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1^st SUNDAY IN LENT

Lent comes this year with some excellent connections between all three lessons.  In all three water is the primary metaphor and story detail.  Water destroys.  Water saves.  Water transforms. 

Genesis 9:8-17—Some through the waters, some through the Flood . . .

In the aftermath of the devastation and death brought about by the waters of the Food, God begins again with humanity by cutting covenant with Noah and his family.  With the covenant comes a promise that is repeated throughout the lesson:  “Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”  The passage includes further a symbol of the promise of the covenant: the beautiful rainbow.   Rainbows stood middle way between humanity and God; and when God looked down and humans lookup, the rainbow could remind either of the covenant that “Never again . . .”

1 Peter 3:18-22—The Noah Connection: this water symbolizes baptism

In this passage, the writer alludes to our first le3sson—the Flood—but with an interesting christocentric interpretation.   The lesson begins with the global efficacy of Christ’s passion—through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, all can be brought to God—“Christ died for sins once and for all.”  But here’s the interpretive twist:   through the Spirit, Jesus went and preached to those who resisted God’s grace all the way back in Noah’s time.  The writer then moves to those inside the ark, “eight in all” who were saved through water.  Water is the connection—the symbol of destruction and salvation—that flows freely between Noah and Christians to remind us of God’s covenant and promise.

Mark 1:9-15—Jesus’ Baptism and Testing

We’re back in the water in the gospel lesson as Jesus arrives at the Jordan River and is baptized.  Mark clearly places the emphasis on what happens during his baptism than on the temptation that follows.  In Mark’s version, as Jesus comes up out of the water, he sees heaven being ripped open and he sees the Spirit descending on him like a dove.  And he hears the words that frame our passage’s theme:  You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well-pleased.”  Without delay, the Spirit sends him out into the desert for his Lenten 40 days “being tempted by Satan.”  Mark adds an interesting piece of detail: “he was with the wild animals and angels attended him.”