Today's Scripture Readings
Genesis 29:8-17 (NRSV)
God said to Noah and to his sons with him, "As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."
Psalm 25:1-9 (BCP., p.614)
1 Peter 3:18-22 (NRSV)
Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you-- not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.
Mark 1:9-15 (NRSV)
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 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. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."
Blog Reflection
In my preparations for this blog post, I have been doing a word comparison study on the words, "And the Spirit immediately drove him into the wilderness."
Mark's Gospel account of the temptation of Jesus is the shortest version of the story. There is no detailed information about how Jesus was tempted, and what the conversation between Jesus, the Scriptures and the devil was about. Mark's description begins with "the Spirit drove Jesus." In Matthew 4:1 and Luke 4:1, they read that The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. There is quite the different meaning in those two words led and drove. When I researched other translations of this text, I found some interesting variations on the word drove. The word used in The Common English Bible is forced, while the word used in The Message Bible is pushed. The New American Standard Version uses the word impelled. The only version that suggests that the Holy Spirit was more gentle with Jesus is the New International Version which reads that the Spirit sent Jesus into the wilderness.
To better understand what is happening in Mark's Gospel, it is best to go back to the beginning where we reread about what took place at the Baptism of Jesus. As Jesus was coming up out of the waters of His Baptism, and the heavens are torn apart and the Holy Spirit descends on Him and a voice says: "You are my Son the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." The Holy Spirit represents the Essence of God. A good synonym for Essence is "the Intrinsic Nature" of God. The word 'intrinsic" is best understood as "in and of itself (herself, himself)." So why would the Essence of God drive, push or impel God's Beloved into the wilderness to be tempted among the wild beasts? If God is so "pleased" with Jesus, why send (or drive) Him to face such personal danger?
To contemplate this mystery it is a good idea to look at the lives of Desert Mothers and Fathers. They went into the desert not to escape the world as some suggest; although that was certainly an important part of the reason. In the desert, one loses all attachments to how things used to be. All of the illusions of ourselves are gone. It is in the desert (or in solitude) with God, that we see as clearly as possible, the best and worst of ourselves. We are confronted with the reality of just how wounded our bodies and souls are by our false-sense of self. The false self that thinks that we are "someone" or "something" other than who or what we really are. We see how we define ourselves by the damaging labels others place upon us. We see how much we really rely on wealth, personal pleasure, possessions, power, fashion and knowledge to make up who and what we are. If we are to receive some kind of healing with the help of God's Essence; then the Holy Spirit must be united with our own spirit, our own essence. When we remove all the deceptions in our bodies and souls and seek a holy union with the Intrinsic Nature of God within our own essence, we are living from our Eternal Truth. Then there can be true healing and we can live from our true selves.
So, why did the Spirit drive Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted?
Because Jesus is the Word of God, united with the Essence of God. In Jesus Christ, the Perfect Revelation of God in the human Person, our humanity finds its fulfillment and healing when we face the best and worst of ourselves in the Light and Grace of God's Intrinsic Nature. If God's Beloved in Christ can face the best and worst of our human nature in the wilderness, and rely on The Essence of God within Him: He will be more than able to face the reality of all human suffering in His Passion and Death on the Cross. Humankind continues to fail under the reality of our communal, personal and spiritual immaturity. We are all tempted. At times, we all give in and live by our false-sense of self. We all suffer because of things that have happened to us, including addictions, abuse, violence, prejudice and more. The reality of our human nature does not disappear because of God's grace. On the contrary, we must, by faith in God, accept our false-selves and let go so that we can live into and from our true selves, united with God's Holy Essence.
If we are to see a change in the Church and society with regards to the marginalized, destitute, sick and oppressed; we must begin by facing the best and worst of ourselves, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, find victory and strength in Jesus the Christ. We must experience and live from our essence and the Essence of God, and seek healing and reconciliation within ourselves and the world around us. In this great mystery, is that "truth" that "sets us free" (See John 8:32).
As we continue in our journey of Lent, may we be willing to walk with Jesus to face the best and worst of ourselves; so that, we can also seek and find the rejuvenation of God the Holy Spirit to live into our true selves to respect and uphold the dignity of every human person.
Amen.
Prayers
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be
tempted by Satan; Come quickly to help us who are assaulted
by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of
each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through
Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the First Sunday in Lent, The Book of Common Prayer, p.218).
O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the
earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those
who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people
everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the
nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh;
and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer, p.100).
No comments:
Post a Comment