Episcopal Church of the Incarnation

West Point, Mississippi

The First Sunday in Lent (B)

Genesis 9.8-17 Psalm 25.1-9 1 Peter 3.18-22 Mark 1.9-15

Genesis 9.8-17

1) The promise which God made to Noah at 6.18 is now extended to all living creatures. This is the so-called “Noachian” (or “Noachitic”) covenant.

a) Like the new covenant established in Jesus Christ, the Noachian covenant is not restricted to a particular people.

i) The covenant with Noah is focused on the creation of life; that offered through Jesus with life everlasting. In each case God’s purpose for Creation is demonstrated.

2) God gives His rainbow as a sign of the covenant. The bow which comes at the end of a rainstorm signals that the earth shall not be destroyed by flood. (Cf. Gen. 15.5: God shows Abram the stars as sign of His promise of progeny.)

a) In each case God’s promise is coupled with a blessing and with a sign of God’s sovereignty over all creation, i.e., the promises speak to a plan to create life and that life as created is good.

Psalm 25.1-9

1) Psalm 25 as a whole is an individual hymn of lament, written in the form of a Hebrew acrostic (in which the first letter of each line follows the order of the Hebrew alphabet).

a) Throughout the psalm the major theme is the “way of the Lord.”

b) The verses in today’s selection make clear that the Lord makes His way clear to us (echoing the theme from the lesson from Deuteronomy).

i) In teaching us His way, the Lord shows compassion upon us, despite our sinfulness (v.6).

(1) The Lord pardons as a part of His own righteousness.

c) Ps. 25 is a contrast to Ps. 24. Here the psalmist lifts up his heart to the Lord, in contrast to Ps. 24, in which he recounts that there are those who lift up their hearts to what is false.

i) To “lift up” (ns’ nepeš) is to identify with.

1 Peter 3.18-22

1) 1 Peter was probably written about A.D. 65, in Rome, at the very beginning of the great persecution under Nero. The authentically Petrine provenance has been questioned by many scholars, but the weight of opinion agrees that the letter is most likely to have been written by Peter before he was martyred.

2) These verses need to be read in conjunction with vv. 13-17, being linked in Greek by hoti kai (“because also,” often rendered as “for,” completely deleted from our translation!)

a) vv. 18-22 are meant to justify the claim made in vv. 13-17 that it is better to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

b) When Christ suffered for doing good, His death was not the last word. So shall it be with those who suffer for His sake.

3) From very early on. the reference in v. 19 to Jesus preaching to “the spirits in prison” has been read with Eph. 4.7-11 to indicate that on Holy Saturday Jesus descended into the place of the dead. This is the scriptural foundation for the phrase in the Apostles’ Creed “He descended into hell” or “He descended to the dead”.

4) The reference to the flood in the time of Noah is made to indicate this flood as a “type” of baptism (as prefiguring baptism).

a) Few were saved in the flood; few will be saved in the current persecution (note the reference to the small number in Noah’s family).

b) The same flood that destroyed also saved a few; so it is with persecution.

Mark 1.9-15

1) In Mark’s account if the baptism of Jesus the voice from heaven which says “Your are my Son ...” is not heard by the bystanders, but by Jesus alone. Jesus sees the heavens torn.

a) The voice comes when “the heavens are torn apart”.

i) The heavens are torn (“rent apart” in Greek, as a term of violence). In other words, the boundary between heaven and earth is taken away.

ii) Any separation between God and humanity is healed with the coming of the Son.

iii) The Spirit descends “dovelike” (adverbial). This is a possible reference to the Spirit which “broods” or “hovers” over the waters of creation in Gen. 1.

b) The voice repeats what is said at Ps. 2.7, but the reference is actually to Isa. 42.1, that God is “well pleased” with His Son.

c) The voice does not speak of adoption, but of confirmation of the pre-existing status of the Son.

2) Jesus is driven into the wilderness “immediately” (Mark’s favorite connector of action). Recall that the wilderness as a desolate place is also the place where God manifests Himself throughout the Old Testament (e.g., 1 Kgs. 19.12).

a) The forty day period in the wilderness recalls Israel’s wandering.

3) This translation refers to John being arrested, but in the original the phrase is “after John was handed over”. “Handed over” (paradothēnai) is a term used by Mark also to describe the passion of Jesus. His parallel usage reflects his very clear depiction of John’s fate as foreshadowing that of Jesus.

4) Jesus’ statement is both eschatological (“the time is fulfilled”) and prefigures all that He will say in the remainder of the Gospel. The kingdom of God has come near.

a) The term Mark uses for this proclamation, euangelion or “gospel” echoes the terminology used in the Greek version of Isa. 40.9; 41.27; 52.7).