By Father Paul Nord, O.S.B.
Sunday Scripture
First Reading: Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7; Response: Psalm 51:3-6, 12-13, 17; Second Reading: Romans 5:12-19; Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11
Our reading begins with three verses from Genesis 2, which describe how God “formed man out of the clay of the ground.” The Hebrew words for “man” and “ground” are quite similar. The effect is to emphasize the man’s origin as “earthy.” Vivid imagery follows: God “blew into (the man’s) nostrils the breath of life.” Thus, God makes man “a living being.”
God is called by the name “YHWH” in Genesis 2-3. English translations indicate this by translating “YHWH” as “LORD” (capital letters). God reveals his name as “YHWH” to Moses in Exodus 3:14. Genesis and Exodus are the first two of the Torah’s five books, which the final human editors placed into a unit under divine inspiration. Thus Genesis 2-3 recognizes YHWH, the God of Israel, to be the creator of the heavens and the earth and everything else, including man and woman.
“Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east” (2:8). After God plants a garden, he begins to make “various trees grow,” which are both beautiful and fruit-bearing. Two trees are named: “the tree of life” and “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (2:9). Later, “the LORD God gave the man this order: You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die” (2:16-17). After man and woman disobey this command (3:1-7), they are expelled from the garden and no longer permitted to eat from the tree of life (Genesis 3:22-24).
Our reading skips ahead to Genesis 3: “Now the serpent was the most cunning.” Through the centuries, this serpent has often been identified with Satan, although the book of Genesis (an early text) does not use the word “Satan” (which means “adversary”). “Satan” is named in later biblical texts such as Job 1–2, Zechariah 3:1-2 and 1 Chronicles 21:1.
The serpent speaks to the woman and deliberately lies. God prohibited the man and woman only from eating of “the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” But the serpent depicts God as an oppressor who forbids them to eat “from any of the trees in the garden.” Although the woman defends God, the serpent’s deliberately false statement causes the woman to question God’s command about “the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”
The woman tells the serpent: “God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’” While the woman corrects the serpent’s lie, this only gives the serpent an opportunity to lie again, and to contradict what God had told man and woman: “You certainly will not die! No … your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods.” The serpent lies because death will indeed be the result of their sin. Also, the serpent foments pride in the woman — the desire to be like God rather than to accept the limits of human nature. So, both man and woman eat the forbidden fruit of the tree, and their eyes are opened to recognize their own nakedness.
The Responsorial is Psalm 51, a well-known “penitential psalm.” It begins: “Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness.” Here “goodness” is a translation for the Hebrew “Hesed,” which describes God’s faithfulness to his covenantal relationship with the people of Israel. The psalmist repeatedly acknowledges his sins before God. He begs God to cleanse him of his sins: “wipe out my offense … A clean heart create for me, O God … a steadfast spirit renew within me.” Verse 9 continues: “wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”
In today’s passage from Romans, Paul directly contrasts the first man (Adam) versus Jesus Christ. Through Adam, “sin entered the world, and through sin, death.” By contrast, Jesus Christ has brought a “gracious gift” — acquittal from transgressions and “the gift of justification” — “life through the one Jesus Christ.” Paul concludes by contrasting Adam’s “transgression” versus Jesus’ “righteous act” of crucifixion and resurrection. Paul contrasts Adam’s disobedience versus Jesus’ obedience, which makes Jesus’ followers “righteous.”
Matthew’s Gospel notes: Jesus “was led by the Spirit into the desert.” There are parallels between Jesus’ forty days in the desert and the Israelites’ forty years in the desert after God freed them from Egypt. The Israelites are tested by hunger in the desert. Thus, they learn obedience and dependence on God, who provides them with “bread from heaven.” So Jesus also demonstrates his obedience to God the Father. In these first two “temptations,” the devil begins by saying “if you are the Son of God….” The devil thus points to Jesus’ power as God’s Son. But Jesus instead emphasizes his obedience as a faithful Son to God the Father.
After Jesus “fasted” for forty days and nights, the devil tempts Jesus in his human hunger by saying: “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” But in his Incarnation, Jesus has chosen to share our human weakness of hunger and pain, and so Jesus refuses to use his divine power to avoid human suffering.
Next, the devil urges Jesus to throw himself down from the Jerusalem temple parapet. The devil portrays this as a test of God’s protective care for his Son, but Jesus refuses, citing Deuteronomy 6:16: “You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”
Finally, the devil promises to give Jesus the power and glory of the world’s kingdoms — “if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” But by his Incarnation, Jesus models how all humanity should worship the Lord God alone. In his response, Jesus cites Deuteronomy 6:13: “The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.” The devil tempts Jesus with the world’s kingdoms, but Jesus instead proclaims the arrival of God’s kingdom. Jesus refuses all earthly power and glory. Instead, Jesus reveals God’s glory in his crucifixion — divine love that redeems humanity.