Wilderness

I have often said that one of the wonderful things about a three-year lectionary is that one can return to the same readings at a different point of life, deepening one’s understanding. Sometimes they recur too soon for that to happen. Sunday is one of those times. We heard Mark’s account of the baptism of Jesus less than two months ago on the first Sunday after Epiphany, and here it is again on the first Sunday of Lent.

The context is different, however. Instead of stopping at the baptism, the reading continues with the Spirit driving Jesus into the wilderness. Unfortunately, this may trigger a response that stops careful listening: “I know this story; it’s about the temptation of Jesus.” But the temptation isn’t Mark’s focus at all. Unlike Matthew and Luke, there’s no dialogue between Jesus and Satan (or the devil). Instead, the focus is on Jesus being in the wilderness. It’s a dangerous place; Satan and the wild beasts are there. Some preachers want to turn this into the Peaceable Kingdom. They imagine the wolf lying down with the lamb and Satan subdued by Jesus. Having camped in wilderness, I’m less convinced. There were times when I would have liked to have had a few angels around. Wilderness is wild, after all!

Rather than presenting a peaceable kingdom or dwelling on the temptation of Jesus, Mark is setting the stage for all that will follow. Throughout his Gospel there is increasing conflict between Jesus and those in power, especially the religious authorities. Parallel to this earthly conflict is a cosmic one between good and evil personified as Satan and demons. It is the demons who identify Jesus as the Son of God, even as he silences and casts them out. The wilderness experience is preparing Jesus for the dangers to come.

It isn’t very popular to talk about evil, especially when it involves Satan and demons. Yet I don’t think it is possible to explain the great evils of human history, including 9/11 and some of the responses to it, without seeing the presence of an external evil greater than what humans can generate of their own free will. Mark makes the point that this battle is not just between good and bad people, that if we all just tried harder everyone could get along. He says it’s much more than that. It reaches cosmic proportions. At the same time, we can’t grant evil too much power. God is clearly sovereign. Satan tempts Jesus, but does not prevail.

How do we translate Mark’s worldview into our own? For one thing, we need to recognize the existence of evil greater than any one of us. Whether we personify that evil as Satan or not doesn’t matter, although I do think that it is easier to fight something when we can put a name to it. As Peter puts it, evil “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Fortunately, it’s rare for someone to fall right into great evil. Usually it’s taking many small steps away from God that eventually add up. That’s why we constantly need repentance and reorientation. The Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and spiritual reading help us to get our priorities straight, back on the road toward God.

I haven’t done any wilderness camping for years. Somehow sleeping on the ground has lost its appeal! Yet I still remember what it’s like to hear sounds in the dark, hoping that my food is strung high enough so the bears won’t get it. The memory of that very human fear connects me with Jesus in the wilderness – and reminds me that life is not benign. It does make a difference which way we go, which way we choose to turn, which trail we take. One leads to darkness and death; the other leads to light and life. Let Lent give you a chance to get back on the right track.

[Lent 1: 1 Peter 3:18-22 (although I quoted 5:8); Mark 1:9-15.]