[00:00:05] Hello! My name is Sally Moriarty-Flask; welcome to: From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible Study podcast. Together we will explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass on Sunday, March 9, 2025, the First Sunday of Lent.
[00:00:23] This week's episode is entitled: Being Tempted and in these readings, we will honestly acknowledge how often each of us is tempted to do the wrong thing because, really, that's part of what Lent is all about, isn't it? Facing the things that tempt us and disciplining ourselves to listen less to the world and more to Jesus.
[00:00:51] As we journey through the readings this week, consider the following:
We need to tune out the incessant messages of our selfish, self-centered world so that we can focus our hearts and minds on God. So, what Lenten disciplines will most effectively help us accomplish that?
[00:01:16] Let's begin.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:01:22] Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for this penitential season of Lent. Let the disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that you encourage us to undertake cleanse our minds, soften our hearts, and focus our attention on you whom we should love above all things. We ask this through your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:01:54] Now that we've opened our hearts in prayer, let's listen to what God is telling us in the Scriptures. Our Gospel this week is from Luke 4: 1-13.
“[Filled with] the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. [H]e ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone.”’ And the devil took him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, ‘To you I will give all this authority in their glory; for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it shall all be yours.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.”’ And he took him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here; for it is written, “He will give his angels charge of you, to guard you,” and “On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.”
[00:03:46] The First Sunday of Lent always tells us the story of the Temptation of Jesus in the desert. This year, in Cycle C, we hear Luke's version. If you remember back to the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, I said that we skipped over the Temptation Narrative then because we'd hear it another time? Well, now's the time! It's important every year for us to hear the Gospel accounts of Jesus's Temptation in the wilderness (or the desert) because they help us identify and confront our own temptations in this world.
[00:04:28] Now, this passage takes place after the Baptism of Jesus and, using - or beginning - at exactly the same spot on the River Jordan where Jesus' Baptism occurred. But Luke shifts our focus from the preaching and baptizing ministry of John the Baptist onto the origin of Jesus’ public ministry. Now, that location isn't always quite so obvious because Luke situates the Genealogy of Jesus smack dab in between the account of Jesus’ Baptism and the Temptation Narrative. Keeping in mind that Luke's stated purpose is to provide an orderly, truthful, and historically accurate account of the events of Jesus' life, then it actually makes perfect sense that he places the Genealogy of Jesus - which situates Jesus' life at a specific time in history and in a specific line of descent - Luke situates all of that after our first public encounter with the adult Jesus in his Baptism. One other thing I want to point out before we go on is that Luke presents his Genealogy in reverse order… meaning that he begins with Jesus at the age of 30 years old (which is when he began his public ministry) and traces his ancestry backwards until he reaches all the way to Adam - the first man. Why is that significant? Well, Luke refers to Adam as the son of God (lowercase “s” son). Adam is the son of God in the genealogy and, of course, Jesus is the new Adam and the divine Son of God (capital “S” Son). With all that in mind, let's break open Luke's account of the Temptation…
“[Filled with] the Holy Spirit,”
I want to spend just a little bit of time with that phrase. We tend to just kind of blow right by it. The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that when the Father sends his Word (capital “W” Word, meaning Jesus)… when the Father sends his Word he always sends his Breath (capital “B” Breath, meaning the Holy Spirit).
[00:07:11] So… when the Father sends his Word he always sends his Breath AND that the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable.
[00:07:23] Now, those quotes may not have been particularly helpful. And if that's the case, then good.
[00:07:29] That's kind of how it should be. Mysteries of faith, like the three persons of the Trinity, are truths that the human mind would never have been able to reason out on its own. That's why they're called mysteries.
[00:07:46] But that doesn't mean that they are somehow completely unknowable. It means that they must be disclosed to us by divine revelation. In other words, God has to tell us about himself, which he does in the Scriptures. And it means that we will never fully understand them in this life. Those mysteries, those truths, will never be fully grasped by our limited human understanding.
[00:08:23] Saint Augustine said that trying to fit the Trinity into the human mind is like trying to fit the ocean into a tiny hole… the reality is much too vast to ever be fully contained by anything so limited. We comprehend what we can in this life and look forward to a greater understanding in the next. So…
“Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit for forty days in the wilderness,”
After his Baptism in the Jordan… remember, I said Luke starts this Temptation Narrative in the same place where the Baptism occurred. After his Baptism in the Jordan, the same Holy Spirit - that hovered over Jesus like a dove - then led him into the wilderness.
[00:09:20] And the number 40 is significant, right? In it we should hear the echoes of the 40-year sojourn of the Israelites in the desert, the 40 days that Moses spent atop Mount Sinai, the 40 days of rain that God sent to cleanse the earth after Noah built the ark, and Elijah's 40-day journey to Mount Horeb.
[00:09:49] The number 40 comes from two other perfect numbers, right? Four (the cardinal directions of the earth - which means all of creation) and 10, which is a perfect number (it's the number of God's law, the Ten Commandments). So, the product of two perfect numbers gives us another perfect number. And that number “40” signifies a period of time long enough to affect some type of fundamental change. Whether that change impacts the world (as it did with the flood when Noah and his family were in the ark), whether it impacts a community (as it did with the Israelites during the Exodus), or whether it impacts just a single man (as it did with Elijah and Moses).
[00:10:53] “[forty days] tempted by the devil.”
[00:10:57] While the number of days is important, the temptation is the detail that is actually most significant. The word temptation should recall for us… the temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden - a temptation which they failed to resist when they ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
[00:11:22] We should also recognize, albeit it may seem a little bit more difficult, but we should also recognize the temptation of the Israelites - a temptation which they failed to turn away from when they constructed a golden calf to worship instead of God at the base of Mount Sinai… among - oh, many others - but I'll leave it with that one. Then Scripture presents this temptation to us where Jesus is tempted in the desert - several temptations in fact, right? All of which he successfully resists!
[00:12:08] So let's go through them….
[00:12:11] “[H]e ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended, he was hungry.”
[00:12:16] That has to be a profound understatement, right? But just as Moses went without food for 40 days atop Mount Sinai, Jesus - the new Moses - went for 40 days without food in the desert.
[00:12:34] “The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’”
[00:12:41] So the word devil comes from the Greek word: diabolos which means - actually - slanderer. The term we are likely more familiar with is from Hebrew, and it's Satan which means adversary.
[00:13:00] And what is the first word Jesus' adversary says to him? IF, right? IF! The devil is challenging Jesus, he's challenging Jesus’ status as God's Son by suggesting that God should grant Jesus some type of special favor regarding his physical comfort and personal gratification, right?
[00:13:30] Turn this stone into bread! You're hungry - do something about it! Clearly though, the devil simply is unable to understand Jesus’ mission on earth.
[00:13:45] “Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone.”’”
[00:13:52] Jesus’ answer to the devil's challenge is to quote Sacred Scripture. This is from Deuteronomy 8. But the devil doesn't stop there. Next…
[00:14:06] “[H]e took him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, ‘To you I will give all this authority and their glory; for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it shall all be yours.’”
[00:14:29] The second challenge that the devil puts before Jesus is the temptation of temporal power and riches. Let's face it, that's probably one of our greatest temptations as well, right? And, again, the devil says to Jesus IF! But his assertions are simply lies, as are all the devil's statements.
[00:14:59] The devil doesn't have supreme earthly authority. There are - at times - indications that it seems that way, right? When we see all the war, hatred, violence, division, and destruction in the world, it certainly seems like the devil may have the upper hand. But despite all of that, such supreme authority has never been delivered into the hands of the devil. And the devil says: IF YOU WILL WORSHIP ME. But worship is appropriate for God alone. So, Jesus again counters with sacred Scripture. He says…
[00:15:42] “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”
[00:15:49] This is from Deuteronomy 6, reminding us that all power and authority - be it earthly or heavenly - comes from God alone, and that our gratitude for God's goodness to us is offering up to him our worship.
[00:16:11] “And [the devil] took [Jesus] to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here; for it is written, “He will give his angels charge of you, to guard you,” and “On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”’”
[00:16:34] This is the third and final challenge, right? The temptation to give in to personal pride and take control of the situation for himself, rather than humbly trusting in his Father's providence.
[00:16:52] This is also a reminder to us that we need to set aside our personal pride - to be humble and to trust in God. And what does the devil do in this third and final challenge? He quotes Scripture himself! He quotes Psalm 91 - which is actually our Psalm this week, so we'll hear that shortly. But the biggest lesson that we can, and should, take away from this passage is that anyone can quote Scripture. And just because someone does quote Scripture, it doesn't mean that they are a good person or that the opinion they hold or the cause they espouse are just.
[00:17:44] Anyone can quote Scripture! If the devil quotes Scripture, anyone can. That's a good reminder to us that we also need to be very careful about who we choose to listen to and what sources we trust to provide us with accurate information.
[00:18:06] And the best way we can do that is to listen to all sides of any situation, right? Not just the ones we like… not just the people we agree with… but all sides of a situation - listen to everything and decide accordingly. And that's exactly what Saint Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians, right? He says, “test everything, retain what is good.” Good advice!
[00:18:44] “And Jesus answered him, ‘it is said, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”’”
Jesus again responds with Scripture, this time Deuteronomy 6, again. This should remind us, too, that we shouldn't test God! We shouldn't annoy him, we shouldn't challenge him, we shouldn't bargain with him. And at the worst, we should never reject him out of our own foolishness - our own foolish pride - our own desire to be in control of every situation.
[00:19:32] “And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.”
[00:19:42] Luke mentions an opportune time for the devil's return… and that actually takes place in chapter 22, when Luke tells us: SATAN ENTERED INTO JUDAS ISCARIOT (that's verse 3) and again, when the chief priests and elders come to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, and he says: THIS IS YOUR HOUR AND THE POWER OF DARKNESS (and that's verse 53).
[00:20:15] The actual wilderness - the desert wilderness - that Jesus entered into, was adopted as a means of personal self-discipline for many of the early church fathers. Men who became hermits and ascetics in order to devote themselves more effectively to self-discipline and prayer, and who later came to be known as the Desert Fathers… people like Saint Jerome, Saint Anthony of Egypt, and Saint John Cassian, to name just a few.
[00:20:54] Being in the wilderness allowed the Desert Fathers to eliminate the distractions of everyday life and to focus their hearts and minds on God alone. Very few of us are called to make that sort of radical life change. Some of us are.
[00:21:20] Some of us are called to become priests. Some of us are called to become monks… think of Thomas Merton, who famously left behind a very profligate lifestyle to become an isolated prayerful monk in Gethsemane in Kentucky.
[00:21:45] But there is a type of wilderness that we are called into every year, and that is the wilderness of Lent. And that wilderness does encourage us to eliminate the distractions of everyday life and focus our minds and hearts on God.
[00:22:12] As we enter into this season of Lent, we need to ask ourselves, who or what is the center of our universe? Who or what is the focus of our minds and hearts? And if the answer isn't God and his love, then we need to take full advantage of the disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to eliminate the distractions of this sinful world. To focus our hearts and minds on listening to what God is saying to us and taming our pride so that we can humbly accept his will for our lives.
[00:23:15] That takes us to our First Reading, which is from the book of Deuteronomy 26: 4-10.
“[Moses spoke to the people, saying:] ‘The priest shall take the basket from your hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God. And you shall make response before the LORD your God, “A wandering Arame’an was my father; and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. And the Egyptians treated us harshly, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage. Then we cried to the LORD the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice, and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror, with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O LORD, have given me.” And you shall set it before the LORD your God, and worship before the LORD your God.”
[00:24:42] The book of Deuteronomy, remember, is one long, grand speech made by Moses before the Israelites entered the Promised Land.
[00:24:55] It is divided into four addresses, and this particular passage comes from the second address. It is from a section that has been labeled by some as the Deuteronomic code, and it begins with the words: “These are the statutes and ordinances which you shall be careful to do in the land which the LORD has given you to possess.” Pretty strong instructions meaning: listen! Pay attention to everything that follows!
[00:25:29] This section combines the Shema Israel (which is the prayer that is the central affirmation of the Jewish faith) and the Law given to Moses on Mount Sinai in order to create a code which the Israelites will live by in the Promised Land as a people chosen by God and set apart in holiness.
[00:25:54] What we miss by not hearing the first 3 verses of this chapter is that the first fruits of the new harvest are what are to be placed in the basket given to the priest - and that this is a thanksgiving sacrifice that will become an annual tithe. So, let's go back…
[00:26:22] [Moses spoke to the people, saying:] The priest shall take the basket from your hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God.”
Again, that basket - given to the priest - was to be filled with the first fruits of the very first crops harvested after the people entered the Promised Land. Recently, you may remember, I mentioned that the first fruits of the harvest were considered to be gifts from God and therefore holy. These gifts would then be offered in gratitude for the blessing of a new land that provided an abundant harvest… a thanksgiving sacrifice.
“And you shall make response before the LORD your God,”
[00:27:12] Now the following verses begin one long quote, and they are intended as a declaration - to be made in God's presence - that recount the events of the captivity and eventual exodus of the people from Egypt. So, let's break them down…
[00:27:39] “A wandering Arame’an was my father;”
[00:27:43] There's some - I don't want to say controversy… there are some disagreements - about who that line actually refers to. Some think it refers to Jacob, whose father-in-law, Laban, was an Aramean. It's also possible that it refers to Abraham, who came from Ur of the Chaldeans, which some biblical scholars believe was located within the larger territory of Aram.
[00:28:16] “and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number;”
[00:28:22] These words - that line - is why scholars say the term WANDERING ARAMEAN really does refer to Jacob. And to understand that, we need to think back to the story of Joseph in Genesis, because it was Jacob's son, Joseph, who was first sold into slavery in Egypt by his envious brothers… and Joseph, who later rose to a position of power and influence in the court of Pharaoh - second only to Pharaoh himself - after correctly interpreting Pharaoh's troubling dreams. It was at the height of the great famine predicted by Pharaoh's dreams that Jacob (Joseph's father, along with his 11 brothers and all of their extended family) - that's when they migrated to Egypt - at Joseph's invitation in order to escape starvation in their homeland of Canaan. The quote then goes on…
“and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous.”
Meaning that the descendants of Jacob and his twelve sons flourished in the land of Egypt.
[00:29:39] “And the Egyptians treated us harshly, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage.”
[00:29:46] Exodus 1:8 says: THERE AROSE A NEW KING IN EGYPT WHO DID NOT KNOW JOSEPH, meaning that the Egyptians lost their historical connection with the Israelite named Joseph, who rose to become second-in-command to Pharaoh and who was responsible for the Egyptian people surviving the great famine. As the Israelites continued to flourish and their population continued to increase, the Egyptian people came to fear the Israelites and they eventually enslaved them. The quote goes on…
[00:30:35] “Then we cried to the LORD the God of our fathers,”
[00:30:39] Think back to Moses’ encounter with God in the Burning Bush. When Moses asked God, who shall I say sent me? God answered: SAY TO THE SONS OF ISRAEL, THE GOD OF YOUR FATHERS HAS SENT ME TO YOU. So, when the Israelites called upon God, that is how they addressed him… the LORD the God of our fathers.
“and the LORD heard our voice, and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression;”
[00:31:13] That is exactly what God says to Moses out of the Burning Bush in Exodus 3, right? He says: I HAVE SEEN THE AFFLICTION OF MY PEOPLE, I HAVE HEARD THEIR CRY, I KNOW THEIR SUFFERINGS.
“and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm,”
Meaning Moses and his shepherd's staff, which - at the Burning Bush and then again in Egypt - God turned into a serpent and then back into a staff. The quote goes on…
“with great terror, and with signs and wonders:”
Things like the Ten Plagues that affected Egypt, the pillar of cloud and fire that led the Israelites on their journey, the parting of the Red Sea, and many other signs and wonders.
[00:32:15] “and he brought us into this place”
Through the Exodus, right? That was their journey of 40 years that led to the Promised Land.
“and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
That precisely means the Promised Land. The words MILK AND HONEY are intended to describe a homeland rich with milk produced by plentiful livestock and honey from bees, whose presence also promises an abundance of flowers and fruit and healthy crops. More symbolically, milk represents basic nourishment and honey represents prosperity.
“And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O LORD, have given me.”
As I mentioned when we began this passage, the first fruits of the harvest are gifts from God and are, therefore, holy themselves. They are in turn offered back to God in a sacrifice of thanksgiving and gratitude, and - by becoming an annual tithe - they come to represent evidence of a successful life in the Promised Land.
[00:33:50] “And you shall set it down before the LORD your God, and worship before the LORD your God.”
[00:33:57] For the Chosen People (the Israelites, the Jews), their collective memory of the covenant with God and the events of their history as recorded in the Scriptures help to shape their communal identity, maintain the authenticity of their religious observances, reinforce their identity as God's Chosen People, and both form and inform the next generation.
It is - in many ways - the same for Christians… for us - as Christians. That is one of the reasons we observe this penitential season of Lent every year. We need to be reminded, on a regular basis, that Jesus lived… for us, that he was tempted… for us, that he was tortured and crucified… for us, that he rose again… for us, that he loves… us - relentlessly, unconditionally, generously.
[00:35:24] 40 days of self-discipline, once a year, seem like a relatively insignificant price to pay for such extravagant and selfless love and devotion.
[00:35:42] Our Responsorial Psalm this week is Psalm 91 (as I mentioned before) and the refrain is:
“Be with me, LORD, when I am in trouble.”
[00:35:52] Okay, this is another one of those instances when the refrain is highly paraphrased. The original NAB translation says: I will be with him in distress; the RSV refrain is: I will be with him in trouble. In both translations, the last three verses of the Psalm are spoken as if by God, whereas the liturgical refrain used here is presented from the point of view of the Psalmist, and it becomes a request rather than a statement: Be with me, LORD, when I am in trouble.
[00:36:36] Here are the verses:
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, who abides in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the LORD, ‘My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust. [N]o evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent. For he will give his angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion in the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot. Because he clings to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will rescue him and honor him.”
[00:37:36] And as I read through it, hopefully, it was easy for you to hear the difference in persons there, right? The first verses were clearly spoken in the voice of the Psalmist, where the last verses - that last section - was spoken as God's response. And this Psalm is an Individual Prayer of Confidence which tells us that anyone who is under God's protection has no reason to fear anything for God provides shelter, security, refuge, and strength. When we hear the words: FOR HE WILL GIVE HIS ANGELS CHARGE OF YOU TO GUARD YOU IN ALL YOUR WAYS… those words are very likely what have formed the basis of our understanding of guardian angels.
[00:38:31] And when the Psalmist lists fearsome things like a LION, ADDER, YOUNG LION and SERPENT, those could be referring to actual natural threats, or it could also refer to threatening human enemies. And, of course, as I said, the last verse is God's response to the Psalmist's prayer. We can see in the words: BECAUSE HE CLINGS TO ME IN LOVE, that it is love that forms the basis for all of the actions God takes and the promises and assurance that he gives - deliverance, protection, communication, companionship, and, finally, honor.
[00:39:22] The words: HE KNOWS MY NAME, remind us of God's response to Moses from the Burning Bush: I AM WHO I AM. That is called the Tetragrammaton - YHWH. Jewish people still do not say the name of God. Instead they say Adonai or El Shaddai. And remember, back to our Gospel? This, as I told you, is the Psalm which the devil quotes to Jesus.
[00:39:54] Interestingly enough, Psalms is also the book that Jesus himself most often quoted.
[00:40:03] That leads us to our Second Reading, which is from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans 10: 8-13.
“[Brothers and Sisters:] [W]hat does [Scripture] say? The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach); because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your hearts that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved. The Scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon him. For, ‘every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
[00:41:05] Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans is what is called an Ambassadorial Letter, meaning that Paul wrote it to introduce himself to a Christian community that was already well established with members of both Jewish and Gentile origin. This letter was most likely written when Paul was in Corinth somewhere between 56 and 58 AD.
[00:41:34] His intent was to garner support from the Church in Rome so that he could launch a new mission to Spain, which unfortunately never took place because Paul was arrested and sent to Rome as a prisoner.
[00:41:52] While the message of Paul's letter is a familiar one to his already Christian audience, it nevertheless serves to introduce them to his own theological perspective, which most likely accounts for the length of this letter… Romans is the longest of all of Paul's letters. In Romans, Paul explains that salvation comes not through the works of Mosaic law, but is freely offered to all people, regardless of their social background or racial origin, by virtue of their faith in the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. And, that while faith alone is key to salvation, those who accept the gift of faith must then live according to God's will, and their activity in the world should demonstrate their new identity as followers of Christ. So, let's explore Paul's words in this passage…
[00:43:02] “[Brothers and Sisters:] [W]hat does [Scripture] say? The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach);”
[00:43:15] When Paul says: ON YOUR LIPS AND IN YOUR HEART, he is quoting Deuteronomy 30, which are Moses' words meant to encourage the Israelites to live according to God's will. So, you can see why Paul chose that particular quote… as Christians, we should know God's will because we hear it in the Scripture, and the way that we act in the world should exemplify that. Paul goes on…
“because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
[00:43:57] There are two conditions that Paul is saying are required for salvation, right? The first condition is that every Christian confess with their lips - or give witness, speak aloud - that Jesus is Lord. Which sort of runs contrary to our modern Christian approach to faith, right? We often see faith as individual, personal, and private. But Paul says: No, we have to give witness… we have to evangelize! And the second condition is that every Christian believe in their heart in the Resurrection of Christ.
[00:44:43] Now, it's important for us to remember that in biblical times, the heart was not seen as the seat of emotion as it is today. Rather, it was seen as the seat of knowledge and understanding. So what Paul is really saying is that this type of belief is not some simple, warm, and fuzzy feeling. No, no, no! This level of belief encompasses the entire person - their life, their knowledge, their understanding, and their will. But that if a Christian does believe in the Resurrection and shares that faith with others, then they will be saved.
[00:45:27] So, simple as that, right?
[00:45:30] Not exactly. Paul goes on…
“For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved.”
Okay, that's already a little different, isn't it? Paul has already changed - or altered - the conditions just a bit. Now he says that belief grants justification and witness brings about salvation. The traditional Protestant view of justification is that a person is put in right relationship with God through faith alone (sola fides in Latin) and that through faith the righteousness of Jesus is imputed to the believer. Let me break that down a bit so we can understand it better. Through faith, the righteousness of Jesus (meaning Jesus’ identity as the Son of God and his obedience to the Father's will) - that righteousness is imputed to (or given to, placed upon, attributed to) - that righteousness is imputed to the believer who professes faith in God. That's us! Okay, that's the Protestant view.
So, what does the Catholic Church say? The Catechism says the GRACE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS THE POWER TO JUSTIFY US - THAT IS, TO CLEANSE US FROM OUR SINS - AND TO COMMUNICATE TO US THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST AND THROUGH BAPTISM. So, according to the Church, both faith and Baptism are necessary. And think back, what does Jesus say at the end of Matthew's Gospel? He commissions his followers to (and I quote) MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS, BY BAPTIZING THEM IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
[00:47:26] So, faith is the beginning but Baptism provides strength and grace. And elsewhere the Catechism says: JUSTIFICATION IS CONFERRED IN THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM WHICH CONFORMS US TO THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD… the righteousness of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. I think that's a richer explanation of the concept of justification.
[00:47:56] Paul goes on…
“The Scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’”
[00:48:02] Paul offers another quote from Scripture here, and this is from Isaiah 28. What Isaiah is basically saying is that no matter how faithless the leaders of the people became, the Jerusalem Temple would still stand as a sure foundation, a precious cornerstone for the people, so that their faith in the Covenant would not be shaken. Paul, on the other hand, uses this quote to refer to Jesus because remember, early Christians recognized Jesus in so many of Isaiah's words. Jesus is the sure foundation, the cornerstone, precious TO God and chosen BY God, so our faith in Jesus Christ will not be shaken and will never bring shame upon us.
[00:48:57] Paul then says…
“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon him.”
[00:49:08] That goes back to my overview of Romans, right? When I pointed out that racial origin is immaterial, right? Jew or Gentile - matters not. What matters is being a disciple of Christ.
[00:49:21] Paul then goes on to say that Jesus is the Lord, THE LORD OF ALL, the Lord of all believers, because we believe in his Passion, Death and Resurrection, not because we were members of the Covenant between God and his Chosen People. The riches that Paul says are bestowed on believers are the gifts of grace, redemption, and salvation and those gifts can never be earned but are freely given.
[00:49:49] “For, ‘every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
[00:49:54] That is the final quote from Scripture in this passage. It is from the prophet Joel, but interestingly enough, you will find it in different locations depending on the translation that you consult. If you read the RSV (which is the translation I use for this Bible study), you will find that quote in 2: 32. But if you are looking at an NAB translation, you will find it in 3: 5. Not really important, it's just how each translator sets up the chapter and verse notation.
[00:50:33] Now, this quote is part of Joel's description of the Day of the Lord, which of course refers to the Day of Judgment, when all the dead are raised and sent on to their eternal destiny. And Paul uses that quote as a sort of transition between one line of reasoning and the next. Everything he has said so far - in this passage - has built up to that quote. If we believe with all our being and give public witness (or call upon the name of the Lord) we will be saved.
[00:51:07] Paul goes on from there to talk about preaching, but that passage is actually for another day.
And that brings us to the end of this week's Scriptures. So, what lessons should we take with us into the wilderness of Lent out of everything that we've heard?
We learned that even Jesus was tempted - so it's okay for us to acknowledge that we are all tempted, each and every one of us, each and every day. But we also learned that we need to listen less to the temptations of a selfish, self-centered world and more to the words of God given to us in Sacred Scripture. That sounds like a pretty good start.
[00:51:55] We learned that who we are as Christians is shaped by what we hear in Sacred Scripture and how we worship God through our liturgical celebrations - that is equally important. So, we need to devote time to reading the Bible, to our personal prayer, and to our communal celebrations that recall for us Jesus' saving actions, especially the celebration of the Mass.
[00:52:29] We've learned that when we trust in God, he will be our shelter and our refuge. So, we need to pray more and fast from some of the good things of this world in order to strengthen our trust in God.
And we learned that we must believe in God with our whole being and share that belief with others. In fact, we can share all the good things that God gives us - our faith, absolutely, but also our time, our blessings, our belongings, our wealth - every gift from God can be shared when we give alms to help others.
Our Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving will help us tune out the insatiable demands of our modern world and allow us to focus our hearts and minds on God. Bring on the discipline!
If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments, send me an email at
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Thank you for spending this time with me and until next we meet, may God shower his blessings upon you like a soft and gentle rain and may he hold you, safe and secure, in the palm of his hand.
[00:53:57] From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions.
The content of the show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask.
Our music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with permission of the composer. All rights reserved.
Information regarding references has used in preparing the exegesis for this podcast is available upon request.
Thank you for listening and God Bless.
