1st Sunday of Lent Year C. By Tobe Eze

1^st Sunday of Lent Year C.

First Reading

Deuteronomy 26:4-10

Second Reading

Romans 10:8-13

Gospel

Luke 4:1-13

THEME: ROAD TO EGYPT.

A child of 11 years was saved from a burning house. The child was insisting on going back to the house. People were confused about what is pushing the child to act in that way. After several trials but failed, the child started crying. When the child was asked what the problem was, the child said that he left his toy inside the fire. What is a toy compare to his life? Was the child so stupid from your judgment? These and other questions will be answered latter in this reflection.

The first reading is recounting what the people of Israel passed through in the hands of the Egyptians and what led them to Egypt. They were seriously suffering hardship in their hands but the Lord came to their rescue. They cried to the Lord and he heard them. The funniest thing here is that, the major thing that led them into that slavery was food (ihe n’ aba n’ afo). Can we trace anything like that these days in our lives? Can we point out people who are in slavery both psychological, moral, spiritual and even physical and others that are led into that by things that enter the stomach? Continue Reading..........................

The second reading is telling us of what is necessary to us as Christians to do. We should believe and that justifies us. We are not only to be justified for faith alone cannot save us rather we should also proclaim it with our mouths and that will profit us salvation. Faith without good deeds cannot save us no matter how strong and big we think our faith can be (James 2:14-16). Christians’ creed is to live out our faith in Christ not only by saying it but by doing. In doing, we must have to conquer many temptations that come to us almost on daily basis.

The gospel is a narration of Jesus encounter with the devil in the desert after his 40 days and nights fasting. Jesus was tempted by the devil with things around him there but Jesus was able to conquer in the three contacts. The funniest thing here is that, Jesus quoted Bible for the devil maybe in other to scare him/it away but the devil in turn quoted bible for Jesus also (Psalm 90). It is not every bible quotation or people who quote bible every now and then are coming from God.

Why is it that the devil will always like to tempt people when they have gotten or when they embark on a serious spiritual journey? This is a crucial question we should have asked ourselves. The road to Egypt as the theme of this reflection is not to condemn every road leading to Egypt but to point out a serious point about the way we live our lives. The same road that led the Israelites to live when they lacked food at the same time led them to slavery. The same road saved Jesus from Herod when Joseph took him and his mother to Egypt. The same food that led the people of Israel to slavery is the same food that Jesus used to conquer the first temptation. Israelites knowing full well that their first slavery was because of food were still complaining and where ready to go back to slavery because of garlic, onions and cucumber. The same food, drinks meat, wealth and so on that have led many astray are what we are killing ourselves and others for. Jesus has delivered us from sin and through the gospel today is still telling us not to allow things that go into the mouth, wealth or material things and vain glory to lead us astray but we often choose to insist on going back to them just like the boy in the story above. We know many things that have enslaved us, Jesus is telling us today, that we can still live without them. Obughi so na ha ka anyi ga esi adi ndu. The devil will always tempt you with what you have and what you can do. We should beware of it. The devil told Jesus to do what he knew Jesus could comfortably do but he knew it was a temptation. Temptation do not come to us through what we cannot do or what we do not have, we should know it. Jesus did not give him opportunity to go further against Eve that allowed the devil to be asking and Eve doing the answering. Do not give the devil chance to ask so that you will answer for it may win you. The same road to Egypt for saving may lead to slavery, let us watch the one we are going towards. THANK AND HAPPY SUNDAY.