The Gospel for April 29, 2004
Matthew 4:1-11
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the desert to be put to the test by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, after which he was hungry,and the tester came and said to him, ‘If you are Son of God, tell these stones to turn into loaves.’But he replied, ‘Scripture says: Human beings live not on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ The devil then took him to the holy city and set him on the parapet of the Temple.‘If you are Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw yourself down; for scripture says: He has given his angels orders about you, and they will carry you in their arms in case you trip over a stone.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Scripture also says: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ Next, taking him to a very high mountain, the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour.And he said to him, ‘I will give you all these, if you fall at my feet and do me homage.’Then Jesus replied, ‘Away with you, Satan! For scripture says: The Lord your God is the one to whom you must do homage, him alone you must serve.’ Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels appeared and looked after him.
A Study
For years, enlightened preachers worked for the first few minutes to dissuade their audiences from the cultural interpretation of "temptation." Earlier translations named this passage "The Temptation of Christ," and had the evil one "tempting" Jesus. We are fortunate to have modern translations that make that unnecessary. But, since so many remember "temptation," it is well to say that the history of the word includes not only sin, but also physical and mental testing.
There are at least two purposes for including this testing of Jesus in the synoptic gospel stories. One could be that God was letting Himself know what He was in for during his ministry; the other could be that the authors wanted to depict the complete humanity of Jesus, in that he, too, could be put to the test just as we are, every day.
Mark dashes through this entire story in two sentences, and Luke adds that the evil one left Jesus "until an opportune time." This biblical cliff-hanger has kept many a scholar awake, like the protagonist in a detective novel, trying to discover the disclosure of "the opportune time." Perhaps Judas Iscariot?
A Reflection
What began as a Lenten devotion for me, the study of the Gospel in the daily lectionary, has become a joy. But the technical issues surrounding the publication of my writing-to-understand is giving me a unique understand of how our priorities can get re-arranged in ways we don't forsee or want.
If I did not have the obligation -- to myself -- to create and post this daily record of the study, it is likely that I would spend the time watching something uplifting (right!) on TV, or just sleeping more or later.
Lately, the computer on which I do my reading and writing has had some distress requiring a complete re-load. That has exposed some slothfulness on my part in not backing things up properly. The complete re-load, back to "factory spec," complies to some other factory, though, since the computer hasn't worked right since the problem.
I am trying to discern whose hand, if any, is involved in these "issues" with the computer. Is God trying to tell me that Lent is over? Or is the evil one trying to turn me away from a calling?
Almost every "bad" thing that has happened in my life has worked out well. I will be interested to see where this one goes! If it's possible, I'll share.
Recovered Days, Again, Below
The Gospel for April 28, 2004
Matthew 3:13-17
Then Jesus appeared: he came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John. John tried to dissuade him, with the words, ‘It is I who need baptism from you, and yet you come to me!’ But Jesus replied, ‘Leave it like this for the time being; it is fitting that we should, in this way, do all that uprightness demands.’
Then John gave in to him. And when Jesus had been baptised he at once came up from the water, and suddenly the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And suddenly there was a voice from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on him.’ -- The New Jerusalem Bible. 1995, c1985. Doubleday: Garden City, N.Y.
A Study
This could almost be from the 1970's TV show in which Gary Coleman popularized the inquisitive exclamation, "Say what?". John, six months older than has cousin Jesus, may or may not have known of the family stories. Somehow, however, he knew that Jesus had reversed their roles for the moment. The one whose sandal he was not worthy to tie had come to him for baptism. John, rightly, objected, pointing out the obvious. But cousin Jesus convinced cousin John "for the time being."
The author of Matthew couples Psalm 2, "You are my son; today I have fathered you", with Isaiah 42: "Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights. I have sent my spirit upon him, he will bring fair judgement to the nations." From later text in this and other gospels, we know that Jesus and John heard the words from Heaven, but it seems unlikely that others around them heard or saw what they heard and saw.
A Reflection
Consider this: His first act of ministry was to come to us and act as one of us. "... it is fitting that we should, in this way, do all that uprightness demands." Because it was "fitting." Appropriate. Jesus came to us as one of us. Very man, though Very God.
We know from the "birth announcements" to their respective mothers -- cousins -- that each mother was aware of her son's particular selection in history. Neither could know what consequences accrued to their sons for being chosen to be who they were. We don't know what family discussions ensued, what either of the two young cousins was told as the two of them grew into maturity. We have only the exchange of Jesus with his parents in the Temple, that he must be about his father's business, to give us the faintest hint.
This reading appears for us in the Third Week of Easter in the Church's calendar. We have, a few weeks ago, recalled Jesus' crucifixion, death, and triumphant resurrection; and we now await the day of Pentecost not far off in our calendar. It is "fitting" that we should read these first steps of Jesus' active ministry while the memory of His last steps to Golgotha are fresh in our minds.
This is not a story about travail and tribulation. It is one of hard work with sinners, and then Glory. As such, it is a fitting model for you and me.
Jesus calls us to work hard with sinners. Each of us is no better than any other person. Each of us in our human capacity for free will has the ability to choose between Very God and the evil one. We, too, should do "all that righteousness demands," and as Jesus did, continue on to do God's work on earth by loving one another as He loves us.
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Tuesday, April 27, 2004 |
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The Gospel for April 27, 2004
Matthew 3:7-12
But when he saw a number of Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming retribution? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance, and do not presume to tell yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father,” because, I tell you, God can raise children for Abraham from these stones. Even now the axe is being laid to the root of the trees, so that any tree failing to produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown on the fire. I baptise you in water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more powerful than I, and I am not fit to carry his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing–fan is in his hand; he will clear his threshing–floor and gather his wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out.’ -- The New Jerusalem Bible. 1995, c1985. Doubleday: Garden City, N.Y.
A Study
John's greeting to the Pharisees and Sadducees is in keeping with our image of him. He is what we would term a "one-way person." "My way or the highway." He must have been a sight, perhaps standing in the water, skinny as a rail from self-deprivation, hair un-cut, and hair and beard both unkempt and ungroomed -- a wild man's appearance.
The warning John sends to these two groups of Jews is what we today would term a "a wake-up call." Using the words of the prophet Isaiah, with which these astute students would surely have been intimately familiar, John reminds them that their assured status as the Chosen People is only a gift from God:
"Listen to me, you who pursue saving justice, you who seek Yahweh. Consider the rock from which you were hewn, the quarry from which you were dug. Consider Abraham your father and Sarah who gave you birth. When I called him he was the only one but I blessed him and made him numerous." (Isaiah 51:1-2, NJB)
John himself was a miracle child, born to a "barren" woman like Sarah, and he was cousin to the virgin that bore Jesus. John not only had the Prophet on whose words to rely, but his own family's experience.
The Baptist's message is not ambiguous. He gives these two learned groups the same message directed at everyone else except Jesus: turn from sin and show by your works that you have done so -- a message echoed by the letter from James included in the Canon.
A Reflection
The setup that John prepares for his cousin Jesus is one that describes a judge, someone who will burn the chaff in an unquenchable fire. John speaks of a Jesus who comes in the messianic tradition that John had been given in his own study of scripture.
But the Jesus who appeared came with a power and a glory unlike the expectations of any. Jesus' power was in his humility and his servanthood, examples for his followers of any generation. And a power that he shared then and shares now with us.
And his glory came in his sacrifice of himself upon the cross.
His mighty works are documented throughout the Gospels. But Jeus himself told us that His demonstrations of the Father's power in were really only attention-getters, so that people would listen to what His message contained.
A frequent source of inspiration for me is the Irish Jesuits' site on Ignatian Prayer. Today's prayer is entitled "Freedom," but it's not the freedom that we've come to expect:
Freedom
If God were trying to tell me something, would I know?
If God were reassuring me or challenging me, would I notice?
I ask for the grace to be free of my own preoccupations
and open to what God may be saying to me.
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