It took a year to read the Bible, then almost 9 months to read the Apocrypha. Now, I'm going to try to offer reflections on the Narrative Lectionary. But, I won't be posting daily--at least, for a while.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Three Tests, a Reflection on Luke 4:1-13

The gospel reading for Sunday, the first Sunday in Lent this year is a retelling of the temptation narrative in Luke. I'm reading Sharon Ringe's commentary on Luke and recommend it.

A new insight I got today is the image that Jesus is on trial and the devil is the prosecuting attorney. (This metaphor may work for me because of my predilection to watching a certain kind of TV show). As Ringe puts it, the Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the situation in which the devil questions him. The questions and Jesus' answers are "all drawn from biblical models and responses."

More from Ringe:
What could be wrong with turning stones into bread? Nothing really is wrong with it, Jesus rejects the challenge not because it is wrong, but because it is inadequate: "One does not live by bread alone."....

and
Why not accept political authority? The tradition links political compromise with betrayal of the commandment to worship only God.


Allen & Williamson, on the other hand, see the devil not as a prosecuting attorney but as the embodiment of temptation to resistance to God, that is, the temptation to give up on God's being able to restore things. They interpret Jesus' response to the first test as resisting the temptation to turn to things necessary for life rather than to God.

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