The Season of Lent

The Season of Lent: "People used to associate Lent with giving things up for penance. Even though many Catholics do give things up that they enjoy during Lent, Lent really focuses on our baptismal promises. "

Suffering

1 Peter 3:18-22:

"A letter of encouragement to the Christian resident aliens in Asia Minor. Their conditions as strangers and outsiders, threatens the stability of a community. The writer assures them that this is the normal condition of any truly Christian community"

This context gives rise to what seems to be a lentan theme of suffering. My wife, who works as a secretary for a methodist and a presbyterian chruch, told me that Ash wednesday is about remembering we are dust and to dust we shall return. It strikes me that lent is a time to examine a life of death. Death to self, a welcoming of suffering and strife for the sake of Christ. Isn't that an appropriate reminder as we come to build to Good Friday. Isn't that life of death that which will make sweet resurrection Sunday?

Animals and matter

Practice of Jesus - year B:

"The Hebrew concept of 'covenant' (Gn.9:11) is grounded in a distinctive
world-view. After the destruction caused by the Flood, YHWH affirms the covenant for life, including animal life (Mark's gospel also mentions animals). The covenant is made with every living creature (v.9). An excessively anthropocentric view does not appear to value other forms of life in God's plan. Our viewing the human race as master of Creation has made us forget the significance of Creation and the respect we should have for it. We tend to a world view that what is not human seems to be outside of the history of salvation. From this contempt for animal life, we move to a religious under-estimating of respect for our own physical and material life. Thus, the human body also turns out to be outside of God's purpose. Reducing ourselves to a bodiless spiritualism, we can too easily lose interest in so many other people's daily needs for food, health and housing. Such needs cease to challenge us because these imperatives come precisely from aspects shared with animal life which we consider of so little value. In destroying creation - for supposedly religious reasons - we are destroying ourselves and we fail to understand the meaning of our incorporation in the risen Body of Christ through baptism (1 Pt.3:21)."

This aspect of this week's text echos a some thoughts I've had lately while discussing with friends.

Interesting but unimportant tidbits

Here are some interesting reference to Elijah in Mark's Gospel. Perhaps there is a theme brewing here somewhere.

Elijah’s Ministry	Jesus’ Ministry
Journey to Horeb, 40 days	In the wilderness 40 days
Fasted on way	Apparently Fasted
Went to meet God	Drove off by the Spirit of God to meet Satan
Ministered to by Angels (1 Kings 19)	Also ministered to by angels perhaps continually during battle with Satan
Appeared on the mount of transfiguration	Was transfigured on the mountain
Named before Moses Was present when God spoke to Jesus “You are my Son” at from the cloud.	Elijah as Type of John the Baptist
	Was present when God spoke to Jesus “You are my Son” at Baptism
The name of Elijah evoked in the death of Jesus (Mark 15:35-36) shortly before the pronouncement of Jesus as the son of God by the soldier at the foot of the cross. (Mark 15:39)

The Battle With Satan

Morna Hooker:

There is nothing here to suggest that Mark thought of this as a period when Jesus deliberated about what kind of messiah he was to be. Neither is there any sign – whatever later interpreters and preachers may have done with his account—that Mark’s purpose is to portray Jesus’ spiritual pilgrimage, passing through a psychological trough after the peak of his experience at the baptism.

This is perhaps our trap as well as we come down the mountain from last week’s transfiguration story into the wilderness.

One remarkable feature of Mark’s account of the temptation is that it ends without any indication as to the outcome. It is possible that he regarded this as so obvious that it was unnecessary to spell it out, but his failure to do so has left commentators arguing about how he understood the relationship between this scene and the rest of Jesus’ ministry. Some have understood the temptation as initiating Jesus’ struggle with evil, and have seen the later exorcisms, Jesus’ struggle with obtuse and antagonistic men, and the passion itself, as part of a continuous conflict between Jesus and others…. The picture of the Son of Man doing battle with Satan in the wilderness is the key which will enable us to understand Jesus’ authority over unclean spirits: the stronger one has confronted the prince of demons, and is plundering his house (Mark 3.22-7)

On the other side

We enter this lent season with a glimpse of the other side.

Noah has endured his forty days and nights of rain and flood, and a long stretch of slough and mud. He has emerged to a play of light in prismatic water drops and a promise of never again.

The psalmist evokes the covenant of God, in his faithful steadfast love. Sinners on the path through the wilderness can trust his guidance.

Peter also evokes the image of Noah and his kin being tossed by wave and directs us to the other side. It prefigures our baptism. It prefigures Jesus’ resurrection. It prefigures the resplendent Glory of the Son sitting on the right hand of the father in heaven.

The gospel begins with the baptismal scene. The Spirit promptly drives Jesus into the wilderness like a madman among the beasts. On the other side of this are ministering angels and the proclamation of the Gospel. "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."

For those who would enter their forty days will at the end find resplendent light, color and glory.

The Baptism again?

Diocese of East Tennessee: Sunday Lectionary Readings: "Today's readings affirm God's promise of continuing relationship. In Genesis 9, life begins anew, sealed by God's promise to all creatures and confirmed by the rainbow. The author of 1 Peter explains that we are saved through the cleansing water of baptism. In today's gospel, Jesus' 40 days of temptation in the wilderness end with the proclamation of God's good news."

How is this different from the last time we had the baptism narrative? The inclusion of the wilderness pericope is the obvious place to focus. I understand that the 40 days in the wilderness is much of the basis for lent. But the other readings have a definate baptism motiff. In focusing on the wilderness, do we loose the interplay of the readings?