1st Sunday in Lent A

Temptations
 1st Sunday in Lent A
1. In the 1st chapter of the Book of Genesis we read an account of creation, and then,
in the 2nd chapter, we get the story of the Garden of Eden.
Genesis is not meant to be read as an historical event, but as a set of stories that are meant
teach us lessons.
Using stories to teach was the preferred training tool in antiquity: the fables of Aesop in
Greece, Jesus using stories (parables) to explain things and train his disciples.
In the story of the garden of Eden we have all the elements of ancient stories: humans
interacting with gods, talking animals, a dramatic ending, and plenty of lessons to be learned:
a. The setting was a magnificent garden where the first human lived in a state of innocence,
and where everything was provided to them.
b. The rules were simple they could eat the fruit of any tree, except for one tree called the tree
of knowledge of good and evil, because if they ate from that tree they would die.
c. The snake in the story was not the devil but a talking animal we often find in fables. He
reasoned with Eve and told her that if they ate from the tree they would acquire the ability to
distinguish between good and evil, and so be like God who knows the difference between
good and evil.
d. Eve made a rational decision: it was a good idea to acquire wisdom. So she ate the fruit and
gave some to her husband who was standing right next to her.
e. Eve did not tempt Adam. They were together and both heard what the snake had to say.
f. The snake was right. They did not loose their lives, but lost their innocence: they became
conscious that they were naked. They were no longer like children, but had become adults.
g. There was another peculiar tree in the garden of Eden, called the tree of life. After the first
humans acquired the wisdom to know good from evil, if they had eaten from the tree of life,
they would have also acquired immortality, and be like gods. So God expelled them from the
Garden.
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2. What lessons can we draw from this story?
Remember that what people choose to learn from the Bible, often depends on their biases.
A great deal of misogyny is unfairly derived from this story. Some claim that Eve was the temptress that
convinced Adam to sin. But if we read carefully, Adam is standing right next to Eve when the snake
speaks to her. Adam does not object to eating the fruit, and goes along with the plan. It is only after
they get caught that he blames her and she blames the snake.
The story of Eden provides an explanation for the fact that humans are mortal. We have an immortal
soul, but a mortal body. Search for immortality was an obsession in antiquity. Genesis tells us that our
ancestors had a choice between freedom and immortality (eating from the tree of life) and chose
freedom, disobeyed God and this is why we all suffer and die..
The story of Eden teaches us that humans start making moral choices as they leave childhood and
become adults. We cant remain children forever. We grow up become responsible for our decisions.
The fruits of the tree of good and evil are the choices we make. We know what is right and what we are
expected to do. But we are tempted to chose what is expedient, convenient for us, and what gives us
most pleasure. When we choose selfish pleasure over what is right, we eat the forbidden fruit.
The story of Eden also teaches us that, because humans chose to disobey Gods orders, God had to
change his plans. We are not marionettes manipulated by God, God created us free to obey or disobey
him, as a consequence God changes his plans to adjust to what humans do.
The story of the Garden of Eden became the foundation of the Christian doctrine of original sin: with
Adam and Eve all humans were ejected from Eden and are born into sin.
3. In the letter to the Romans, Paul refers to the story of Eden, when he writes that sin came
into the world through one man (Adam), and from sin came death
When Paul talks about death in this passage, he is referring to spiritual death, the alienation from God that
is the outcome of making choices that go against the will of God. He uses this reference to make a point
about Jesus
By committing the original sin of disobedience The first humans got all humans expelled from the garden of
Eden. Humans lost their innocence. Each individual makes bad choices and becomes alienated from God.
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Jesus mission was to break the pattern of disobedience. He remained totally obedient to God, and his
radical obedience un-did the alienation from God caused by the disobedience of the first humans and
reconciled humanity to God. Jesus obedience was the remedy that fixed the problem for all those who
believe in him.
4. The Gospel of Matthew tells us that Jesus too was tempted to disobey God, and to eat the
forbidden fruit, but he resisted temptation and remained faithful to God
The story of the temptations of Christ is not the complete account of how he was tempted. The letter to
the Hebrews states that Jesus was tempted in every way, just like us. But the Gospel describes 3types of
temptations:
1. The temptation to use his miraculous powers for his own benefit: Jesus was hungry after a long fast, and
was tempted to use his powers to turn stones into bread. Later he would perform the multiplication of
bread and fish. Maybe he was tempted to use his powers to simply feed the hungry and forget the
spiritual end.
2. Jesus is tempted use his powers to achieve fame. Jumping off the highest building and landing unharmed
would have amazed everyone. But Jesus' miraculous powers were given to him to give credibility to his
message, not to make him rich and famous
3. Finally Jesus was tempted to be the kind of Messiah the Jews really expected: a powerful warrior leader
who would overthrow the Romans and make the Jews into a superpower. But Jesus did not go for that
either.
4. The Gospels describe one final temptation on the cross, when Jesus cried out, O my God, why have you
abandoned me. He was tempted to despair. But he added, into your hands I commend my spirit
5. We are constantly tempted by our own selfishness as we make choices.
. Everything in our culture is telling us: take care of #1. Grab everything we can: pleasures, money
Forget the neighbors. They are your competitors.
. To be grownups is to loose the innocence of childhood, to make choices. To sin is to go along with our
culture and seeks happiness in possessions, self gratification, and in using others for our pleasure
. To be Christians is to follow Christ and to choose to love our neighbors, to repent when we make a bad
choice and to be humble enough to recognize that we have been wrong, ask forgiveness and start over
again.