First Sunday of
Lent (B) [Mk 1:12-15]
18.02.2024
The Temptation of Jesus and Beginning of His Public
Ministry
- Theme in brief:
Our
struggle against evil forces and violent or aggressive tendencies in us
- Focus Statement:
Lent is a
God-appointed time for us to examine how far we have deviated from our
faith-commitment made at baptism; a time to fight against evil forces and
violent tendencies in us with God’s power; and to decide to live the way of the
gospel of Christ in a more radical manner.
- Explanation of the text
Though the account of Jesus’
temptation in today’s gospel according to Mark is very brief, it is rich in its
symbolic
meaning. We are surprised to read that the same Spirit of God who descended on Jesus at his baptism now “drove him out into the wilderness” or desert (1:12)
to be “tempted by Satan” (1:13). The strong word “drive” used here may refer to
an inner urge in Jesus under the influence of
the Holy Spirit to go into the wilderness or desert to spend a quiet
time of encounter with God before beginning his public ministry. But where the
Spirit took him, there also an opposite spirit, namely the Evil Spirit followed
him. In other words, he had to encounter temptations of Satan even while
praying and fasting.
Mark links the temptations of
Jesus to his baptism by saying that he was tempted by Satan “immediately” after his baptism (1:12). Unlike Matthew and Luke, who
pinpoint three temptations of Jesus one by one and explain how Jesus faced
them, Mark does not mention at all about the exact nature of his temptations. But,
since he has placed them immediately after his baptism, we can very well
imagine that they were about going against his decision and commitment made at
baptism to be faithful to his mission of service unto death. Here Satan stands for everything,
every force that is against God and his ways. The fourty-day period of his
temptations (1:13) is not meant to be taken literally but in the biblical sense
of a longer or considerable period of time; in fact till his death. Even while
dying, his temptations came from the mouths of passers-by who challenged him to
come down from the cross (Mk 15:29-30).
Among the four evangelists, only
Mark mentions in today’s gospel that Jesus was “with the wild beasts” in the
wilderness for fourty days and “the angels waited on him” (1:13). Here Mark hints
at Jesus’ encounter with the two contrasting forces
in the desert, namely the evil spirit or Satan (represented by the wild beasts)
and the Good Spirit or the Holy Spirit (represented by the angels). Biblical
scholars can only guess what Mark had in mind: (1) may be a reference to the messianic
age foretold by prophet Isaiah when wolf and lamb, lion and little child would
live together in peace (Isaiah 11:6-9); or (2)
may be he wanted to portray Jesus as the New Adam who overcame Satan’s
temptations, whereas the first Adam living peacefully among wild animals in the
Garden of Eden had failed. Thus, he restored the
peace and harmony
of the paradise destroyed by the fall of Adam; or he regained the lost paradise. Symbolically,
the ministering angels (1:13) seem to indicate
this: (1) Jesus was preserved
from being torn into pieces by wild beasts in the wilderness because of the
special care and protection
of God through his angels; or (2) God did not leave Jesus alone in a time of
temptation but gave his protection through his angels.
After winning a victory over Satan’s tests, Jesus began his public ministry with the proclamation of the summary or the main theme of his preaching, that is the Kingdom of God or God’s rule of total and unconditional love had come on earth in his person (1:14-15). Mark announces this central theme by saying that Jesus came to Galilee to proclaim the good news of God (1:14), that is, God’s rule of love and salvation had now come very near to all in the person of Jesus (1:15). [In fact, Jesus himself was (is) God’s Good News in person.] The time of waiting (the long period of OT in which the Kingdom was promised) was fulfilled (completed) with the arrest of John the Baptist (1:14). God’s appointed time or the time planned (fixed) by him to begin a new age or rule was near for all who were willing to receive it.
How should one respond to the challenge of the breaking
good-news of God’s Kingdom? In two ways: by (1) repenting or changing one’s ways and (2) believing in the good news (1:15). To ‘repent’ means more than feeling sorry
for one’s personal sins, but a change of
mind/ attitude/ life-style. To ‘believe’ does not mean to believe in a doctrine
as we do while reciting “I believe” (the Creed). It means to be attached to the person of Jesus or to have a
deep faith or trust in him. It also means to live according to the gospel of Christ.
- Application to life
A temptation is basically a test of faith or a test which reveals whether we are faithful to God or not. We
are tempted throughout our life, not to put our faith and trust in God, or not
to live by our faith. Sometimes we are even tempted to make Jesus come down
from the cross and save us miraculously from all calamities and suffering, just
as the passers-by did during his crucifixion as mentioned above. Traditionally a temptation is also
understood as an inducement to sin. It is not a sin in
itself, but an inclination towards it. It is only a test which can either make or beak us. If we do not yield to it,
it can make us strong in
faith.
Let us try to understand why the
Holy Spirit drove Jesus towards temptation
according to today’s gospel text. We are used to understand a temptation only in
the negative sense that it necessarily ruins us. By driving Jesus into the desert
for prayer and solitude, the Holy Spirit wanted to prepare him to face tests
against his baptismal commitment so that he could come out strong. In
baptism, we make a commitment
to worship God alone and promise to be faithful
to the mission of Christ. Just like Jesus we too are tempted to deviate from our baptismal call and mission. Lent is
a time to examine whether we have fallen prey
to Satan’s temptations to go against our faith-commitment made at baptism, and
to renew
that commitment by returning to God and his ways. For
this we need to make use of various spiritual means such as regular prayer,
penance, works of charity, Word of God, reception of sacraments with proper disposition
(especially the sacrament of reconciliation).
Lent is also a time to fight against evil tendencies and forces within and around us with
God’s power so that we can experience the peace and harmony
of the Garden of Eden. Just as God’s protective Spirit was with Jesus when he
struggled against the test and allurement
of the Evil Power in the desert, now also Jesus’ protecting Spirit is with his disciples
in their desert experience or
struggle against personal weaknesses. God’s protection comes to us from our
communion with him through spiritual means already mentioned above. When we
possesses sufficient spiritual energy, ‘wild animals’ (evil forces) cannot do
harm to us.
Lent is a period of desert
experience of prayer and penance for us so that we get
enlightenment to distinguish between God’s voice and the Satan’s voice; between
wild beasts
and holy angels
who waited on Jesus. Wild beasts represent all the evil as well as violent forces in
our world or society such as terrorism, violence, hatred, crimes against
humanity and God’s creation (such as environmental destruction). They also
represent something of the wild beast or violent
tendencies in all of us lurking at the door. The Bible says that we must master them
(Gen 4:7). When we read the story of Cain and Abel (Gen 4:1-16) we come to know
how Cain’s envy and anger towards his brother
Abel ended up in hatred and cold-blooded murder. We
have to admit that there is a Cain sitting inside of each one of us who gives
in to aggressive and violent
behaviour against his brothers and sisters. If violence which is inherent in
human nature is not contained or mastered, it will create havoc in
human/social relationships and contribute to the all-prevailing culture of
violence in our world. Here the term ‘culture’ refers to attitudes and
behaviour which accept violence as an inevitable way of life. All-prevailing
violence in our society causes threat to human life. Like Cain we too try to cover-up
our guilt and refuse to accept responsibility for containing the escalating
violence in our society by saying: "Am I my brother's keeper (Gen
4:9)?" God’s voice coming from his Word resounds before us in Lent more
loudly than other times: “Are you also not responsible (at least
indirectly) for
the prevailing culture of violence in the world?”
The peaceful co-existence of Jesus with the wild
animals in the wilderness (which did no harm to him) as per today’s gospel
text, symbolizes for us the need to create a culture of active non-violence which is
life-promoting. In this Lent Jesus invites us to become active in overcoming
violent tendencies within us and in our communities, instead of merely feeling
sad about it or becoming passive spectators. Unlike the first Adam who yielded to Satan’s
temptation to be like God and spoiled the harmony of
We can decide to take up a self-imposed Lenten penance to consciously avoid not only abusive language but also rough/ rude/ unkind/ violent words such as “bash”, “bang”, “smash”, “thrash”, “hammer”, “shoot” or “kick” so and so. Also we can decide to avoid threatening and ‘subtly bloodthirsty’ words such as, “I’ll show him/her…” or “I’ll teach him/her a lesson…” Parents/ teachers/ managers/ administrators/ superiors could make an effort not to use violent/ insulting/ abusive words towards their children/ students/ workers/ employees/ subjects such as, “fool”, “stupid”, “good-for-nothing”, “ass”, and “lazy goose”. When we live with people of other races/ caste/ ethnicity/ religious faiths we should make conscious efforts to totally avoid name-calling done on them by other people. Observe how children imitate this language from their parents and companions. Further, we need to examine whether we indulge in any form of domestic violence against women or our domestic helps.
Lent is also the most opportune or fitting time for us to respond in a better way to the Good News of God as proclaimed by Jesus as he began his public ministry. Lent can become God’s appointed time for us to change the direction of our life and to be converted to the values of God’s Kingdom or to live the gospel more radically. In simple terms, we can understand the Kingdom of God to mean living a qualitatively different way of life in which God’s values taught by Jesus (such as sacrificial love, humble service, unconditional forgiveness, active concern for the needy) become the rule. When we try to live these gospel values, we find that sin/ evil/ selfishness are obstacles to its path. Removal of these obstacles necessarily leads to repentance. Hence, believing in the Good News involves a conversion to the gospel-way of life from worldly/ evil/ selfish ways. In this Lent, it is right and proper that we examine how much percentage of our life is in line with the gospel of Christ and try to ‘upgrade’ our Christian life with the spiritual means already mentioned above.
- Response to God's
Word
Are we faithful to our baptismal promises of renouncing Satan and his pomp – implying all evil forces and violent tendencies? What is our plan to seek God’s protection and to fight evil forces (sinfulness) during this Lenten Season? What can we do this Lent to deepen our trust and faith in God as our only source to fight against temptations against our baptismal commitment? What are we doing to have a ‘desert experience’ in this Lent? Are we attuned to the Spirit so that he drives us to such places as he drove Jesus? Do we consciously strive to master something of the wild beast lurking at our door? How can we create a culture of active non-violence? How can we ‘upgrade’ our Christian life with Lenten practices?
- A Prayer
Lord Jesus, just like you we too are often
tempted not to be faithful to our baptismal promises as well as the mission
which you have entrusted to us. We believe that you are with us in our struggle
and give us the strength to face these temptations because you too were tested
like us. Give us the grace to make decisive choice for God’s values and always
to say ‘no’ to the ways of the world. Send forth your Spirit and purify our minds
from all violent attitudes, motives and ways of thinking and grant that we may
create a culture of active non-violence in our society. Amen.
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