Gospel: The Temptation of the Lord

Today we will cut the Sundays in Ordinary Time, which started from the observance of Ash Wednesday, to give way for the Lenten Season. The First Sunday of Lent's Gospel will be proclaimed from the narrative of St Mark (1:12-15).

And at once the Spirit drove him into the desert and he remained there for forty days, and was put to the test by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels look after him.

After John has been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the Gospel from God, saying,

"The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Gospel."

On the first Sunday of Lent, the Gospel reading in each Lectionary cycle is about Jesus' temptation in the desert. This event in the life of Jesus is reported in each of the Synoptic Gospels--Matthew, Mark and Luke--but it is not found in the Gospel of St John. This year, we read St Mark's account.

Compared to the Gospel's of St Matthew and St Luke, the details throughout St Mark's narrative are sparse. This is evident in his Gospel's account of the temptation in the desert. St Mark tells us only that Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit and that for forty days he was tempted by Satan. The Gospels of St Matthew and St Luke explain that Jesus fasted while in the desert, that Satan presented him with three temptations, and that Jesus refused each one, quoting Scripture. Only the Gospels of St Matthew and St Mark report that angels ministered to Jesus at the end of his time in the desert.

In each of the Synoptic Gospels, the temptation of Jesus follows his baptism by St John the Baptist. In St Mark's Gospel, we are told that Jesus went into the desert immediately after his baptism, led by the Spirit. Jesus' public ministry in Galilee begins after his temptation in the desert. The Gospel makes a connection between the arrest of St John the Baptist, and the beginning of Jesus' ministry. Jesus preaching about the Kinhdom of God is in continuity with the preaching of St John the Baptist, but it is also something new. As Jesus announces it, the Kingdom of God is the beginning; the time of the fulfillment of God's promises is here.

The fact that Jesus spent forty days in the desert is significant. This recalls the forty years that the Israelites wandered in the desert after led from slavery in Egypt. The prophet Elijah also journeyed in the desert forty days and nights, making his way to Horeb, the mountain of God, where he was also attended to by an angel of the Lord. Remembering the significance of these events, we also set aside forty days for the season of Lent.

Further in St Mark's Gospel, the desert marks the beginning of Jesus' battle with Satan; the ultimate test will be in Jesus' final hours on the cross. In a similar way, our Lenten observances are only a beginning, a preparation for and a reinforcement of our ongoing struggle to resist the temptations we face in our lives. During Lent, we are led by the Holy Spirit to remember the vows of Baptism in which we promise to reject sin and follow Jesus. Just as Jesus was ministered to by the angels, God also supports us in our struggle against sin and temptation. We succeed because Jesus conquered sin once and for all in his saving grace on the cross. 

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Picture from Pixabay.

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