First Sunday of Lent: Year B:
Some thoughts on the readings.
The first two readings link together and have a baptismal theme: Noah saved through the waters, just like we are saved through the waters of baptism.
The Gospel events take place immediately after the baptism
of Jesus by John in the
Why? I think we are very much meant to connect the forty days in the wilderness with this profound experience. He is being driven into the wilderness for the sake, so to speak, of reflecting on, praying about and bedding down this experience and the mission which goes with it and everything that this will involve into all the levels of his personality.
This is confirmed in the other gospels which also have the story. Matthew’s version of the story says: “Then Jesus was lead up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Two out of three of the Temptations mentioned in the other two synoptic Gospels begin with, “If you are the Son of God…”. The other one has to do with clarifying his sense of mission, and how not to take Satanic short-cuts, for the sake of power not to make a pact with the devil. He is actually being pushed out there by the Spirit for the sake, among other things, of facing down the temptations which come with the territory. The Temptations are not casual: they are a positive, indeed crucial, part of the Spirit’s agenda.
Indeed, in spite of its brevity, this is a classic putting oneself together in view of a task narrative. God, now designated Jesus’ Father, is sending Salvation to Humankind. Jesus, the subject or hero, “my Son, the Beloved”, is the means by whom this transaction is to be performed. In performing this transaction he has certain Opponents, notably Satan with his temptations. He also has certain Helpers, at this point the angels and possibly the wild beasts: he was with the wild beasts, and the angels looked after him. This in turn sets up the pattern of his life from now on. The wilderness experience is a kind of prelude, to a story which is concluded only with the Resurrection and Ascension into Glory.
The Spirit, having accomplished this work in him, then
drives him back into
There is something similar with
We can use this pattern, if we want, as a way of thinking about how Lent and Easter fits into our lives.
We may get into Lent for all sorts of reasons, including the fact that it is just that time of year. But the core motive force is that we, through baptism, are also The Beloved, the sons and daughters. The Spirit drives us ‘into the wilderness’ so this and the mission which goes with this can be embedded some more in all the levels of our personality and all the sectors of our lives. And the point of the exercise for us is to come out the other end, which is the Feast of Pentecost, like Jesus “filled with the power of the Spirit” and with new found energy for the task, our own life and our own mission.
During this time, the Spirit may or may not give us also the grace to ‘face down the temptations which go with the territory’, whatever they may be. But as we apply ourselves to our Lenten discipline, to become some more the people God wants us to be both individually and communally, the sons and daughters, the brothers and sisters, or brothers and sisters and mothers, that will happen. And with a bit of luck, some new energy and enthusiasm, a new verve in our lives.
The message Jesus proclaimed when he came with power out of
the desert is recorded for us in the second part of today’s Gospel: “The time
has come”, he said, “and the
“Repent” is a word we use to translate a Greek word (metanoia) meaning, change your mind and heart, turn yourself around, from the inside out, or get yourself turned around. So it’s more than just saying sorry, though that can be part of it.
But Jesus doesn’t just say, “repent”, and he doesn’t say,
“repent, because you are bad and horrible and awful” . He says, “The time has come, and the
Why is it a good idea to repent? Because the time has come and the