Just back from a walk along the Trail, under lots of sleety showers, so it was a slightly uncheering experience. But I was very cheered that I don’t have to drive across the Pennines any more (except visiting family). Also the distant hilltops look lovely. Here’s a wet window with a snowy hill behind and a snowy hill with a wet window in front…
The first Sunday of Lent is about Jesus being tempted. And there’s backup from the archetypal temptation story (or coming-of-age story) in Genesis. But those stories are so different it can be hard to understand the Jesus story as the reversal of the other. Above all, Jesus has to struggle with his demons and decide what he’s going to be and how he’s going to be it, knowing how the world goes, and what the likely consequences will be for him. Yes, Jesus is the son of God. And how is he going to be the son of God? – in humility and humanity and pain and struggle. As to Genesis, it sets down the pattern for hundreds of generations of buck-passing (this comes a little after our passage in Genesis 3:12): “It was the woman who made me do it, Lord.” “She was asking for it, Your Honour.”