LENT I - B - 18 MARK 1. 9-15
Last week’s gospel ended the
Epiphany season with St. Mark’s account of the Transfiguration, an event in the
life of Jesus that occurred on the holy mountain as he prepared to enter
Jerusalem for the last time. Peter, James and John were privy to the event and
heard the voice from heaven declaring Jesus to be God’s beloved and with the
admonition, listen to him. The events of Holy Week would soon follow. The cross
loomed in the distance.
Today’s gospel, on the first
Sunday of Lent, turns back the hands of the clock to the very beginning of
Jesus’ ministry. Jesus is baptized by John in the Jordan River. He is anointed
by the Holy Spirit and confirmed in his mission by a voice from heaven that
only Jesus hears, “Thou art my beloved Son, with thee I am well pleased.”
And with that, he is
immediately driven into the desert by the Holy Spirit where he spends forty
days preparing for the road that lay ahead - including the cross. Without going
into detail, Mark simply tells us that Jesus was tempted by Satan while he was
preparing for his mission. However, he was not alone. The wild beasts were
there, and the angels ministered to him.
If we want the details of
Jesus’ temptations, we have to go to Matthew and Luke’s accounts. They all boil
down to allegiance, devotion, and loyalty. Jesus won that round, but the battle
was not over. Satan would return to Jesus at a later date to try again to
derail his mission by tempting Jesus to use his divine powers to escape his
human situation.
What Satan attempted to do was to get Jesus to
rely on his divine powers to overcome his physical and spiritual struggles,
first in the wilderness, and later as he neared the completion of his mission.
The opportune time would come in the garden at Gethsemane as Christ prayed that
the cup might pass him by and most notably on the cross when Satan challenged
Jesus to prove his true identity by coming down from the cross.
However, Jesus refused.
Instead, he stood with us. His humanity was able to overcome and dispel the
enemy. How did he do it? If we look closely at Matthew and Luke’s accounts, we
see that Jesus used scripture to defeat Satan’s temptations. Being grounded in
the word of God is our strongest tool to fight the enemy. However, there was
more, much more.
Mark’s account tells us that
the holy angels were there, not to prevent Jesus from being tempted, but to
remind him of the Father’s love. Jesus relied on God the Father to Love him
through it. The Father had said at his baptism that he was His beloved. Thus,
Jesus went into the wilderness knowing that the Father loved him.
The love of God gives life.
Jesus proved it in the desert and by doing so set the example for all of us to
follow. If we are grounded in the knowledge of the Word of God and know that we
are loved by God for all eternity we have what we need to pass through this
present wilderness, even though we are surrounded by wild beasts of all kinds,
and tempted by Satan in all manner of ways.
In our Epistle for today St. Paul reminds us
that we have been saved through the waters of Holy Baptism just as Noah and his
family was saved through the waters of the great flood. However, our salvation
comes not from being washed clean, but through our faith and belief in the
resurrection of Jesus.
Have you ever thought about
the fact that Satan did not want Jesus to be crucified? He wanted Jesus to come
down from the cross and give his allegiance to him. It was Satan speaking
though the mouths of the chief priests, scribes and elders who mocked him on
Calvary.
“He saved others; he cannot
save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross,
and we will believe in him. He trusts in God let God deliver him now…” And it
was Satan who spoke through the mouth of the one thief hanging next to him who
reviled him in the same way.
For Satan knew that if Christ
died, he would rise again. His victory over sin and death would be complete and
His kingdom would come, and that of Satan’s would end. As we strive to live the
new life to which we have been called in Christ Jesus, know that the enemy will
work harder at trying to tempt us in the wrong direction.
Baptism marks us as belonging
to Christ forever. However, it does not make us immune to temptation and sin.
Having been buried with Christ and raised to life in him through the waters of
holy baptism only serves to make us a greater target for the enemy. Satan’s
desire is to cause us to doubt our true identity and to whom we ultimately
belong thus shaking our allegiance, our loyalty and our devotion to God.
Thus in the invitation to the
observance to a holy Lent on Ash Wednesday we are reminded of our continual
need of repentance. Today’s collect serves to strengthen that reminder. We are
in need of God’s help as we are continually being assaulted by manifold
temptations. The enemy knows very well where we are the weakest and that is
where he will always strike.
C.S. Lewis, the great
Anglican lay-theologian, put it in terms we can all understand in his classic “The
Screwtape Letters” It is an engaging account of temptation and triumph over it.
The subject of the book is a newly minted Christian. In his book, via a series
of letters, he describes how Satan uses various methods to undermined faith and
promote sin.
Temptation covers all areas
and experiences of life such as pain, sorrow, disappointment, solicitation to
sin, and conflict of duties, pride and prejudice and let us not forget the sin
of self-righteousness. Incitement to evil may come from without, but the real
struggle always takes place within.
To continue the journey to
God unimpeded and undeterred we need not rely on our own strength and
resources, but on God’s holy Word written and living coupled with the knowledge
that we are not alone. God is with us. His holy angels watch over us. In addition,
God has given us the gifts of Faith, Hope, and Love.
These gifts of grace will
strengthen us as we struggle to make our way to God through this present
wilderness. Our proper response to God’s gifts of grace is to give Him our
total allegiance, our unquestioned loyalty, and above all, our undying devotion
and then let God Love us through it to the Glory of His name. AMEN+
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