Looking for a Scapegoat
February 26, 2023
AS WE GATHER
We begin our annual journey to the cross on this first Sunday in Lent. Though not part of Lent, Sundays in Lent carry the same penitential theme that characterizes our forty days of prayerful devotion and repentance. Today we consider the role of Jesus as our scapegoat—not the one whom we blame but the One whom God has sent to us to take the blame for our sin upon Himself. This gift of a Savior who has borne the full weight of our sin is the reason that we stand amid test, trial, and temptation. We have more than someone to blame for the wrongs of thought, word, and deed that we do—we have a willing Savior who has become our sin offering to set us free through forgiveness
Bible Readings
OLD TESTAMENT READING: Genesis 3:1-21 (The story of how the sin of our first parents stole us from God and made us captive to death.)
EPISTLE READING: Romans 5:12-19
(St. Paul describes the consequences of the fall and the hope created by the obedience, suffering, and death of our Lord Jesus.)
HOLY GOSPEL: Matthew 4:1-11
(Our Lord is tempted in the wilderness by Satan.)