The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert,” says the Gospel of Mark to open Lent this year. Unlike in Matthew and Luke’s accounts, however, Mark’s Jesus is not invited to turn stones into bread to satisfy his hunger; there is no clever repartee between Jesus and the devil. Mark is content to tell us that Jesus, like every other human being, had to choose between the kingdom of God and that of Caesar. Jesus, of course, gets it right: “The kingdom of God is at hand,” he proclaims from the desert. “Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
Mark’s unspecified temptations do us all a favor at the start of these 40 days: None of us will be tempted to turn rocks into food or fling ourselves from the church steeple. At the same time the invitation to be someone other than children of God’s kingdom is no less powerful than it was for Jesus—and our contemporary adversaries no less clever. But while Satan offered Jesus power and prestige, our modern temptations seem hellbent on keeping us quietly content.
Read Full Article »