Life-Giving Obedience: First Sunday Of Lent
Sermon by Emmanuel Suntheni OSB – First Sunday Of Lent – Year A
Sermon And Christian Act In The Word
Theme: God is in Control! Total Obedience to God amidst Temptations! Life-giving obedience!
Point of Reflection: Am I ready to repent? Am I ready to obey God and allow God to be in control? In spite of human sinfulness and wickedness, which goes contrary to God’s intentions and plans, God in his wisdom guides the people towards final salvation. Nothing can stand in the way of God’s redeeming grace and salvific love. This choice is in our hands to faithfully live a Lenten life as the Psalmist in his plea, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me”.
First Reading: Genesis 2:7–9, 3:1–7
Psalm: Psalm 51:3–6, 12–13, 17
Second Reading: Romans 5:12–19
Gospel: Matthew 4:1–11
Sermon (Reflection): The mother Church on the first Sunday of Lent celebrates the rite of election or enrolment of names for Catechumens who are to be admitted to the Sacraments of Christian Initiation at the Easter Vigil. The theme surrounding the Scriptural readings of the first Sunday of Lent is totally linked to obedience, trusting in God amidst temptations and allowing God to be fully in charge of our life. This is manifested in God’s unconditional covenant with Noah and the victory of Jesus during temptations in wildness where He stayed for 40 days.
The first reading comes from the opening chapters of the first book of the Bible, Genesis, which describe the origins of humankind. To describe this beginning, the author uses two different stories which, when read in conjunction, offer a profound insight into the nature of human beings in their relationship to God, to one another and to nature. Today’s first reading contain the second of these stories, which presents humanity as the very first fruit of God’s creating activities. The story then sketches out God’s careful preparation of the living-space for humanity, thus, planting the garden with trees full of delightful fruits and watering the earth abundantly. All is set and prepared to allow life to flourish. As a Christian are you ready for the Lenten season? Take time and reflect on your life!
Humanity is created to exist in a special relationship with God, since it is animated by God’s own “breath of life”. This indicates the profound dependence of human life on God. Losing “God’s breath” would mean the absence of that which makes a person alive and it would end in death.
Unfortunately, the first people violated God’s life-giving command. A detailed description of events that led to breaking God’s command in Gen 3, shows the reason for this destructive disobedience. The story states that the first people lost the awareness of God’s gift. Instead, they treated God’s command not to eat the forbidden fruit, as an intrusive restriction. The conversation between the woman and the snake reveals an undue focus on the limits set by God, completely overlooking the good intention that underlined God’s command. God’s statement which the woman quoted, “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”, must have been told to her by the man, to whom these words were earlier addressed (cf. Gen 2:16-17). There is no sense of gratitude for all the other gifts, all the other fruits of the garden and the harmony they could enjoy. The first people accepted this distorted image of God, suggested to them by the tempter, and chose to act against God. Their violation of the restrictions placed upon them by God had disastrous consequences. First, it led to the opening of their eyes, and the recognition “that they were naked.” Their lack of trust that the limits set by God are for their own good and protection, led to distortion of their own relationships. Humans experienced their “nakedness” which symbolises weakness and vulnerability, which from that moment will be their daily experience. As Christians, are we not naked? During this Lenten season let us dress ourselves.
In the second reading of today, St Paul’s exposes the faithful’s new situation as made righteous through God’s grace “in Christ” occupies a major part of his letter to the Romans. In today’s reading he contrasts Adam, the first parent and the “new Adam” thus, Christ. His reasoning is complex, but it rests on a simple contrast between the situation of “sin” resulting in “death”, and the state of “grace/gift” bringing “righteousness” and “life”. The first one is linked with Adam and his “trespass”, while the second one with Jesus Christ. The key difference between Adam and Christ in Paul’s thinking is obedience. The disobedience of Adam makes “sinners” taste death. This death is experienced in disorder and the corruption of mutual relations. In contrast, the obedience of Christ restored the condition of “righteousness” – the right relationship to God and others. This restoration of the right relationship for those who were once slaves to sin takes place through immersion “in Christ” through baptism. Receiving this grace of inclusion into Christ as a gift, believers are exhorted to adhere to the obedience of Jesus himself. Right and harmonious relationships were destroyed by the first sin. Christ restored these relationships through his obedience to God.
In the Gospel of today’s narrative, the attention is on the scene of Jesus’ temptation and it follows immediately after the scene of his baptism. At his baptism Jesus was called God’s beloved son. In the desert, faced with the deceptions of Satan, he proved his faithfulness and obedience to the Father, resisting the tempter three times. The experience of Jesus in the desert lasts “forty days and forty nights”, which evokes the journey of Israel from Egypt. After crossing the Red Sea, the people faced the desert and its temptations. Their complaint about the lack of bread (Exodus 16) is echoed in the first temptation of Jesus. Their questioning of God’s saving presence (Exodus 17) is seen in the second temptation. Finally, worship of the molten calf (Exodus 32) in reflected the third temptation. The Israelites failed to trust and obey God who rescued them from slavery. Jesus, at the very beginning of his public ministry confronted the same type of challenges as they did, but showed himself faithful and obedient. Building on the word of God and in trusting obedience, he overcame the traps of the tempter. As the obedient Son who would carry out God’s will, he would become the foundation of God’s new people, a faithful new Israel whose life is sustained by trustful and life giving obedience, modeled on the example of Jesus himself.
Christian Act in Word of God “Trusting Obedience”
As we begin our Lenten journey, the liturgy of the first Sunday invites us to prepare for this season by setting a fundamental goal that will guide our choices, and will enable us to overcome all the hardships and challenges. This goal is to become persons who live in trusting obedience to God our Father, and thus grow to become ever more people of integrity and dignity. Achieving such goal requires reflection followed by decisive choices.
Changing anything in one’s life is always a challenge. We have to be prepared to make critical judgments on our life, followed by choices implemented with strength and determination. Without decisiveness we will fail, and can even fall into deeper problems. Therefore, as we begin Lent we have to make firm decisions in the direction of personal conversion and spiritual renewal. To attain our goals, we need to be courageous, and strong both physically and spiritually. A good place to begin is to look at our daily life and ask what bad habits and attitudes do we need to work on and change? What are some harmful behaviours that plunge us into addictions and other destructive vices? In this Lenten season let us look at our daily attitudes and behaviours because they reflect who we really are.
As Christians today we face many temptations that lead us away from God. We have even less time to pray, or to read scripture. For many of us, seeking pleasure and having fun has replaced God in our daily life. Many prefer watching football on a Sunday, rather than attending Church. Spending time in shops and cinemas has replaced family and community time. Yet, loss of contact with God, leads to a loss of trust and confidence in him, and that inevitably leads to making wrong choices.
It would be good therefore, at the beginning of this Lent, to examine ourselves and see
What habits and attitudes undermine my trust and confidence in God.
Action: During the entire Lenten season, I will allow God to be in control of my life.
Prayer: O Loving God of mercy and compassion, look with favour on us as we begin this Lenten season. Save us, Lord, from temptations and, if they come, grant us the necessary strength and grace to overcome them. Guide us into the pathways of total trust and obedience as we make choices that will enhance our lives in the societies we live in. Grant us, we beseech you, the grace to recognise your enduring presence even in moments when our faith is put to the test. Give us the strength to overcome all that seeks to draw us away from you, we ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.
- Laetare Sunday: 4th Sunday of Lent - March 12, 2026
- Jesus Christ is the Living Water: 3rd Sunday of Lent - March 6, 2026
- Listen to the Will of God: 2nd Sunday of Lent - February 27, 2026
