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Lent, 1st Sunday, Year B-2015
Readings: Gen 9:8-15: 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mk 1:12-15
Love in the Wilderness
Lent begins in the wilderness. In today’s gospel, the Spirit leads Jesus into
the desert or wilderness. We always begin Lent with Jesus’ time in the wilderness.
So let’s reflect on what Jesus met when he went into the wilderness. This can help
us consider what Lent can mean for us.
The wilderness or desert is not a safe place. It is wild, untamed, beyond the
boundaries of civilization. So it is not surprising that Mark tells us that in the
wilderness, Jesus is “with the wild beasts” Just what’s going on there in the
wilderness?
In many places in the Old Testament the Hebrew phrase used to describe the
wilderness is tohu wa bohu. Biblical scholars tell us that precise translation of the
phrase is difficult. It can be translated "waste and void," or "formless and empty."
The first place the phrase is used in the bible at the very beginning of the book of
Genesis, where it describes the condition of the earth before God said, "Let there
be light." So it is a state of darkness and confusion, before there are all the patterns
of civilization we rely on for meaning and safety in our lives. So the translation I
like best is "chaos and desolation." The wilderness is a place of danger, of chaotic
disorientation, maybe we could even say absurdity. That fits with the fact that
Mark says Jesus encountered wild beasts there.
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In the wilderness, Jesus meets the forces of chaos that even today threaten to
overwhelm our sense of security and meaning. Think of our reactions when we
learn of the beheadings committed by fanatics in the Middle East. We call this
behavior simply “uncivilized.” The Bible calls it tohu wa bohu, the "chaos and
desolation" of the wilderness where wild beasts are on the loose.
So what was Jesus doing out in the wilderness with those beasts. I think he
is there because he has not come just to bring a reassuring word of encouragement
in the midst of our routine lives, but to tell us he brings good news right in the
midst of the worst "chaos and desolation" we can face. Jesus has come to
confront, combat, and defeat all the forces of our world that are determined to
counteract God’s intentions for human well-being. Only when he has faced the
worst evil forces on this planet can he declare that God’s reign draws near.
One of the great philosophers of our time, John Rawls, has written how
when he was an undergraduate he considered studying to be an Episcopalian
priest. But after graduation, while he was serving in the army during the World
War II, he heard a chaplain give a homily that said the suffering of the war was
unimportant because God promises us eternal life. This trivialization of suffering
and death was the beginning of Rawls’s loss of his Christian faith.
I think Jesus goes into the wilderness so that his message of hope will not be
like that of the chaplain who undermined Rawls’s faith. Jesus proclaims that the
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reign of God—a reign of love and compassion—is at hand. But Jesus knows that
he cannot credibly tell us that God’s reign draws near until he has engaged reign of
darkness that mars our world. In going into the wilderness of evil and chaos, Jesus
is going to the front lines in the struggle for of justice and mercy. Jesus faces the
power of death in its fullest form on the cross at Calvary. He goes into the
wilderness so he can tell us with credibility “I have been there; I know what chaos
and confusion look like; I know the reality of suffering and death because they
have touched me with their full power. But I can still promise you that love is
stronger than death. The love my Father showed me when the angels ministered to
me in the desert, the love the Father showed me when he raised me after Calvary,
that love is deeper than any of the evils I have confronted.”
Jesus goes into the wilderness so that when he speaks words of hope and
promise, we will know that these are not sunny predictions of some unrealistic
optimist. No, Jesus has engaged the destructive forces of our chaotic world in
their full force, and he has still emerged victorious. This is Lent’s deep message of
hope. Let us give thanks around this table that God’s love is more powerful than
the chaos and confusion of our world today.
David Hollenbach, S.J.
St. Ignatius Church
February 22, 2015