It’s an odd reading from Mark’s Gospel (Mark 1:9-15) on this first Sunday in Lent. It simply tells us Jesus was “baptized by John in the Jordan” and then immediately thrown out to the desert to be tempted as He is on the brink of His ministry.
While Mark’s Gospel leaves out the details of the temptation that are found in Matthew and Luke’s Gospels, it is clear that Satan was identified with the forces working against God. Using those details as background, I invite you to hold these stories in your mind and join me in exploration.
Jesus was tested beyond anything we can imagine. Jesus was “pushed” by the Spirit into the wilderness and for forty days loneliness and hunger because His companions. God seemed absent and Satan left Him alone – for a while. Whether we see the story as being an actual encounter between the “Father of lies” and “God’s Son” or take it more symbolically, it is about the exercise of leadership.
Jesus is tested at His lowest point mentally and physically. Satan works that way – when we’re vulnerable. Think about you own life. When we’re tired; at our wit’s end; battered and exhausted, then it seems faith and commitment are tired too.
Jesus’ first test is an exploration of His calling. It’s not about food; it’s about proof. Satan begins with “if you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread. After all, Moses . . . gave the Israelites bread from heaven – why can’t you?” Satan is, well, devilish! He knows scripture and uses it to his advantage, But Jesus is ready and echoes Satan’s reference to Deuteronomy. “Man does not live by bread alone.”
But Satan doesn’t give up that easily. From our own experience, we know he never does. Instead, he looks for another loophole to take advantage. So the second test is a direct appeal to Messianic ambition. We miss the point if we think this is only about worshipping Satan instead of the One True God. It’s about seeing leadership in the world’s terms – power, glory, might, and riches. But Jesus responds: “No! Worship belongs to God alone and the kingdom belongs to Him.”
As evil will, Satan continues to press forward. From temptations of the flesh and the nature of nourishment and the yearning for wealth and power, Satan tries to tempt Jesus in terms of successful ministry.
So in a flash, Jesus is taken in His imagination to one of the corners of the roof of the Temple and tempted to give a public demonstration that God will protect Him from harm. With a sneer, Satan says: “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down for God’s angels will support you in their hands if you hurt your foot against a stone.” It’s a pretty attractive idea – just give a sign of your lordship! But again Jesus uses scripture: “Scripture also says ‘you must not put God to the test.'”
Our Gospel reading (Mark 1:9-15) begins the Lenten season with a challenge for each of us to look at our lives and journeys of faith. The nature of nourishment – the nature of power – the nature of ministry. The question is: what do they have to say to each of us about the exercise of our ministry as the Body of Christ?
What is clear is that behind each of these temptations we all face in some form or other, the issue is that of authority. We see that Satan is the ultimate fundamentalist and purveyor of simplistic solutions! These tests say if you have it: flaunt it; if you have power, use it. But Jesus resisted these simple solutions and so must we. It is when we dig deeper into the issues of authority that the problems begins.
Often we find ourselves in the desert of our lives and find ourselves challenged to find simplistic solutions to complex problems. The question many times involves the interpretation of scripture. On the one hand, we can agree with Biblical scholar, John Macquarrie, that the Bible is “God’s indispensable signpost to God’s revelation in Christ.” But, opposing that, it’s that Jesus saw things more deeply. When asked about what God is like; He spoke of a father who had two sons. When asked who is my neighbor; He tells of a Samaritan who aids a wounded traveler. The point is that we need to go deeper than the obvious and the simplistic solution.
Robert Farrar Capon drives the point home. Capon gives us a different way of thinking about God’s presence in our lives. He likens it to an iceberg where we see part above water and the remainder submerged – but it’s still there. There are moments we see, feel, or experience God’s presence even though we can’t identify it or experience it all the time. God is still there and undergirds and is present beneath our lives, through good and bad. God is always there; always caring, always forgiving, always working.
As we immerse ourselves in the Lenten journey, this is the “take away” from our Gospel. God walks with us even when it seems as though tomorrow will never come and in our times of limited faith and practice.
Finally, a prayer from the Office of Compliance is perfect for our journey: “Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith.”
Source: © The Rev. Peter Groschner, February 18, 2018. Mark 1:9-15. Reprinted with permission from the author.