Sunday February 26 First Sunday of Lent
Genesis 9:8-17
Psalm 25:1-9
1 Peter 3:18-22
Mark 1: 9-15
The gospel for the first Sunday of Lent (Mark 1:9-15) is short, action-packed, richly symbolic and enigmatic. Its few sentences leave us begging for more information. Here it is in its entirety.
“At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him. After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ”The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”
“… Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee…” In Jesus’ day, Nazareth was a third class town in a remote province of Israel. (In John’s gospel (John 1:45) Nathanial asked “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” ) This was a backwater. It didn’t have the natural or educational resources to produce anyone or anything of significance. This made it all the more surprising that ‘As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” ‘
As improbable as his background would suggest, Jesus was singled out by a visual symbol of the Spirit and a voice calling him “Son”. This was a moment of a new identity for Jesus, an affirmation of his direct relationship to God and an approval of his life: “with you I am well pleased.”
This was also a public moment that probably left people stunned at what it meant and wondering what would follow.
***
“At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert….” (Different translations describe Jesus as going to the ‘wilderness.’ ‘Desert’ suggests sand dunes, rocks and virtually nothing growing. ‘Wilderness’ describes a place outside of towns where there is no farming or houses but patches of grass, open land, hills and scrub brush. Wilderness probably better describes the kind of place Jesus went.)
Going to the wilderness is a rite of passage: a place where Jesus prepared for a new kind of life. We know little about Jesus prior to his baptism. When he went to a wilderness space he grew into the new identity that had been confirmed at his baptism. When he came out, after 40 days, he began a public life that changed the history of the world.
Going to the wilderness was also richly symbolic. When the Israelites left Egypt they fled to the wilderness where they discovered their new identity as a people. It was also a time of trial and a time when they received God’s commandments via Moses. Jesus’ 40 days in the desert also echoes the 40 years the Israelites spent there after they were freed by God’s action at the Passover.
(There are other symbols in the gospel: temptations by Satan, wild animals, angels. There is also the reference to “good news”.)
***
If we read the story as an account of a set of historic events we probably react by thinking that we have never heard nor seen anything like God’s voice coming from heaven referring to this person as a beloved son. We’d want to know more about Jesus’ background that led up to this moment. We’d want to know what Jesus thought or felt about the moment when he was singled out like this. We’d want to know why Jesus responded by going into the wilderness. We’d wonder whether there was lasting impact on the people who witnessed this event, or did they come to dismiss it soon after as some kind of unexplained meteorological event.
The gospel story begs more questions than it answers. At the same time, it tells us that, following an extraordinary event at the time of his baptism, Jesus felt compelled to go to the wilderness for a period of reflection on his life’s purpose.
***
How do you react to sudden, public praise? What does it feel like when someone singles you out for a compliment? How do you respond? How did Jesus respond?
If you were to go on a solo camping trip for several weeks in the early spring, what plans would you make? Imagine that there is no cell phone service or internet. You’d plan the clothes you’d take and some food, and you’d think about what you could gather or catch that you could eat and what kind of shelter you’d need, but you’d also think about what you were going to do in the quiet times of the day and night. You’d develop a new awareness and understanding of God’s creation, for sure. What else?
If someone asked you why Jesus went to the wilderness, what answer would you give, based on the other things you know about his life.
