This week’s gospel tells us that Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit where he was temped by the devil. Just before this passage, we find the story of Jesus being baptized by John. After the baptism, a voice from heaven declared, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” The devil challenges Jesus, saying: If you are the Son of God make bread out of stones, get God to save you from crashing to your death jumping off the pinnacle of the temple, and to turn your back on God entirely. Essentially, “If you are the Son of God, prove it.” It is no accident that the devil uses that exact language to tempt Jesus to turn away from his identity, to forget God’s priorities, and to question himself and all he is going to do.
These 40 days in the wilderness echo the 40 years the people of Israel spent in the wilderness before arriving at the promised land. Though Jesus has been fasting in the wilderness and is certainly not at his best, he faces the confrontation and triumphs. Just like the people of Israel finally reached the land God had promised to them after their long time in the wilderness, Jesus will begins to teach and heal and do miracles that usher in the world God is promising to all people.
In baptism, God declares who Jesus is. In our baptism, God heals us and claims us and declares (not quite so dramatically) that we are God’s beloved children. Throughout our lives, we will encounter trials and temptations that will entice us to doubt that we belong to God, or tempt us to walk away from God’s priorities of love, forgiveness, and justice entirely. In Lent, we try to find ways to move closer to God, to remember and rest in the promises that God makes to us in baptism and in life itself. Throughout our whole lives, really, we seek to move closer to God and to live out God’s priorities. Temptations come and go, yet we are always claimed by God.
Peace,