Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone.” ’
Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written,
“Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.” ’
Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,
“He will command his angels concerning you,
to protect you”,
and
“On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’
Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’ When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
An Offering from Ashley Brandon:
There is a scene in the movie "Fight Club" that always strikes me as so poignant. Jack, whose insomnia has kept him from sleeping for six months, is busy feeding his shopping addiction through a phone order to Ikea. His voice narrates over the scene saying, "I would flip through catalogs and wonder, 'What kind of dining set defines me as a person?'"
As Jack's story unfolds, we find a man who has completely lost touch with who he is and what is real. The demons that Jack encounters, and ultimately fights to overcome, are not little red men with horns. They are subtle and deceptive; they are fragments of himself.
In our reading from today we find Jesus in a vulnerable place of fasting and solitude. Satan finds him here, and begins his work of temptation with a questioning of Jesus' innermost identity. "If you are the Son of God," he craftily whispers into his ear, hoping to drown out God's loud and clear words that only verses ago tore through the heavens to proclaim this truth. Yet even in the wilderness, Satan stands no chance against Jesus, for the Son of God knows who he is and whose he is.
Though perhaps not as a booming voice from above, I believe God's voice is speaking to us here and now, even in....no, especially in our moments of great vulnerability and weakness. His voice proclaims who we are and whose we are. Still, his voice is competing with the many voices of this world, voices deceptively whispering in our ears and attempting to define us by anything other than God. The season of Lent is a wilderness time, an opportunity for us to peel away those outer layers of our identity and find what is underneath. We don't have to beat ourselves up - figuratively, or literally as in Jack's case - to find our true selves. All we need do is listen for the right voice.
Prayer
Almighty and everliving God, you tell us that we are yours, that we are loved by you, and that we are good. Grant that we may find you to be the center of our being, and that we may hear your voice calling to us in the wilderness. Amen.
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