Reflection on Mark 1:9-15

I am not saying that I can keep away from temptation as much as Jesus, but I have visited Hershey’s Chocolate World before with the kids, determined to get out of there without spending money on candy.  And, though Satan is really good at what he does, like by placing an entire display of Reese Peanut Butter cups right at the exit of the Chocolate World animatronics ride, I can confidently say that took a deep breath and walked straight…up to the giant Reese Peanut Butter Cups.  You know the ones that are one pound of salty, peanut butter delight encased in Hershey’s smooth milk chocolate?

I admit it: I am a failure!  I could not walk by temptation.  I did not walk by temptation.  I would tell you that the giant cups of chocolate and peanut butter delight are long gone, but I fear that they will be hanging around my mid-section for a couple of years to come.

I confess that I am captive to sin and cannot free myself.  In particular, I am captive to the irresistible pull of Reese Peanut Butter Cups which have no nutritional value what-so-ever.  Temptation has a way of luring you into something that you know is not good or healthy, but is none-the-less completely satisfying. 

Now, if temptation was only about candy, its influence on the world might not be quite so bad.  But, we all know that I am walking lightly into this conversation, because temptation goes much deeper, and can be so much more destructive than giving into a delightful treat. 

Temptation is everywhere, luring you away from healthy relationships with other people and with God.  Those who have cheated on their spouses know the destruction that temptation can bring.  Those who have turned to substances and have recognized the effect on those they love know the destruction that temptation can bring.  Those who have clung to their professions and their money rather than clinging to their families know the destruction that temptation can bring. 

Need I go on?  You know what temptation is.  You know how destructive it can be.  You know that evil lurks behind temptation like a fisherman behind a lure.

Is it surprising to learn that Jesus too knows temptation very well? 

As the Bible tells the story, not more than minutes after God declared him as God “Son, the Beloved,” Jesus was driven by the Spirit out into the wilderness. 

The wilderness, a place of complete exposure amongst the barren rocks and scrub, with little place to hide, and a place of very real mortal danger where wild animals roam and hunt, is where Satan tempted Jesus. 

The Greek word for “tempted” here can also be translated as “tested.”  When I read this story I try to consider both “tempted” (the times we are lured away from what is right) and “tested” (the times when life does not go as we had hoped and we suffer).  In my experience, both the times of trial and the times of temptation can lead us far away from the two most important things: love of God and love of neighbor.

According to the Bible, those are the two most important things in life.  Take a look at chapter 12 of Mark’s gospel, where, incidentally, Jesus is tested again, this time by some Pharisees and by some Sadducees (religious leaders of the time). In this instance, Jesus is asked “Which commandment is the first of all?”  And, Jesus replied, “’Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’  The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Now, since those are the greatest commandments, those will obviously be, the primary targets in times of temptation and testing.  It is absolutely true that when we give into temptation, we abandon our care for others, causing them harm.  And, it is absolutely true that when our lives are tested to a breaking point, we are tempted to abandon our trust in God.

In short, you could say that our greatest temptations in life are the exact opposite of loving God and others.  We are tempted to abandon God and abandon others.

Maybe, some day we should have an entire worship service devoted to confessing all of the times that we have abandoned God and abandoned others.  Our confessions would range from driving past the guy stuck on the side of the road, to not actually listening to the brown skinned woman when she said she was being discriminated against.  Our confessions would range from times that we abandoned God’s way of love and did not do anything for the person down on their luck, to the time that we were down on our luck and could not find any hope for the future, so we gave up on God.

We should have a service of confession like that one of these days, but today we are not here to talk about us and our failures. That is not what this scripture is about. 

Rather, we are here to give praise to the one who overcomes when we cannot.  We praise Jesus Christ our savior.  We are here to give praise to the one who chooses to bring us healing even when we shout out like the doubting father with an ailing son in Mark chapter 9, “…help my unbelief.”  We praise Jesus Christ our healer.  We are here to give praise to the one who sat in the wilderness with the wild beasts as it says in Mark 1:13, and trusted in God to provide.

If the story of Jesus being with the wild beasts after being tested by Satan makes you think of that childhood story of Daniel in the lion’s den, it should. The Bible is intentional about that.

Remember, in that story, Daniel is tempted to pray to the king rather than God by a royal edict.  Daniel chooses to pray to God.  For breaking the law, Daniel is thrown into the lion’s den.  However, God sends some angels who shut the mouths of the lions and see Daniel through to the morning. 

We see this same dynamic going on in Mark’s short, one sentence story: “[Jesus] was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.” 

Jesus had the same sort of devotion to God the Father as Daniel had in his own time.  Jesus does not abandon God while being tempted and tested, even with the wild beasts lingering and threatening.  God the Father provides angels to attend to Jesus just as God had to Daniel when in the lion’s den.  And, that utter trust in God’s vision and God’s provision is the foundation for Jesus’ ministry from there on out as he proclaimed the good news of God, and ministered to the people of God.

Do not let that last bit fly over your head, because it is the what the rest of the gospel of Mark is about.  Jesus’ refusal to abandon God leads him to live a life where he is utterly free to love as God loves.  Jesus’ refusal to abandon God leads to Jesus’ refusal to abandon us.  It leads him all the way to the cross, refusing to abandon his love for us the whole way.  It leads him to a life of ultimate love, where temptation can never win and death can never have the last word.

And, that is the sort of freedom in which Jesus invites you to be a part.  It is a freedom in which you are able to love with abandon.  After-all, it is not a burden to love others.  Loving others is freedom. 

Temptation to ignore God and others is what burdens and blackens our souls.  Trials endured without hope are what throw us to the ground and hold us there. 

But, trusting in the love of Jesus Christ who walked out of the wilderness of temptation and testing is what sets us free.  We are free to follow the beloved of God.  Jesus will never abandon God and Jesus does not abandon neighbor. 

We have been set free by Jesus Christ from temptation and testing to live in the love of the kingdom of God.