READINGS FOR INVOCABIT
Holy Gospel:   Matthew 4:1–11
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.  3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”  4 But he answered, “It is written,

      “‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
       but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

     “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
     and
     “‘On their hands they will bear you up,
       lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”  8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”  10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

      “‘You shall worship the Lord your God
       and him only shall you serve.’”

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
Old Testament Reading:  Genesis 3:1–21
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.
    He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?"  2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'"  4. But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.  5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."  6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.  7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.  And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
    8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?"  10 And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself."  11 He said, "Who told you that you were naked?  Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"  12 The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate."  13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?"  The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
   
    14 The LORD God said to the serpent,

    "Because you have done this,
        cursed are you above all livestock
        and above all the beasts of the field;
     on your belly you shall go,
        and dust you shall eat
        all the days of your life.
    15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
         and between your offspring and her offspring;
      he shall bruise your head,
         and you shall bruise his heel."

    16 To the woman he said,
         I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
         in pain you shall bring forth children.
     Your desire shall be for your husband,
         and he shall rule over you." 

    17 And to Adam he said,
        "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
         and have eaten of the tree
      of which I commanded you,
         'You shall not eat of it,'
      cursed is the ground because of you;
         in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
    18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
         and you shall eat of the plants of the field.
    19 By the sweat of your face
         you shall eat bread,
      till you return to the ground,
         for out of it you were taken;
      for dust you are,
         and to dust you will return."

20 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 
21 And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed        them.
Epistle:   Hebrews 4:14–16
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Sundays in Lent
Homily 2007
Homily 2008
Homily 2009
Jesus Does Battle in Our Place:  In the Garden, man exalts himself to be a god in place of God (Genesis 3:1-21).  He succumbs to the temptation of the devil, and eating of he forbidden fruit, he receives death.  But in the sin-cursed wilderness, God humbles Himself to become a man in place of man (Matthew 4:1-11).  He does not eat but fasts and bears the onslaughts of the devil for us that we may be restored to life.  Jesus stands as David in our place to do battle against the Goliath, Satan (1 Samuel 17:40-51).  Though outwardly Jesus appears weak, yet He comes in the name of the Lord of hosts.  He draws from the five smooth stones of the books of Moses and slings the Word of God.  The stone sinks into the forehead, and the enemy falls.  In Christ we are victorious over the devil.  Let us therefore not receive the grace of God in vain (2 Corinthians 6:1-10), but seeing that we have a great High Priest, let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain help in  time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16).
Homily 2011
Homily 2013
Homily 2005