This Wednesday evening we will have a Ritual of Ash Distribution so no formal Bible Study.  As we start Lent, we are ourselves the Adam and Eve of this true myth; we are often the ones who believe the lie that we can be like God! Throughout Lent, God shows us love and mercy through the Holy Spirit.  Such mercy embraces us so that we may turn with real wisdom toward the needs of the world.Pastor Tim
“God has led you to the desert, and spoken to your Heart.”

Mount of Olives Lutheran Church

3546 E. Thomas Rd

Phoenix, AZ 85018

602-956-1620 office

Mount of Olives ​​Pastor Tim Perlick

​​480-729-0115

Bible Study for February 22, 2026

Opening Prayer:

Creator of all, we thank you for the opportunity to gather in study. Open our minds and hearts. By the power of the Holy Spirit, unite us in faith, hope, and love. Help us to be faithful to the gospel and to walk humbly with you. Grant us your peace as we grow in wisdom and understanding. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Matthew 4:1-11 Does it help and encourage you in your walk of discipleship to know that even our Lord was tempted by the lures of political power, spiritual authority, and wealth?

In Mark, only the essential historical facts are recorded: those in vv. 1, 2 and 11c. The disciples probably knew none of the details of Jesus’ trials, for temptation is essentially a personal inner battle with one’s conscience. “Forty days” (v. 2) reminds us of Moses and Elijah, both of whom also fasted for forty days as they prepared for their roles as God’s agents to Israel – as does Jesus. All three of the temptations the Devil (“the tempter”, v. 3, “Satan”, v. 10) presents to Jesus are ways of sinning against the great commandment in Deuteronomy 6:5: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, … soul, and … might”. The “heart” was the seat of will, of moral choice; “soul” means life; “might” means possessions. (All Jesus’ answers are from Deuteronomy 6-8.) 

To change “stones” (v. 3) into bread would be to use his power for his personal benefit. Jesus says that the “word” (v. 4) of God is the chief nourishment. The “holy city” (v. 5) is Jerusalem; a “pinnacle” probably overlooked the temple courts and the deep Kidron Valley. Jesus answers: testing God’s protection by unnecessarily risking life is a mockery of real martyrdom – and of his sacrifice to come (v. 7). The Devil, evil forces personified, invites Jesus to prefer personal wealth and power over love of God (vv. 8-9). Jesus answers: God is the only god to be worshipped and served (v. 10). The details make the point that Jesus is the perfect lover of God, the ideal Israelite, the founder of a new way of being human. 

Romans 5:12-19 What does the “sin of Adam” mean to you?

Paul has said that Christians, reconciled to God, will be saved, sharing in the risen life of Christ. Two notions are important here: 

• the punishment for Adam’s sin was to die both physically and spiritually (“death came through sin”); and 

• we both sin ourselves and share in his sin (“spread to all”). 

Paul contrasts Adam and Christ, both inaugurators of eras. Adam foreshadowed Christ as head of humanity (“type”, v. 14, precursor). Adam disobeyed God’s direct command (“the transgression”, v. 14, “the trespass”, v. 15). The “free gift”, i.e. Christ, is unlike Adam’s sin: 

• “many died” before Christ’s coming but even more so are “many” (indeed all) saved through Christ; 

• Adam was condemned to separation from God but Christ brings union with God (vv. 16, 18); 

• Adam’s sin allowed “death” (v. 17) to rule through the Devil (“that one”) but we let good rule our hearts (“dominion in life”); and 

• Adam’s action led to the sin of many but Christ’s will lead many to godliness (v. 19), to “eternal life” (v. 21).

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 What role do you think about the most?  

Our reading is excerpts from an epic tale about the creation of humanity, beginning from after the creation of “the heavens and the earth” ( 2:4), a time when the earth was semi–arid. Ancient peoples thought that there were waters under the earth. Seepage of this water was insufficient for cultivation; as yet there was no rain and “no one to till the ground” ( 2:5). At that time, God formed human (Hebrew: adam) “from the dust of the ground” ( 2:7) and gave him his spirit of life. God put human (as yet androgynous) in Eden ( 2:8), his earthly domain, to cultivate and care for it. God tells him he may eat the fruit of the trees there, except for two: 

• that of “the knowledge of good and evil” ( 2:17), of complete knowledge and understanding (or of moral choice); and 

• that of “life” ( 2:9, 3:3), of eternal life, of becoming divine. If he does, he will “die”, i.e. be separated from God. 

God provides human with an equal “partner” ( 2:18) of human’s flesh. Thus the tale explains sex, of “Man” ( 2:23, Hebrew: ish) and “Woman” (isha). At this point, the couple do not see shame in nudity, for their relationship to God is guiltless. Now the snake, a mischievous creature, (also a character in other ancient epics) appears. He sows doubt in the woman’s mind about what God has commanded, and she responds inaccurately ( 3:2): she adds “nor shall you touch it” ( 3:3). The snake suggests that God is trying to fool her: rather than dying, she will attain mastery of knowledge, and become divine (“like God”, 3:5). She finds this irresistible; she eats of its fruit and gives some to the man. Nudity is now embarrassing, for the couple has lost its innocent trusting relationship with God (3:8). In 3:8-19 God metes out punishment for disobeying his order: 

• to the snake: it will lack legs and eat dust; 

• to the woman: (a) despite the great pain of childbearing, she will seek to bear more children; (b) (in an ancient society) man “shall rule over you”;

• to the man: (a) cultivation will be laborious; (b) he will die, returning to “dust”; and 

• to all three: humans and snakes will be enemies. Thus some basic facts of life are explained. 

But sin has not changed God’s intent: Eve is “mother of all living” (3:20) and God protects the couple by making “garments” ( 3:21) for them. To protect them from exceeding human limitations and becoming like gods, he expels them from Eden, into the ordinary world. 

Closing Prayer

God of mercy,
your word was the sure defense of Jesus in his time of testing.
Minister to us in the wilderness of our temptation,
that we who have been set free from sin by Christ
may serve you well into life everlasting. Amen.