Thoughts going in, Sunday February 22nd, Lent 1

Mark 1:9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." 12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to him. 14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."

Every year, regardless of the lectionary cycle, the first Sunday of Lent has us in the wilderness with Jesus facing Satan. This being Lectionary Year B, the year of Mark, we listen to his version:

Mark's version of the wilderness temptation account is interesting both for what it says and for what it doesn't say. To begin with, Mark wants us to see the dual activity of the Spirit. On the one hand, the Spirit falls out of heaven and onto Jesus at his baptism. This is the Spirit of anointing; of power; of 'Messiahship.' The anointing of the Spirit is accompanied by the heavenly voice which completely affirms Jesus in what he's doing.

And then... it might seem.... that the Spirit does something strange, the Spirit "throws" or "casts" Jesus out into the wilderness. Normally I use the TNIV translation, but its... At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness doesn't do justice to the Greek. The NRSV's And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness is a much closer rendering. In the Greek the word is "ekballo"--which literally means to "drive out" or "cast out." Jesus was thrown out into the wilderness by the Spirit, the way John Wayne throws the little boy into the pond in "Hondo." And in Mark's gospel, this leads to more questions than answers. Why? How long did he have to stay? Did he have any choice in this? We're not told. We're not even told of the very interesting dialog that occurs between Satan and Jesus (these details are in Matthew and Luke).

In typical Markan 'abbreviated' fashion, Mark distills the whole temptation of Jesus 'saga' down to two verses: 12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to him. For us as Bible student/disciples, this can be a lot of fun, as it gives us a chance to really put some words under the microscope. I've already talked about "ekballo," as in the Spirit's driving Jesus into the wilderness. And then there's 'wilderness.' The idea here is barren, uninhabitable. In Genesis when we read that God created Adam, he placed him in the Garden of Eden. But now God's own son is driven to the polar opposite... the barren, uninhabitable wilderness. There he was tempted by Satan. To be 'tempted,' at its most basic, means to be 'tried'... or 'tested.' It's a neutral word that depends on context to give it either a positive or negative spin. The presence of a 'satan'... gives just such a context. A satan, strictly speaking, is an adversary; someone who is decidedly not in your camp or on your side. Hence, "Satan" became a name for the chief fallen angel... as there is no greater adversary. When I think of being 'tested by a satan,' I can't help but think of that scene from An Officer and a Gentleman where Louis Gossett Jr. is TRYING HIS HARDEST to get Richard Gere to fail.

And he was with the wild beasts. Instead of God presenting animals to the man to see what he would call them (Gen 2:19), now the animals are present as a ferocious, wild, dangerous threat... (another sign of sin and The Fall). However, instead of Cherubim threatening him with a flaming sword, angels ministered (diakonia) to him.

The image Mark presents us with in this account is, to my mind, very vivid. It's as though Jesus has been thrown out into a Garden of Eden in reverse....or, if you will, the Sin-Ruined Garden of Eden. It's the 'paradise' that sin created. And Jesus, GOD'S PERFECT MAN, goes back there to do battle with Satan with the difference being that this time Satan loses.

So what's the point? There's an obviously Lenten focus where we talk about contending against the powers of evil just as Jesus did--though of course we want to be sure not to give the misperception that we only bother doing this during the season of Lent (as if the rest of the year we are free to cave-in). But there's more. Mark in his typical succinct manner is presenting the whole of the life of faith. It begins with Baptism; and while baptism is EVERYTHING...it rescues from death and the devil; it is our adoption as children of God; it bestows everlasting life... it is also true to say that it is our baptism that enlists us in the great spiritual war of the ages. And, just as in the life of Christ, we find ourselves often engaged in this battle at some level. In the Markan narrative, it seems pretty linear: Baptism-->wilderness-->mission, although in real life, any christian can attest to the fact that the line between wilderness and mission is often blurred--and real life is anything but linear.

A good Lenten lesson here is always to come back to our Baptism. Even if the work of the mission or the foray into the wilderness has taken its toll, we are STILL BAPTIZED. No one can take that away from us. May we learn to treasure this gift of gifts and thank God daily for claiming us as his own.

Cheers,

TM