“Entering in”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Sunday, February 18, 2024 Mark 1:9-13 (Forward, p. 20) CEV p. 1026
It makes good political ‘mileage’ for elected officials to ‘make an appearance’ at the scene of a recent tragedy or disaster. It demonstrates to the locals, in a small way, that this official knows about their trauma and cares. But, in a very real way, it is rather fleeting, and some cases, somewhat inconsequential, especially if not shored up, followed up, by action. Much more helpful, and calming, are the actions of volunteers there on the ground who get in there, roll up their sleeves, and help out in very practical and tangible ways. Here is where military chaplains shine: they live and eat with the soldiers they serve, experience the same stressors, and often even undergo their actual battle conditions. They truly are of help to the soldiers, namely because the soldiers know they understand—because they’ve been there.
In a very real way, this is even more true of our Lord Jesus. By being baptized, He stood with us in our brokenness and in our need, our need for forgiveness and a new start. In His temptation in the Wilderness, and in the years thereafter, He was tempted, yes, in all the ways that we are—and ‘then some’, some additional temptations, simply because He was the Son of God. And what is more, He experienced thirst and hunger, fatigue and tiredness, betrayal and forsakenness, misunderstanding and slander, anxiety and despair: indeed, all the many and varied things that we go through. And so, He knows what it’s like, ‘from the inside out’, and can stand with us in whatever we experience—and understand, and help us, as no other person ever could. And so that means that we can always go to Him for help, no matter what our present circumstance! Thanks be to God. Amen.
Forward notes: “He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him” (verse 13).
“In the movie version of this story I viewed as a child during Holy Week, the crowd is watching Jesus’s baptism. It’s a glory-filled, glorified, glowing, gold moment—the sacrament to start his ministry. The movie skips over
the time-order progression of the gospels, though. First, John the Baptist prepares everyone for the coming of the Messiah, then Jesus is baptized, God announces him, Jesus is tested, and then he begins his ministry.
“We in modern Christianity love to talk about his baptism and ministry but frequently overlook the uncomfortable middle part where Jesus is tested. Even if we think about his period of temptation, we mostly dismiss it. After all, he is Jesus! Rather than being a simple period where Jesus proudly says ‘no thanks’ to each successive temptation, he wrestles and struggles and comes out not unscathed but strengthened for his ministry.”
Moving Forward: “What does this story mean to us as we embark upon this year’s Lenten journey?”