Deut 26:4-11
Rom 10:8-13
Lk 4:1-13
In the ritual for the giving of thanks after the harvest, the Israelite offerer prayed a brief summary of salvation history. This actualizing of past experience is contained in today's first reading. It stresses the collective dimension of salvation. Paul reminds us that salvation in Christ is personal, deeply internal, a question of heart and lips. The Lucan account of Jesus' temptations exemplifies what the Christian response to evil should be. In views of its many similarities with that of Matthew, the reader is advised to refer to the commentary for the First Sunday of Lent, Year A.
The Hebrew believer presented a part of the annual harvest to the Lord as an expression of gratitude. The credo, which the offerer recites (vv5 - 10) blends appreciation for personal benefits with those received by Israel as a whole. The identification of the individual with the larger community is central to covenant faith.
The time of offering may well have been during the feast of weeks (Deut 16:9f) or may have been made at any time depending on the farmer's harvest. When the priest accepts the offering and places it on the altar (v4), the offerer makes his profession of faith.
Thanksgiving is at once connected with the exodus experience. A wandering Aramean (v5): Aram Naharaim in northern Mesopotamia is Abraham's land of origin where he lived a pastoral or nomadic life. The reference is not to any specific person but rather to the patriarchs as a whole. When oppressed in Egypt, the plight of the people is recognized and prompts Yahweh’s deliverance (vv6 - 9). It is interesting to note that the credo passes from Egypt to the land of promise with no mention of the Sinai covenant. This is not a singular occurrence in Israel’s liturgical life (Ex 15:1 -17). This may be due to the existence of two distinct traditions: one, the Sinai covenant; the other, the Egypt-Canaan deliverance. They were merged only in the course of time. Or the omission may be due to a type of narrative, which wanted to portray solely Yahweh’s beneficence to his people. Since the covenant was a bilateral agreement, it would not be included.
In appreciation of God's gifts to his people as well as to the offerer, the farmer presents the produce of his land and, joined by the priests in service at the sanctuary and the foreigners in his employ or in his surroundings, celebrates Yahweh’s goodness (vv.10ff). In his presence (v.10): Originally this would have referred to local sanctuaries. Under the deuteronomic reform of king Josiah in the seventh century, Jerusalem became the only legitimate place of cult. At that point the expression would have referred to the temple.
The psalmist stresses confidence in Yahweh who at the psalm’s end pledges salvation (vl6). The psalm is centered on the place where God's protective hand is assured (v.1). The two speakers are a cultic authority, probably a priest, and Yahweh, who at the end addresses the believer. The worshiper is urged to give expression to his confidence (v2), with the protection of the Lord described as angelic guidance and deliverance from all harm (vv.11f). Belief in the angels as protectors and guardians is a recurring theme in the Hebrew scriptures (Gen 24:7; Ex 23:20; Ps 34:8).
Yahweh speaks a word of assurance as the psalm ends (vv14ff) clear indications of Yahweh's saving hand were deliverance from any evil and the conferring of a long life. Where there is authentic dependence on Yahweh, salvation is guaranteed.
If Deuteronomy sets forth the collective dimension of salvation, Paul here touches on its personal and internal aspect. In this tenth chapter of Romans, Paul regrets the failure of the Jews to recognize true salvation (10: If). They continue to strive for their own "law" righteousness instead of that which comes as a total gift from God. This is not something distant or remote; that word of faith, the proclaimed salvation in Christ the Lord, is close and within reach. Or, more accurately, it is deep within (v8).
Salvation for Paul consists in a personal appropriation of what Christ has done for us. It entails recognition in faith that the man Jesus of Nazareth now enjoys with Yahweh the title “Lord.” And this is a faith that requires public expression. The pairing in vv9 and 10 should be seen as appositional, not sequential. Thus, confessing with the mouth and believing in the heart are two aspects of the single act of faith. Also, to say Jesus is Lord and to believe that God raised him from the dead are inseparable (Acts 2:33 - 36; Phil 2:9). Justified and saved express the same basic reality (Rom 8:30).
What Paul means by faith is a deep adherence and commitment to the Lord Jesus, who alone justifies and saves. This is a salvation open to all people, not the Jews exclusively (vl2). To invoke Jesus as Lord is not "cheap grace." The New Testament itself attests that many of those who did so in early Christianity paid a dear price (Mt 10:18; 1 Thes 2:2; Phil 1:29). Faith reflects itself in one's values and whole way of life. Paul here emphasizes its simplicity, its interiority and its gratuity.
As part of salvation, the Christian is called to deal forcefully with temptation. In this, Jesus is the model. The account of Jesus’ temptation in Luke parallels closely that of Matthew (see First Sunday of Lent, Year A). But there are significant differences, which will be touched upon here.
The Holy Spirit is a principal actor in Luke-Acts, as influencing both Jesus and the early church. Jesus has received that Spirit in baptism (3:22) and it now leads him to the contest with the evil (not designated as Satan). Unlike Matthew, Luke does not develop the concept of Jesus as a new Moses or a new Israel. While there are elements of that typology already present in his source (Q), which are highlighted and developed by Matthew, Luke does not choose to follow that line of thought, as he writes for a Christian audience with little background in Jewish tradition.
The reference to forty days (v2) does not have the Mosaic-Exodus connotation. It simply refers to an extended period of time (Jn 3:4). The Spirit-filled Jesus survives because of another food, God's will (v4). Although he does not eat, it is not referred to as a fast as in Matthew (4:2). This stone (v3) is more plausible and realistic than the "stones" of Matthew. The same is true of the manifestation of the kingdoms of the world (v5). Luke avoids the Matthean mountain top, from which a worldview would be impossible anyway, and presents it as an instantaneous vision (v5). There Luke has the devil offer Jesus power (exousia) as well as glory. Power in Luke is something to be studiously avoided (9:48; 18:17).
Luke also reorders the temptations. The final temptation takes place in Jerusalem (vv9ff), always the point of climactic destination in Luke. It is to Jerusalem that Jesus' journey or exodus takes him (9:51); from there he proceeds from the cross to the glory of the Father.
As in Matthew, the temptations present a literary triptych of the types of temptation to which Jesus was subjected during his ministry in a less dramatic fashion. The fact is that he resolutely put them down. The account is a paradigm for the Christian in responding to attractions that are not dissimilar in his or her life.
All of us tend to think of salvation in rather personal terms. If we saw it as collective, as Israel certainly did, we would undoubtedly have greater concern about other members of Christ's body, their struggles, their strengths and weaknesses. The homeless, the addicted, the unemployed would have to become more real. Those who have left the church for one reason or another would be more than a statistic. The church poster displayed in subway cars simply says, "Come home for Christmas.” It makes believers and non-believers stop and think.
Looking at
ourselves, we know that Paul's short formula for salvation is simple but not
simplistic. To say "Jesus is Lord" is to put him at the center of our
life. We are called to see Christ as the great gift of our existence. If we
accept him-and him alone-as our Savior, then our lives will be changed and
salvation is assured. This is far more than repeating a few words and far more
than Sunday morning religion. It means altering many things in life. It affects
commitment, marriage, family, work, and play. Evil of the sort confronted by
Jesus is with us at every turn. But victory-and salvation-are within our grasp.
Homiletic and Catechetical
Helps
1. Salvation: personal and collective.
2. First fruits for God: church support, tithing, charities.
3. Theology of the offertory collection.
4. The meaning of salvation by faith alone; the place of works.
5. The unity of heart and words.
6. Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue on justification.
7. Interpreting Jesus' three temptations in contemporary life.