See, we are going up to Jerusalem
Short homily for the the 1st Sunday of Lent. Texts: Genesis 4:1-7; 1 Corinthians 10:10-13; Matthew 16:21-23. Unless otherwise noted, I use the New Revised Standard Version of Scripture (NRSV).
This short homily is a translation and a slight expansion of a text I wrote for the Sunday reflection in the local newspapers in Kvinnherad, Norway.
Today we mark the first Sunday of Lent and the Gospel points to the central aspect of its observance, that we do not principally look to ourselves, to what we do or what we abstain from, but that we look forward to the Passion and the resurrection. We read that following St. Peter’s declaration that Jesus is “the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16), which He received as a revelation from God the Father (Matthew 16:17), “Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Matthew 16:21). This was harsh words, and St. Peter, relying not on God’s revelation but his own (quite normal human) prejudices, took Christ aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you” (Matthew 16:22). But Jesus set him straight, and said: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things” (Matthew 16:23). This was strong words. Christ may not have said directly that St. Peter was the Devil but He recognised in his words the temptation in the wilderness. St. Peter only set his mind on human things, on fame and glory, and not on divine things.
For Christ had to walk the path of suffering or the sorrowful way, the via dolorosa. To save us, Jesus went through everything, even death. For He had to assume it all. As St. Gregory of Nazianzus said in his first letter to Cledonius the Presbyter: “The unassumed is the unhealed, but what is united with God is also being saved.”1 What he meant by that is that which God the Son did not assume of human nature and experience, including death, would not be saved. He had to go through everything; He identifies with us, He lives in solidarity with us. Yes, he does it so thoroughly that he is taken prisoner and killed. But in the resurrection, He breaks the chains of death and triumphs over death and evil.
We are now at the beginning of Lent and this text is very fitting because it helps us to focus on that which matter, not whether or not we manage to do what we have set out to do (or not to do). We set our eyes forwards, towards the Passion, death, and resurrection of Christ. We look forward to what Jesus prophesied about. For that is the meaning of Lent, to focus on Christ and His deeds on our behalf. Think on that this Lent. Remember the cross and passion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who is offered for the sins of the world, for your sins and mine. But also remember that after the Passion comes the resurrection and the complete remaking of the world.
St. Gregory of Nazianzus, On God and Christ: The Five Theological Orations and Two Letters to Cledonius, Kindle ed. (Yonkers, NY: SVS Press, 2002), 112.