Friday, March 23, 2018
Special Significance: 
Fortieth Day of the Great Fast

Mt 4:1-11

The Temptation of Jesus. 1* a Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2b He fasted for forty days and forty nights,* and afterwards he was hungry. 3The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” 4* He said in reply, “It is written:c

‘One does not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.’”

5* Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, 6and 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 ‘with their hands they will support you,

lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”d

7Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’”e 8Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, 9and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”* 10At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written:

‘The Lord, your God, shall you worship

and him alone shall you serve.’”f

11Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.

Gn 3:1-7

Expulsion from Eden. 1Now the snake was the most cunning* of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made. He asked the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat from any of the trees in the garden’?” 2The woman answered the snake: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 3a it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, or else you will die.’” 4But the snake said to the woman: “You certainly will not die!b 5God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know* good and evil.” 6The woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.c 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

2 Sm 24:18-25

David Offers Sacrifices. 18On the same day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go and set up an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19According to Gad’s word, David went up as the LORD had commanded. 20Now Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants coming toward him while he was threshing wheat. So he went out and bowed down before the king, his face to the ground. 21Then Araunah asked, “Why does my lord the king come to his servant?” David replied, “To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people.” 22f But Araunah said to David: “Let my lord the king take it and offer up what is good in his sight. See, here are the oxen for burnt offerings, and the threshing sledges and the yokes of oxen for wood. 23All this does Araunah give to the king.” Araunah then said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept your offering.” 24The king, however, replied to Araunah, “No, I will buy it from you at the proper price, for I cannot sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty silver shekels. 25Then David built an altar to the LORD there, and sacrificed burnt offerings and communion offerings. The LORD granted relief to the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.

Jer 7:1-7

The Temple Sermon.* 1The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2Stand at the gate of the house of the LORD and proclaim this message there: Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD! 3Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Reform your ways and your deeds so that I may dwell with you in this place.a 4Do not put your trust in these deceptive words: “The temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD!”b 5Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds; if each of you deals justly with your neighbor; 6if you no longer oppress the alien,* the orphan, and the widow; if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow after other gods to your own harm,c 7only then will I let you continue to dwell in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors long ago and forever.d

Is 58:1-8

1Cry out full-throated and unsparingly,

lift up your voice like a trumpet blast;

Proclaim to my people their transgression,

to the house of Jacob their sins.a

2They seek me day after day,

and desire to know my ways,

Like a nation that has done what is just

and not abandoned the judgment of their God;

They ask of me just judgments,

they desire to draw near to God.

3“Why do we fast, but you do not see it?

afflict ourselves, but you take no note?”

See, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,

and drive all your laborers.b

4See, you fast only to quarrel and fight

and to strike with a wicked fist!

Do not fast as you do today

to make your voice heard on high!

5Is this the manner of fasting I would choose,

a day to afflict oneself?

To bow one’s head like a reed,

and lie upon sackcloth and ashes?

Is this what you call a fast,

a day acceptable to the LORD?c

6Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose:

releasing those bound unjustly,

untying the thongs of the yoke;

Setting free the oppressed,

breaking off every yoke?d

7Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry,

bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house;

Clothing the naked when you see them,

and not turning your back on your own flesh?e

8Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,

and your wound shall quickly be healed;

Your vindication shall go before you,

and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.

1 Pt 1:13-21

Obedience. 13* Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind,* live soberly, and set your hopes completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14Like obedient children, do not act in compliance with the desires of your former ignorance* 15but, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct,i 16for it is written, “Be holy because I [am] holy.”j

Reverence. 17Now if you invoke as Father him who judges impartially according to each one’s works, conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning,k 18realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct, handed on by your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or goldl 19but with the precious blood of Christm as of a spotless unblemished lamb.* 20He was known before the foundation of the world but revealed in the final time for you, 21who through him believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Rom 14:1-9

To Live and Die for Christ. 1* Welcome anyone who is weak in faith,a but not for disputes over opinions.b 2One person believes that one may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.c 3The one who eats must not despise the one who abstains, and the one who abstains must not pass judgment on the one who eats; for God has welcomed him.d 4Who are you to pass judgment on someone else’s servant? Before his own master he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.e 5[For] one person considers one day more important than another, while another person considers all days alike.f Let everyone be fully persuaded in his own mind.* 6Whoever observes the day, observes it for the Lord. Also whoever eats, eats for the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; while whoever abstains, abstains for the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. 8For if we live, we live for the Lord,* and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.g 9For this is why Christ died and came to life, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.h

Lk 4:1-13

The Temptation of Jesus.* 1a Filled with the holy Spirit,* Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert 2for forty days,* to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry.b 3The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”c 5Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. 6The devil said to him, “I shall give to you all this power and their glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish.d 7All this will be yours, if you worship me.” 8Jesus said to him in reply, “It is written:

‘You shall worship the Lord, your God,

and him alone shall you serve.’”e

9* Then he led him to Jerusalem, made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10for it is written:

‘He will command his angels concerning you,

to guard you,’f

11and:

‘With their hands they will support you,

lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”g

12Jesus said to him in reply, “It also says, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’”h 13* When the devil had finished every temptation,i he departed from him for a time.