people who will cross into the Promised Land after he dies, offering a tithe of the first fruits of harvest in gratitude for God’s abundance. He outlines God’s covenant with the people, a covenant that comes down to us in the Gospel: We are called to love God and our neighbor and to care for the stranger, the poor, the weak and the oppressed.

Psalm: Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16

In the Psalm, too, we offer grateful thanksgiving to God as our protector and provider. In a striking catalogue of many bad things that can happen to good people – evil events, plague, injury, even attacks by lions and venomous serpents – the Psalmist reminds us that we live in God’s shadow. We recognize God as our refuge and our stronghold. God will help us because we are bound to God in love. When we call on God, God will answer. Two verses within the Psalm, slightly altered in translation, are the source for Luke’s words in the Gospel: “He will command his angels concerning you … On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”

Second Reading: Romans 10:8b-13

Paul’s thoughts in this passage have often been interpreted in modern times as a call for sinful humans to gain individual salvation by accepting the resurrected Christ as their personal savior. Seen in the fuller context of Paul’s letter to the Romans, though, we recognize that this is not an individual altar call. It is a message calling on an entire community – the mixed Jewish and pagan Christian congregation in Rome – to come together in Jesus’ name. God makes no distinction between Jew and Greek, Paul writes. God, through Jesus, is Lord of all, and gives generously to all who call on God’s name.

Gospel: Luke 4:1-13

Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days. This Gospel message has echoes in the 40 years that Moses and the Israelites spent wandering in the desert, and is echoed in turn in the 40 days of Lent. Immediately after Jesus is baptized by John in the Jordan, the Spirit leads Jesus into the desert, where he meets temptation while fasting in the wilderness. The devil tempts Jesus, first with food, then – quoting from Psalm 91 – with visions of power and glory, if only he will turn from God. But Jesus stands firm and the devil leaves him “until an opportune time.” In the verses that follow this passage, Jesus goes directly to his hometown synagogue where he will proclaim good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind and freedom to the oppressed.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for March 3, 2019

First Reading: Deuteronomy 26:1-11

On Ash Wednesday, we read in the Book of Common Prayer, all Christians are invited “to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.”

Christ Tempted by the Devil (1818), oil painting on panel by John Ritto Penniman (1782-1841). Smithsonian American Art Museum. (Click image to enlarge.)

Sunday’s readings, though, turn away from talk of punishment and guilt, gently guiding us into the season with reminders that God loves us, protects us, and calls us to follow God’s way. Our first reading comes from an ancient Jewish liturgy of thanksgiving for the harvest, in which the people tithed the bounty of their land in remembrance that God had led them from slavery in Egypt to a rich and fruitful land.

Psalm: Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16

Pay close attention as we chant verses 11 and 12 of Sunday’s Psalm: This, in slightly different wording, is the source of Luke’s words in Sunday’s Gospel, “He will command his angels concerning you … On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” This promise underscores the Psalm’s hopeful message: Even when bad things happen, from plague, injury, even attacks by lions and venomous serpents, we live in God’s shadow. God will answer when we call. God is with us when we are in trouble.

Second Reading: Romans 10:8b-13

Paul’s pastoral advice to the early Christian community in Rome, a mixed body of Jewish and pagan Christians, continues the theme of Sunday’s other readings. In the Psalm we sing of our trust in God’s protection. Now Paul reminds the Romans that accepting Jesus and the Resurrection opens the pathway to salvation. In the first reading we remember that our spiritual ancestors were foreigners, slaves in Egypt. Now Paul reminds us that there is no Jew or Greek, no insider or outsider. all together in one God for all.

Gospel: Luke 4:1-13

Fresh from his baptismal encounter with John the Baptist in the Jordan, Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days, a time span that is echoed in the 40 days of Lent. Famished at the end of his long fast, Jesus meets the devil, who tempts him first with food, then with visions of power and glory, if only he would turn from God. But Jesus resists each of three temptations, warning the devil not to put God to the test. The devil then leaves him “until an opportune time.” In the verses immediately following these, we find Jesus giving his first sermon in the synagogue at Nazareth (as we heard at the end of January), proclaiming good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind and freedom to the oppressed.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Feb. 14, 2016

Temptation of Christ:, 12th-century Tympanum, Church of Errondo, Spain.

Now we enter Lent, a season that many consider a time for sacrificial contemplation of sin and repentance. Look closely at today’s readings, though, for they offer a different narrative, speaking not of punishment and penitence but of God’s love and protection and of our call to follow God’s way. Our first reading recalls an ancient harvest liturgy, when the people would tithe the land’s bounty in thanksgiving to God who led them out of slavery in Egypt and brought them to a rich and fruitful land.

Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16

Today’s Psalm, too, offers grateful thanksgiving to God as our protector and provider. In a striking catalogue of many bad things that can happen to good people – evil events, plague, injury, even attacks by lions and venomous serpents – we remember that we live in God’s shadow. We recognize God as our refuge and our stronghold. God will help us because we are bound to God in love. When we call on God, God will answer.

Second Reading: Romans 10:8b-13


Paul’s verses here are often read as a call for sinful humans to gain individual salvation by accepting the resurrected Christ as personal savior. In the context of Paul’s letter to the Romans, though, this is not an individual altar call but a message calling on an entire community – the mixed Jewish and pagan Christian congregation in Rome – to come together in Jesus’ name. God makes no distinction between Jew and Greek. God through Jesus is Lord of all and gives generously to all who call on God’s name.

Gospel: Luke 4:1-13

We have spent five weeks of Epiphany walking with Jesus as the people of Galilee discover him through a series of epiphanies that gradually reveal him as son of God, Messiah. Now, as Lent begins, we go back to the beginning of his public life, as the Spirit leads him out to fast in the desert and to wrestle with the temptations of a Satan who, you’ll notice, quotes today’s Psalm! Jesus stands strong, good wins over evil, and our Gospel narrative in Lent will now move on to Jerusalem and toward the Cross.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013.

Reproduction of Temptation of Jesus Christ from the Book of Kells

First Reading: Deuteronomy 26:1-11
This ancient harvest prayer, offering a tithe of the first fruits of harvest in gratitude for God’s abundance, outlines God’s covenant with the people, a covenant that comes down to us in the Gospel: We are called to love God and our neighbor and to care for the stranger, the poor, the weak and the afflicted. As a Lenten practice, we might consider expressing our penitence and hope in acts of kindness and in community service.

Psalm 91
At first glance today’s psalm seems to offer us simple reassurance: When we are in trouble, if we trust in God, God will protect us. But as abundant as God’s love may be, the Psalmist sings of a covenant, an agreement between God and God’s people: We’re expected to love God, to put our trust in God, to make God our refuge and dwelling-place. Be aware, too, that God will be with us when we encounter lions and serpents, but we will still encounter them!

Second Reading: Romans 10:8b-13
Paul’s pastoral advice to the Romans mirrors today’s other readings. As the Psalmist advises us to trust in God to gain protection, Paul calls on us to accept Jesus and the Resurrection in order to be saved. The Old Testament reading reminds us that our spiritual ancestors were foreigners, and Paul reminds us that there is no Jew or Greek, no insider or outsider in the God of all.

Gospel: Luke 4:1-13
Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days, a Gospel message with echoes in the 40 days of Lent. Fresh from his encounter with John the Baptist in the Jordan, Jesus meets temptation while fasting in the wilderness. Satan tempts him, first with food, then with visions of power and glory, if only he would turn from God. But Jesus stands firm, and, in the very next verses after these, goes straight to the synagogue to proclaim good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind and freedom to the oppressed. Let’s remember Jesus’ call as we live into the 40 days of Lent.