Gospel Reading for the First Sunday in Lent: Year B
Mark 1: 9 to 15
“And immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon Him;” (Mark 1: 10)
“Immediately” is a word that the Gospel according to Mark uses a lot. Also there is “suddenly,” and terms like “all at once.” Mark’s Gospel is in a hurry. It’s got some place to go and it’s in a hurry to get there.
How we interpret the words of our Gospel has been understood differently by different denominations. Some believe coming up out of the water means being brought back above the surface of the water; some believe it simply means stepping back up on solid ground. It is the gift of the Holy Spirit that makes all the difference however! The water works start and end, but the Spirit continues with us for life.
The Holy Spirit of God identifies Jesus as the One in whom God is well pleased. While Jesus has been the Holy One of God all alone, this baptism is used to make it known publicly to Him, to those around Him, to us even today, and to the evil that tries to thwart the will of God.
After this recognition our Lord Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness presence of evil, if for nothing else but to validate the strength of who He is.
You and I walk in that wilderness now. We have been baptized and are now being tested. As Jesus was tested for forty days, let us look at these next forty days of Lent as a time of testing. Will we surrender to evil in any of its manifest forms as made known to us in the Ten Commandments? Most importantly, will we strive hard to obey those first Commandments that pertain to God; to recognize God, only God, not to use God’s Name in vain, and to meet with others regularly to honor God?
The wilderness in which we walk is coming after us. No human made construct, tradition or condition can ward off the mind-bending forces of evil as it tries to undermine our love of God. We must be people of prayer. We must worship God in private and in public. This is what our Lord Jesus did as he batted back to evil every temptation he was served; so can we also.
As we have already been baptized, we must now see the heavens opening, and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon us. And this Holy Spirit of God is living and active in us always. All we have to do is follow the Holy Spirit’s lead and “immediately” bat back to evil all it throws at us. Let’s try these next forty days. Who knows, it may become a permanent way of life.
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, and our schools.
As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
onewhoponders 