Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hey everyone! This video is first going out on Ash Wednesday so a blessed Ash Wedensday
to all of you watching it on the day that it was posted. I hope the rest of you are
enjoying a blessed Lent. After spending the last two months seeing Jesus revealed to us
in various ways, culminating with his remarkable demonstration of his glory last week, we're
now rapidly getting closer to the cross as we enter the season of Lent.
The word Lent is from an Anglo-Saxon word lencten, which means spring. There is evidence
that an observance like this goes back all the way to the early days of the church. The
Council of Nicea in 325 made provisions that one of their two meetings should be held prior
to the 40 days of Lent. Church fathers like Athenasius, Cyrill of Jerusalem, and Cyril
of Alexandria, all have writings that speak about 40 days before Easter as preparation
time. Lent now is a 40 day time of self-examination, repentance, and preparation for the joy of
Easter. Interestingly, Sundays are not considered to be in the season of Lent and remain festival
days. Consequently, there are actually 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday.
Because we're in Lent we change gears again with our readings. Our Old Testament reading
today comes from Genesis. We're jumping back to the first book of scripture and viewing
the fall into sin. God had created the world perfectly. He created Adam and Eve and put
them in the midst of this perfect world and gave them a command. You can eat of any tree
in the garden except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Basically he's telling them
to trust him. Trust him for all things and trust him when he tells them not to eat of
the tree.
Well, this lasts for a while. We're not sure how long but then one day the devil comes
along to tempt Eve. Eve wasn't there when God gave the command but had heard it through
Adam. Did you notice that the devil twists God's words a bit in his question to Eve?
He says that they can't eat of any tree in the garden. That's what he does. He's not
going to blatantly lie to you. You're too smart for that. You can tell when he's lying.
It is more difficult when he's using some of the truth and twisting it with a little
error. Eve corrects him and then he tells her that she won't really die, but instead
she will be like God. This is where sin enters the world. Instead of trusting God, the desire
to be like God and to know what he knows is overwhelming so she eats the fruit. She shares
it with Adam who doesn't resist and suddenly they know their naked and they feel ashamed.
They hide from God, which doesn't work, and then the blame game starts. God blames Adam,
Adam blames Eve, and Eve blames the snake.
In response to their sin, God doles out punishment to the serpent, to Eve, and to Adam. However,
he also makes the promise for a savior that was to come to restore things. Then for their
immediate need God makes clothes for them.
There's so much in this reading that I could probably do a whole video on it, but I'll
stop there.
We have this Old Testament reading because it connects with our Epistle reading today
from Romans 5. The ordering of the lectionary is strange here because we start at verse
12 this week but will go back and read verses 1-8 in two weeks. Here Paul is explaining
how sin came into the world and corrupted all people through one man and how salvation
came through another man. Sin and it's punishment death, came into the world because of the
sin committed by Adam and Eve. Anyone who dies, dies because they have been affected
by sin. But through the one man, Jesus Christ, salvation and new life has come into the world
and is available to all people through the grace of God. The last verse sums it up where
Paul says "For 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"
But what is this obedience that Paul talks about? We hear more about it in our Gospel
reading today from Matthew 4. Here's a place where we jump back in time just a little bit.
Back in January we read the account of Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River by John. The next
week we jumped to the gospel of John where we heard John telling others who Jesus was.
Our text this week goes back to what happened immediately after Jesus' baptism. He was lead
by the Holy Spirit out into the wilderness, as the text says, to be tempted by the devil.
After fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, Jesus was hungry and the devil comes to him and
tells him to make the rocks into loaves of bread. What does Jesus do? He quotes scripture
and resists the temptation.
It is really interesting to note that Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3, 6:16, and 6:13. In
each of these instances, Moses is recounting to the people of Israel how they failed to
trust in God for all things. This is interesting because we see the contrast in Jesus. Jesus
doesn't fail, he perfectly keeps the commands and trusts in God fully in their place and
in our place. This is what allows Paul to say, "by the one man's obedience the many
will be made righteous". Jesus' obedience on our behalf allowed him to be the perfect
sacrifice for us on the cross. His temptation also allows him to empathize with us and know
what we feel when we're experiencing temptations.
Ok, what good news we have in the midst of sin and failures. Adam and Eve sin, God makes
a promise, and God fulfills that promise in sending his son who is perfectly obedient
on our behalf and goes to the cross on our behalf. God's blessings on you as you study
his word this week!