First Sunday of Lent Connections

The second reading this Sunday is not easy to follow, especially when some of Paul’s sentences are more like paragraphs. But you will notice that he makes several important connections: between sin and death, between Adam and Jesus, and between obedience and disobedience.
Sin, he says, is the cause of death—not just spiritual death, but physical death also. His point is that sin affects everyone, innocent as well as sinner. Of course, everyone is subject to death at some point, even if they haven’t sinned. Sometimes the cause is immediate, such as a drunken driver who causes the death of an innocent person. Even a less serious sin can be a little “death” when it makes us feel that we are not as close to God as we could be. And sins that we might think are not a big deal, such as smoking, can lead to serious health problems. The connection between Adam and Jesus is not so obvious. Adam was the first to bring sin and death into the world. Jesus is the first to bring forgiveness by his death on the cross. Adam was at the beginning of creation and Jesus is the beginning of a new creation. If we are all sons and daughters of Adam, we are also God’s children, since Jesus taught us to call God our father.
The Letter to the Romans shows us how Jesus is different from Adam. Adam disobeyed God, while Jesus was obedient to his Father. Adam reminds me of a child who knows what he is supposed to do, but thinks that he can do the opposite and get away with it. The Gospel can be an example of that difference. The child likes to do things the easy way, while the adult will do them the right way. Satan can be thought of as trying to get Jesus to do things the easy way. When he tempts Jesus to turn stones into bread, he shows Jesus an easy way to feed the people. But Jesus takes a better way, when he feeds us with himself in the Eucharist. The devil says Jesus can throw himself off the temple as a dramatic way to attract followers; Jesus lets himself hang from the cross to draw people to himself. Satan promises the kingdoms of the world if Jesus will only worship him. But Jesus chose to be crowned with thorns and receive his kingdom when he rose from the dead.