Thoughts for the Day

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

The first chapter of Mark's Gospel continues its furious pace. In nine verses Mark gives us the temptations of Jesus, the beginning of Jesus' ministry, and the calling of the first disciples. This is simply told, and we can almost feel his need to get everything down before........before what? Perhaps before his death, for he would have been quite old by now, or before his memory fails him? We don't know, but if we compare Luke's account of the Temptations of Jesus (Luke 4.1-13) with Mark's, we can see how sparse is the latter's account.

Mark says the Holy Spirit 'drove' Jesus into the desert. After his affirmation by God at his baptism Jesus needed a time of reflection on how he was going to carry out God's work, and we are told that he was tempted by Satan. The Chilean Catholic priest Segundo Galilea describes temptation as "an invitation to violate God's will or law: in other words an invitation to sin."* The devil asks Jesus three questions and the last one is to dare to kill himself so that God will rescue him. But Jesus rejects each temptation. He has come to set up not a worldly kingdom, but a heavenly kingdom, and he will not turn away from God or deny who he himself is.

We are human and not completely whole - we are 'works in progress' - so we are not just tempted by outside forces, but also from within ourselves. The saying "Pride goes before a fall" is a classic example. When we think we are doing good, we can let our guard down and give in to the temptation of thinking we are better than we are. However, temptation is not a bad thing, for resisting it can make us stronger, to become more like the children God would have us be.

* 'Temptation and discernment' by Segundo Galilea

Lord Jesus,
You suffered temptations
in the wilderness,
and yet rejected the Devil's proposals.
May we be strong when attracted
by temptations from without or within.
May we learn to fight against temptation
and become immune to the
hidden forms of sin that can attack us.
Amen.