1st Sunday of Lent

9 March 2025

Lectionary Readings: Deut. 26:4-10; Ps. 91:1-2, 10-15; Rom. 10:8-13; LK. 4:1-13

Theme: “Jesus is LORD”

In Luke 3:21-22, Jesus is baptized by John and hears the Bat Kol and sees the Holy Spirit descending on him in the form of a dove. What Jesus hears is: “You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased.” Our Gospel reading for today begins as follows: ^“Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, where he was tempted by the devil. During that time, he ate nothing, and at the end of it he was famished.” (4:1-2) The Goodness of God, made man, is faced with the Evil One and so the final battle begins which will lead to the Cross – the seeming end of the Good One – but the Resurrection to new life puts an end to the power of the Evil One for all of creation.

     The first reading from Deuteronomy expresses the Creed of the Chosen people (also called Son) of God. It is from this book, the legacy of Moses to the people of God that Jesus confronts his enemy and tempter. The tempter picks on Jesus’ weakness of hunger but also his possible hunger for power. Jesus answers him with words from Deut. 8:3. The devil is faced with the power of the LORD for God’s people in the desert.

  The second temptation concerns power over all kingdoms if Jesus will bow down to evil. Jesus answers him with the First Commandment from Ex. 20: 2-3 and Deut. 6:13. The third temptation is testing the promises of God. Satan quotes Psalm 91:11-12. Jesus answers him with words from Deut.6:16.

     In Psalm 80 God is addressed as the Shepherd of Israel who brought a vine (Israel) out of Egypt and planted it in the Promised Land. In John 10:11 Jesus calls himself the ‘Good Shepherd’ and in John 15:1 Jesus states he is the ‘true vine’. Verse 10 of our reading from Deuteronomy states: “Now I have brought the first fruits of the land that you, O Lord, have given me.” Then place it before the Lord, your God, and worship the Lord, your God.” Jesus is the true Son of God who stands up to Satan and destroys him for us as our Savior. So, we say with Paul in Romans: “Jesus is LORD,” The word “LORD” occurs some 6,000 times in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) for the Sacred name of God translated as “Adonai” or “Hashem” (the Name) by the Jews. Here it is applied to Jesus by an early baptismal profession of faith to indicate Christ’s divinity.

For Reflection and Discussion: 1) Reflect on Psalm 91:14-15 as describing Jesus in the desert. What hope do these promises hold for us this Lent?2) How will the awareness and repetition of “Jesus is LORD” affect your spiritual life this Lent?

Bibliography: Hayford, Jack W. (General Editor) Spirit Filled Life Bible (Nashville:1991); The Daily Missal (Paulines Publications, Africa:2012); www.biblegateway.com – New Catholic Bible (NCB)

This week’s Sunday Liturgy Commentary was prepared by

Bernadette Chellew KZN, South Africa, Bat Kol Alumna 2008

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