From: Romans 5:12-19
Adam’s Original Sin
[15] But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s
trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of that
one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. [17] If, because of one man’s trespass,
death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abun-
dance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man
Jesus Christ.
[18] Then as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man’s
act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men. [19] For as by one
man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by One Man’s obedience many
will be made righteous. [20] Law came in, to increase the trespass; but where
sin increased, grace abounded all the more, [21] so that, as sin reigned in death,
grace also might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord.
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Commentary:
12-21. Four important teachings are discernible in this passage: 1) Adam’s sin
and its consequences, which include, particular death (verses 12-14); 2) the con-
trast between the effects of Original Sin and those of the Redemption wrought by
Christ (verses 15-19); 3) the role of the Law of Moses in relation to sin (especial-
ly verses 13, 20), anticipating what is explained more elaborately in Chapter 7;
4) the final victory of the reign of grace (verses 20-21). These teachings are clo-
sely connected by one single idea: only Jesus Christ can justify us and bring us
to salvation. The Apostle refers to Adam as a “type of the One who was to come”,
that is, Jesus, the Messiah, who is the true head of the human race; and he also
stresses that Christ, by His obedience and submission to the Father’s will, coun-
ters the disobedience and rebellion of Adam, restoring to us — superabundantly —
the happiness and eternal life which we lost through the sin of our First Parents.
Here we can see the clash of the two kingdoms — the kingdom of sin and death
and the kingdom of righteousness and grace. These two kingdoms were estab-
lished, the first by Adam and the second by Christ, and spread to all mankind.
Because the superabundance of Christ’s grace is the more important factor,
Adam’s sin is referred to in no great detail. St. Paul takes it as something every-
one is familiar with. All Christians have read about or been told about the account
of the Fall in Genesis (Genesis 3) and they are familiar with many passages in
Sacred Scripture which confirm and explain something which is self-evident —
that all men are mortal and that the human race is subject to a whole series of
afflictions (cf. Sirach 25:33; Wisdom 2:23-24; Psalm 51:7; Job 14:4; Genesis
8:21; etc.).
12-14. This passage can be elaborated on as follows: just as sin entered the
world through the action of a single individual man, so righteousness is attained
for us by one man — Jesus Christ. Adam, the first man, is a type of the “new A-
dam”: Adam contained within himself all mankind, his offspring; the “new Adam”
is “the first-born of all creation” and “the head of the body, the Church” (Colos-
sians 1:15, 18) because He is the redeeming Word Incarnate. To Adam we are
linked by flesh and blood, to Christ by faith and the Sacraments.
When, in His infinite goodness, He raised Adam to share in the divine life, God
also decreed that our First Parent would pass on to us his human nature and
with it all the various gifts that perfected it and the grace that sanctified it. But
Adam committed a sin by breaking God’s commandment and as a result he im-
mediately lost the holiness and righteousness in which he had been installed,
and because of this disloyalty he incurred God’s wrath and indignation and, as
consequence, death — as God had warned him. By becoming mortal and falling
under the power of the devil, Adam “was changed for the worse”, in both body
and soul (cf. Council of Trent, “De Peccato Originali”, Canon 1). From then on
Adam and his descendants pass on a human nature deprived of supernatural
gifts, and men are in a state of enmity with God, which means that they cannot
attain eternal beatitude.
The fact of Original Sin is a truth of faith. This has been stated once again solemn-
ly by Paul VI: “We believe that in Adam all have sinned. From this it follows that,
on account of the original offense committed by him, human nature, which is com-
mon to all men, is reduced to that condition in which it must suffer the consequen-
ces of that Fall [...]. Consequently, fallen human nature is deprived of the econo-
my of grace which it formerly enjoyed. It is wounded in its natural powers and sub-
jected to the dominion of death which is transmitted to all men. It is in this sense
that every man is born in sin. We hold, therefore, in accordance with the Council
of Trent, that Original Sin is transmitted along with human nature, “not by imita-
tion but by propagation”, and is, therefore, incurred by each person individually”
(”Creed of the People of God”, 16).
Our own experience bears out what divine Revelation tells us: when we examine
our conscience we realize that we have this inclination towards evil and we are
conscious of being enmeshed in evils which cannot have their source in our holy
Creator (cf. Vatican II, “Gaudium Et Spes”, 13). The obvious presence of evil in
the world and in ourselves convince us of the profound truth contained in Reve-
lation and moves us to fight against sin.
“So much wretchedness! So many offenses! Mine, yours, those of all mankind....
“Et in peccatis concepit me mater mea!” In sin did my mother conceive me!
(Psalm 51:5). I, like all men, came into the world stained with the guilt of our First
Parents. And then...my own sins: rebellions, thought about, desired, committed....
“To purify us of this rottenness, Jesus chose to humble Himself and take on the
form of a slave (cf. Philippians 2:7), becoming incarnate in the spotless womb of
our Lady, His Mother, who is also your Mother and mine. He spent thirty years
in obscurity, working like everyone else, at Joseph’s side. He preached. He
worked miracles.... And we repaid Him with a cross.
“Do you need more motives for contrition?” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way of the
Cross, IV, 2).
13-14. Both the commandment imposed by God on Adam, and the Mosaic Law,
threatened the transgressor with death; but the same cannot be said of the pe-
riod between Adam and Moses. In that period also people did sin against the na-
tural law written on every person’s heart (cf. 2:12ff). However, their sins “were not
like the transgression of Adam”, because the natural law did not explicitly bind
under pain of death. If, nevertheless, they in fact had to die, this proves, the Apo-
stle concludes, that death is due not to personal sins but to original sin. It is al-
so proved, the Fathers of the Church usually add, by the fact that some people
die before reaching the use of reason, that is, before they are capable of sinning.
Death is a consequence of original sin, because that sin brought with it the loss
of the “preternatural” gift of immortality (cf. Gen 2:17; 3:19). Adam incurred this
loss when, through a personal act of his, he broke an explicit, specific command
of God. Later, under the Mosaic Law, there were also certain precepts which in-
volved the death penalty if broken (cf., for example, Exod 21:12ff; Lev 24:16). In
the period from Adam to Moses there was no law which stated: If you sin, you
shall die. However, people in that period were all subject to death, even those
who committed no sin “like the transgression of Adam”, that is, what is termed
“actual sin”.
Therefore, death is due to a sin — original sin — which attaches to each man, wo-
man and child, yet which is not an “actual sin”. This original sin is the cause of
death, and the fact that everyone dies is the proof that everyone is affected by
original sin. The Second Vatican Council sums up this teaching as follows: “The
Church, taught by divine Revelation, declares that God has created man in view
of a blessed destiny that lies beyond the limits of his sad state on earth. More-
over, the Christian faith teaches that bodily death, from which man would have
been immune had he not sinned (cf. Wis 1:13; 2:23-24; Rom 5:21; 6:23; Jas 1:
15), will be overcome when that wholeness which he lost through his own fault
will be given once again to him by the almighty and merciful Savior. For God has
called man, and still calls him, to cleave with all his being to him in sharing for
ever a life that is divine and free from all decay” (”Gaudium Et Spes”, 18).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Matthew 4:1-11
Jesus Fasts and is Tempted
[5] Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the
temple, [6] and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for
it is written, ‘He will give his angels charge of you,’ and ‘On their hands they will
bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”’
[7] Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your
God.”’ [8] Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him
all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; [9] and he said to him, “All
these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” [10] Then Jesus said
to him, “Begone, Satan! for it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.”’ [11] Then the devil left him, and behold, angels
came and ministered to him.
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Commentary:
1. Jesus, our Savior, allowed himself to be tempted because he so chose; and
he did so out of love for us and to instruct us. However, since he was perfect,
he could only be tempted externally. Catholic teaching tells us that there are
three levels of temptation: 1) suggestion, that is, external temptation, which we
can undergo without committing any sin; 2) temptation, in which we take a cer-
tain delight, whether prolonged or not, even though we do not give clear consent;
this level of temptation has now become internal and there is some sinfulness in
it; 3) temptation to which we consent; this is always sinful, and, since it affects
the deepest part of the soul, it is definitely internal. By allowing himself to be
tempted, Jesus wanted to teach us how to fight and conquer our temptations.
We will do this by having trust in God and prayer, with the help of God’s grace
and by having fortitude.
Jesus’ temptations in the desert have a deep significance in salvation history.
All the most important people throughout sacred history were tempted—Adam
and Eve, Abraham, Moses, and the chosen people themselves. Similarly with
Jesus. By rejecting the temptations of the devil, our Lord atones for the falls of
those who went before him and those who come after him. He is an example
for us in all the temptations we were subsequently to have, and also for the bat-
tles between the Church and the power of the devil. Later Jesus teaches us in
the Our Father to ask God to help us with his grace not to fall at the time of
temptation.
2. Before beginning his work as Messiah, that is, before promulgating the New
Law or New Testament, Jesus prepares himself by prayer and fasting in the de-
sert. Moses acted in the same way before proclaiming, in God’s name, the Old
Law on Mount Sinai (Ex 34:28). Elijah, too, journeyed for forty days in the desert
to fulfill the Law (1 Kings 19:5-8).
The Church follows Jesus’ footsteps by prescribing the yearly Lenten fast. We
should practise Lent each year with this spirit of piety. “It can be said that
Christ introduced the tradition of forty days fast into the Church’s liturgical year,
because he himself ‘fasted forty days and forty nights’ before beginning to teach.
By this Lenten fast the Church is in a certain sense called every year to follow
her Master and Lord if she wishes to preach his Gospel effectively” (John Paul
II, “General Audience”, 28 February 1979). In the same way, Jesus’ withdrawal
into the desert invites us to prepare ourselves by prayer and penance before
any important decision or action.
3. Jesus has fasted for forty days and forty nights. Naturally he is very hungry
and the devil makes use of this opportunity to tempt him. Our Lord rejects the
temptation and in doing so he uses a phrase from Deuteronomy (8:3). Although
he could do this miracle, he prefers to continue to trust his Father since perfor-
ming the miracle is not part of his plan of salvation. In return for this trust, angels
come and minister to him (Mt 4:11).
Miracles in the Bible are extraordinary and wonderful deeds done by God to
make his words or actions understood. They do not occur as isolated outpour-
rings of God’s power but rather as part of the work of Redemption. What the devil
proposes in this temptation would be for Jesus’ benefit only and therefore could
not form part of the plan for Redemption. This suggests that the devil, in tempting
him in this way, wanted to check if Jesus is the “Son of God”. For, although he
seems to know about the voice from heaven at Jesus’ baptism, he cannot see
how the Son of God could be hungry. By the way he deals with the temptation,
Jesus teaches us that when we ask God for things we should not ask in the first
place for what we can obtain by our own efforts. Neither should we ask for what
is exclusively for our own convenience, but rather for what will help towards our
holiness or that of others.
4. Jesus’ reply is an act of trust in God’s fatherly providence. God led him into
the desert to prepare him for his messianic work, and now he will see to it that
Jesus does not die. This point is underlined by the fact that Jesus’ reply evokes
Deuteronomy 8:3, where the sons of Israel are reminded how Yahweh fed them
miraculously with manna in the desert. Therefore, in contrast to the Israelites
who were impatient when faced with hunger in the desert, Jesus trustingly leaves
his well-being to his Father’s providence. The words of Deuteronomy 8:3, repea-
ted here by Jesus, associate “bread” and “word” as having both come from the
mouth of God: God speaks and gives his Law; God speaks and makes manna
appear as food.
Also, manna is commonly used in the New Testament (see, for example, Jn 6:
32-58) and throughout Tradition as a symbol of the Eucharist.
The Second Vatican Council points out another interesting aspect of Jesus’
words when it proposes guidelines for international cooperation in economic mat-
ters: “In many instances there exists a pressing need to reassess economic and
social structures, but caution must be exercised with regard to proposed solutions
which may be untimely, especially those which offer material advantage while mili-
tating against man’s spiritual nature and advancement. For ‘man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”’ (”Gaudium
Et Spes”, 86).
5. Tradition suggests that this temptation occurred at the extreme southeast cor-
ner of the temple wall. At this point, the wall was at its highest, since the ground
beneath sloped away steeply to the Cedron river. Looking down from this point
one could easily get a feeling of vertigo.
St Gregory the Great (”In Evangelia Homiliae”, 16) says that if we consider how
our Lord allowed himself to be treated during his passion, it is not surprising that
he allowed the devil also to treat him as he did.
6. “Holy Scripture is good, but heresies arise through its not being understood
properly”(St Augustine, “In loann. Evang.”, 18, 1). Catholics should be on their
guard against arguments which, though they claim to be founded on Scripture,
are nevertheless untrue. As we can see in this passage of the Gospel, the devil
can also set himself up at times as an interpreter of Scripture, quoting it to suit
himself. Therefore, any interpretation which is not in line with the teaching
contained in the Tradition of the Church should be rejected.
The error proposed by a heresy normally consists in stressing certain passages
to the exclusion of others, interpreting them at will, losing sight of the unity that
exists in Scripture and the fact that the faith is all of a piece.
7. Jesus rejects the second temptation as he did the first; to do otherwise would
have been to tempt God. In rejecting it, he uses a phrase from Deuteronomy (6:
16): “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test”. In this way he alludes also
to the passage in Exodus where the Israelites demand a miracle of Moses. The
latter replies, “Why do you put the Lord to the proof?” (Ex 17:2).
To tempt God is the complete opposite of having trust in him. It means presump-
tuously putting ourselves in the way of an unnecessary danger, expecting God
to help us by an exceptional use of his power. We would also tempt him if, by
our unbelief and arrogance, we were to ask him for signs or proof. The very first
lesson from this passage of the Gospel is that if ever a person were to ask or
demand extraordinary proofs or signs from God, he would clearly be tempting
him.
8-10. The third temptation is the most pseudo-messianic of the three: Jesus is
urged to appropriate to himself the role of an earthly messianic king of the type
so widely expected at the time. Our Lord’s vigorous reply, “Begone, Satan!” is
an uncompromising rejection of an earthly messianism—an attempt to reduce
his transcendent, God-given mission to a purely human and political use. By
his attitude, Jesus, as it were, rectifies and makes amends for the worldly views
of the people of Israel. And, for the same reason, it is a warning to the Church,
God’s true Israel, to remain faithful to its God-given mission of salvation in the
world. The Church’s pastors should be on the alert and not allow themselves to
be deceived by this temptation of the devil.
“We should learn from Jesus ‘ attitude in these trials. During his life on earth he
did not even want the glory that belonged to him. Though he had the right to be
treated as God, he took the form of a servant, a slave (cf. Phil 2:6-7). And so
the Christian knows that all glory is due to God and that he must not make use
of the sublimity and greatness of the Gospel to further his own interests or
human ambitions.
“We should learn from Jesus. His attitude in rejecting all human glory is in per-
fect balance with the greatness of his unique mission as the beloved Son of God
who takes flesh to save men [...]. And the Christian, who, following Christ, has
this attitude of complete adoration of the Father, also experiences our Lord’s lo-
ving care: ‘because he cleaves to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him,
because he knows my name’ (Ps 90:14)” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”,
62).
11. If we struggle constantly, we will attain victory. And nobody is crowned with-
out having first conquered: “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown
of life” (Rev 2:10). By coming to minister to Jesus after he rejects the temptations,
the angels teach us the interior joy given by God to the person who fights energe-
tically against the temptation of the devil. God has given us also powerful defen-
ders against such temptations—our guardian angels, on whose aid we should call.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.