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\/Dr. Tan Ee Yan | STM Faculty<\/p>\n\/Dr. Tan Ee Yan | STM Faculty<\/p>\n
During the season of Lent, we often reflect on the temptation of Christ in the wilderness. The spiritual practice of fasting during Lent is connected with Jesus\u2019 40-day wilderness experience during which he fasted and endured Satan\u2019s temptations. For churches who follow the Revised Common Lectionary,[1]<\/a> we are now in Year B, when we read the Gospel of Mark. It would be timely to reflect and meditate on Mark\u2019s account of Jesus\u2019 temptation.<\/p>\n While Matthew and Luke record the three temptations of the devil with Jesus\u2019 scriptural response to each, Mark gives us one succinct sentence: Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days and was tested by Satan, then he was with the wild beast and angels attended to him (Mark 1:13). This terse account forces us to truly meditate on this verse with care to unearth Mark\u2019s message to us.<\/p>\n The thought of wilderness brings up many memories for those who are familiar with biblical tradition, and especially for the people of God. The ancient Israelites were famously wandering in the wilderness for forty years. The wilderness is a place of desolation, a harsh and barren place; or it could be a wild place with overgrown bush, thorns and thistles. It is a place of hardship, suffering and testing.<\/p>\n Just like in the days of wandering where God was present, in today\u2019s text, the divine was present in the wilderness. Jesus\u2019 presence in the wilderness demonstrates divine solidarity with humanity. If we ever find ourselves in the wilderness in our life\u2019s journey, we can be confident that\u00a0God knows our life\u2019s struggles and difficulty, and that God is present with us, just as God was with the Israelites.<\/p>\n Now Mark resolves Christ\u2019s testing quickly, as if to show us that without question and with no difficulty, Jesus triumphs over evil. We can almost imagine that Jesus refuted and defeated Satan in one divine swipe, and ushered in the kingdom of God. There is no question about Jesus\u2019 identity as God.<\/p>\n In Mark\u2019s one-sentence report of the testing, two negative images are juxtaposed against two positive images: the wilderness and Satan are quickly nullified by the image of Jesus safe among wild beast while the angels were attending to him. The latter is a depiction of a new creation or paradise; a peaceable kingdom, where there is no strife. The wolf and lamb can lie together, and all can live in peace in the universe without threat to our existence.<\/p>\n Only divine power and presence can bring such transformation. Jesus transformed the wilderness from a place of fear, chaos and strife into a peaceable kingdom, where there is no strife, where evil has been defeated, the wild is tamed and God reigns.<\/p>\n Let us be reminded to hold on to God in our walk through the wilderness, in times of need, of grief, or of other difficulty. God is always in the wilderness with us. In God, there is victory, and there will be divine peace and transformation even as God reigns in our lives.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n