The Importance of the Wilderness Journey (Learning to Make Good Choices)


Immediately following his baptism--where Jesus receives the names "Son," "Beloved," and "God's Pleasure"-- the Holy Spirit leads (or even drives) him out into the wilderness, where Jesus dwells for forty days and forty nights, fasting.
It is a time of clarification.  The names he was given were wonderful, but what would they mean?  In other words, what kind of person would Jesus really be?
In the wilderness he was emptied; he had nothing that he was used to relying on, other than God's loving power.  After forty days without food Jesus was "famished"    (which means really, really hungry!).  The story is asking us to consider what the different ways are that we are nourished in our lives:  with food obviously; but what about with love, or knowledge; life experience; friendship; encouragement; affirmation; community; purpose; direction; the promises of God?  Aren't each of these things critical to our well-being and growth?  What else can you think of?


In the story, a character called "the devil" embodies the ways that Jesus will be tempted  to deny who he truly is, and to settle for less than wholeness.
First of all, Jesus is challenged to prove himself:  "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."  Have you ever been challenged to "prove yourself" in some way?  Jesus refuses.  When we know who we are, we don't need to prove ourselves to other people; it is God who gives our lives their deepest meaning.  Discovering  and fulfilling who God made us to be will be more than enough.
And God didn't make us to turn stone into bread.  We can become the people of love and integrity that Jesus shows us how to be.  We don't just live for ourselves; in fact, we live toward others.  When Jesus quotes the Book of Deuteronomy (8:3), "One does not live by bread alone," it is a way of remembering that God  sustained the people of Israel in their salvation journey by providing manna in the wilderness.
In the second temptation, Jesus is challenged to demonstrate his invulnerability. But God made us to be vulnerable; it is in our blessed and fragile humanity that we love the best and look out for the common good.
In the last temptation, the Tempter offers to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and authority over them, if only Jesus will worship him.  But the world doesn't belong to anyone but God!  Such authority is not the Tempter's to give.  God never meant us to control the world and exercise power over it for our own narrow benefit.  When we worship God, we live humbly, empowered by the Spirit to love as Jesus loves.  Other people are our sisters and brothers, not objects to dominate  so we can get what we want for ourselves.  And God entrusts us with the world's resources so that  all of God's children may have enough to meet their need (God provides enough to meet everyone's need, but not our greed).  We learn ways of dedicating and sharing blessings so that we may all have daily bread.  We serve only God.


The picture immediately above represents the kinds of things that might tempt us in our lives: power, riches, desire, applause.  But they are false blessings.  When we make our lives about these things, we lose sight of the many blessings that we have that are precious and God-given.  When we join Jesus in his integrity, we realize great blessings of love, self-giving, knowledge, divine purpose, direction, community, friendship, encouragement, interdependence, wholeness, among others.
Jesus helps us to realize that we are God's children; that we are beloved; that communion with us  is God's delight.  And we don't need to prove any of these things. Be-ing is blessing enough.  When we are emptied of some of life's illusions, we get to celebrate the best of what is truly God-given!
The Holy Spirit sustains Jesus in the wilderness.  And after he has the opportunity to make these critical choices, he is now ready to begin his ministry and to be the love of God in the midst of God's people.  Sometimes hard choices are really good!!!

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