First Sunday of Lent
To the modern mind, stories like the story of Noah in today’s first reading present more questions than answers. How could God destroy all of creation? After all, it was God’s creation! Is God not a compassionate God? If sin had become so pervasive and oppressive, could God have not sent Jesus then?
As we ask these questions, we must remember the book of Genesis was not written as an eye-witness account. But then, is it only a myth? Answers differ depending on with whom you talk. If you go down to the Creation Museum in Kentucky, we can find the Creationists’ explanation of the origin of the universe and life on Earth. Creationists believe in a literal interpretation of the creation story in the Bible. The museum even has a replica of the kind of ark God asked Noah to construct. Catholics hold a more complex view about the creation. Rejecting both Creationism and strict Evolutionism, John Paul II wrote, “Indeed, the theory of natural evolution, understood in a sense that does not exclude divine causality, is not in principle opposed to the truth about creation….” In other words, evolution is an acceptable hypothesis, but Catholics believe that it is guided by divine purpose.
Where does this leave us with the story of Noah and the flood? First of all, we have to understand that the Bible is not a book of scientific explanations. It tells us ‘what’ God did more than ‘how’ God did it. Modern researchers suggest that flood deposits in southeastern Mesopotamia points to a deluge in the region, but that probably the flood did not cover the whole earth. The focus of the book of Genesis is theological. Today, I would like to offer three theological implications of the story of the flood.
The Horror of Sin
As a faith-event, Noah’s story has a far bigger purpose. First, the story teaches God’s people of the destructive power of sin. Sin and evil have the power destroy humanity. Just look at the violence, the wars, the killing, the inhumanity, the hunger, the starvation, the poverty, the misery that plagues the world today. We don’t need a flood to destroy us. We are doing it ourselves. Sin is a horror. In light of this message, Noah’s story teaches us to look at sin in and around us and treat it with horror. Just as Noah was a righteous man in the midst of a sinful world, we are invited to live righteous life in a world that is deeply affected by sin.
The Power of God’s Love
Noah’s story does not end with death and gloom. It ends with God’s first covenant with humanity. It ends with a sign of hope. It ends with the promise of new life emerging from the depths of death and destruction. In fact, Noah’s story sets a pattern for the story of our own salvation. It is the four-fold pattern of creation, sin, destruction, and recreation. In the story of salvation which reached its climax in the life of Jesus, the pattern is the same – incarnation, life, death, and resurrection. For us, this means that in spite of our sins, there is hope. It means that despite our weaknesses, the promise of redemption never fades.
Waters of the Flood and Waters of Baptism
In today’s second reading, St. Peter makes a connection between the waters of the flood and Christian baptism. Peter says that the primeval flood prefigured baptism. He says that just as “God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water,” the water of baptism now saves us. (1 Pet 3:20).
Today, along with those of us who are already baptized, the catechumens who will receive baptism this Easter are also present. Jesus was baptized in the water of the Jordan for our salvation. Baptism thus becomes a sure sign salvation. Salvation is brought about by a different kind of flood – the flood of God’s love and mercy manifested in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Today, the baptized and those preparing for baptism are all moving toward the same destiny – eternal salvation. The rainbow at the end of the flood, God’s covenant with Noah, the dove bearing the olive branch all prefigure the New Covenant sealed through Jesus Christ.
On this first Sunday of Lent, let us not only strive to become increasingly sensitive to sin, but also respond deeply to the promise of salvation that God offers us in Jesus Christ. May we be grateful for the waters of Baptism by which we have died to sin and risen with Christ to new life. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph