Homily First Sunday of Lent 2020 Year A St. Augustine of Canterbury Parish
Theme: “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of
God.” (Matthew 4:4)
Introduction
Who feeds our lives? What feeds are desires? What feeds our relationships? Lent is a season to examine the things, the people and places that feed our lives.
Who feeds our lives?
In the First reading of this First Sunday of Lent (Year A), we read, “The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). God formed man from the dust and fed man with his breath of life so that man became a living being. Based on (Genesis 2:7), God fed the human person, and God used his Spirit (breath) to lead man to life. In Genesis 2, God fed the human persons with many trees of a garden:
Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow
every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food,
the tree of life also in the midst of the garden,
and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
And the Lord God commanded the man,
“You may freely eat of every tree of the garden (Genesis 2: 9, 16)
The above verses of Genesis 2 indicate that God fed with and made available all the necessary food for nourishment for the human persons. There is no excuse or reason for the human person to yield to the temptations caused by food offered by the serpent:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal
that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God say,
‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent,
“We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;
but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree
that is in the middle of the garden,
nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’”
But the serpent said to the woman,
“You will not die;
for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
and that it was a delight to the eyes,
and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,
she took of its fruit and ate;
and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her,
and he ate. (Genesis 3:1-6)
In contrast, Jesus was led up by “the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1). Jesus is fed by the Spirit of God to prepare for his mission in the wilderness. In contrast to Genesis 3, Jesus refused the food offered by the tempter:
The tempter came and said to him,
“If you are the Son of God,
command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
But he answered, “It is written,
‘One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:3-4).
Jesus refused to be fed by the tempter. Jesus accepted to be fed with the word and food (bread) that God offered. Astonishingly, the man and woman in Genesis 3 were not famished or were lacking food supplies (Genesis 2: 9, 16) but they went ahead anyway to eat the food offered by the serpent. Jesus “fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished” (Matthew 4:2), probably starving and lacking food supplies; yet he refused to eat the food offered by the tempter. With this, the significant lesson for us during this season of Lent is that we need to watch out for occasions where the tempter is offering us something to eat whether we are hungry or not in order to distance us from our relationship with the ultimate person (God) who feeds us with good food for life.
In his public ministry, Jesus in turns fed 5000 people in the desert (Matthew 14:13-21) and another 4000 people (Matthew 15:29-39), having experienced hunger and lack of food supplies after fasting forty days and forty nights. In the Old Testament, God fed the people during their sojourn in the desert (Exodus 16) and the Prophet Elijah in the desert (1 Kings 17). Lent is therefore a season to depend upon God who feeds us. Lent is the time to return to the person (God) who feeds us with good nourishment for life.
What feeds are desires?
God feeds our desires. God fills up the human heart and mind with the desire to seek him, but evil can distort the ultimate person we should seek:
But the serpent said to the woman,
“You will not die;
for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
and that it was a delight to the eyes,
and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,
she took of its fruit and ate; (Genesis 3:4-6)
Lent is a season to re-direct our desires to seek God and worship him:
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him
all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour;
and he said to him,
“All these I will give you,
if you will fall down and worship me.”
Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan!
for it is written,
‘Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.’” (Matthew 4: 8-10)
What feeds our relationships?
God fed his relationship with man and woman in the garden of Eden, but after the original sin, this solemn relationship was torn apart. This relationship became “naked” (bare, unadorned, tarnished, flawed, and vulnerable):
she took of its fruit and ate;
and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her,
and he ate.
Then the eyes of both were opened,
and they knew that they were naked. (Genesis 3:6-7)
In contrast, Jesus’ relationship with God is solid, unblemished, flawless, and untarnished. Jesus declares that we should not tear down and put to test our relationship with God:
Then the devil took him to the holy city
and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him,
If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down;
for it is written,
‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus said to him, “Again it is written,
‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Matthew 4:5-7)
To nourish our relationship with God, God put man and woman in a garden of Eden:
And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east;
and there he put the man whom he had formed.
Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow
every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. (Genesis 2:8-9)
God put his son in the desert:
Jesus was led up by the Spirit
into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
He fasted forty days and forty nights. (Matthew 4:1-2)
The Spirit accompanied Jesus into the desert, most probably to empower him, to strengthen him, and to prompt him for the mission of God. In the Bible, the wilderness is a place for testing, wrestling, depending on God, and preparation for the mission of God as was the case of Jacob (Genesis 32:22-32; Genesis 28:10-22), Moses (Exodus 13:17-17:16), Elijah (1 Kings 19), John the Baptism (Matthew 3:1). Let this forty days of Lent be a season for us to get strengthened by
the Spirit of God.
Conclusion:
At this dawn of Lent 2020, are we willing to enter into the desert for forty days in order to strengthen our relationship with God? Are we willing to be fed by the word and bread from God alone? Are we willing to seek God and his glory?