He Chose Us: A Reflection on Lent
With the Lent season upon us, many of us are getting ready to delve into a deeper spiritual experience. In the Christian tradition, we believe we can reach that through prayer, self-denial, and repentance for a total of 40 days, culminating in Easter. Many of us choose to fast by giving up certain foods or luxuries in an effort to focus on our spiritual journey.
I know many who find this to be a time of growth in faith for them. I admire their resolve, passion, and commitment to purge the hindrances in their lives, and delve deeper into their relationship with God. I’ve heard stories from many people about the different changes in their lives because of their Lent experiences.
Lent, though, for me has become this dreaded time where I have to pick a different way to suffer, in order to become a better Christian. I debate with myself every year: Will it be sweets (losing weight as a side benefit)? Will it be swearing? Will it be Netflix or Facebook? Or, dear God, will I have to give up my smartphone? I think about it every year, but my resolve has been getting worse, and I end up secretly doing nothing--not even praying for world peace every day. And consequently, I don’t really feel more holy by Easter.
Lent is based on Jesus’ 40 days of fasting at the beginning of his ministry. It is a very confusing story to begin with, and it does not add up for me. It doesn’t really inspire me to fast and pray, even though it has inspired countless others, and I haven’t been sure why. So, I’ve been studying the bible passage to see if there was something new I could find that would help me rediscover Lent.
At the beginning and end of his ministry Jesus is portrayed as a quiet sufferer. His 40 days in the desert is seen as a test of obedience and self denial; Jesus’ path to the cross, an act of abject submission. However, this seems completely contrary to the rest of his ministry. He is commanding, powerful, outspoken, and defiant. Is he really that different at these two points in time?
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. (Matthew 4:1-11 NIV)
The story of the temptations of Christ has always been a curious thing to me. Every reading makes less and less sense. On the first reading it looks like an end of term final--you haven't eaten or slept properly for days. You’re delirious from drinking too much Red Bull. You’ve been studying and studying, now do you have all the right answers? Jesus gets an A-plus in biblical memorization and interpretation!
On your next reading, you may note how great Jesus is at fighting off temptation. He's obedient and stoic, able to withstand suffering. He's able to starve for 40 days and still not eat. He doesn’t to challenge God. He does the right thing and doesn’t give into greed, a thirst for power and glory, and even his personal needs. Those truly are strong temptations we face as humans. Jesus is the ultimate achiever in self-control.
When I read it now, it is a truly strange story. Jesus is obedient and follows scripture really well, but Satan knows scripture well too and Jesus doesn’t follow those scriptures. What is the purpose of anyone starving for 40 days? Why can't the guy just have some bread? What is going on?
I have a theory that Jesus must have had to starve for 40 days in the wilderness, in isolation, because that was how he could arrive at the point of extreme physical and psychological exhaustion due to his divine origins. It is painful and deathly to starve. Humans physically can’t last even a few days without water especially in the heat of the wilderness. We can all agree his surviving this is miraculous. Perhaps as a human born with God’s divine powers Jesus had amazing stamina, and this was the only way to strip his divine strength to the limit. Maybe his forty day mark was the same as a normal human’s three day mark. Your guess is as good as mine.
So, after FORTY whole days the guy wasn’t only hungry, but was probably on the point of death. The devil arrives, when Jesus is at the end of his endurance and sanity, and says, “You poor thing. You look like you’re starving. Hey, this bread shaped stone looks like a freshly baked baguette? You and I both know what you’re capable of. Go ahead, I won’t tell your dad.”
Now, making bread isn’t a sin. People make bread all the time! Maybe it’s a sin if you are on a gluten free diet, but now there are plenty of alternatives. Jesus could have been like, “Ha! I’ve just made a loaf out of almond flour and coconut oil! It’s not really bread so I win!” Later on he even makes bread miraculously for thousands of people, so it is not wrong for him to do so. He instead says, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ That’s still bread plus God, not either bread or God, and doesn’t require self-sacrifice. The verse in context is about how God sent the Israelites manna in their 40 years in the wilderness. It is still God making food.
Why not this miracle in particular? If we take look at all his miracles listed in the bible, most if not all of them are for other people’s benefit. The difference is that this one would have been solely for Jesus’s benefit and survival. If he had taken advantage of his power he could have lived, well, like a god.
The next one is equally baffling. Throwing yourself from the top of a building--not cool. You’d get hurt or die. But being lifted by angels? WAY cool. It’s like heavenly bungee jumping. Jesus, the party pooper, says, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” This answer always confused me, because in Judges 6, Gideon does test God to see if God was really talking to him or if he was going nuts. So why was that test was okay, but this one wasn’t? There was also the showdown between God and Baal, orchestrated by Elijah in 1 Kings 18:20-40. There are multiple other times that God’s power is put on display as proof.
The verse that Jesus quotes here was about when the Israelites, in their 40 years in the wilderness, needed water at Massah (Deut 6:16, Exodus 17:7). They questioned Moses, “Did you bring us out here to die? Is the Lord really with us or not?” Meanwhile there is a pillar of cloud or fire leading them everyday, manna raining down from heaven, and a sea parting. Maybe it is not a question pertaining to His might or power, but a question of God’s character and promises. Even the bible passage the devil quotes is from Psalm 91, which is about someone who loves and trusts in God, and whom God always answers and protects.
Perhaps, after 40 days Satan caught Jesus at the right moment of deliriousness to make him doubt who he was, his purpose, and the promise of God. Is he really the son of God in this state? He’s taunting Jesus, “God’s led you out here to suffer. Is God really with you? Is this plan of yours going to work? If God is really going to keep those promises? Will these awful people really believe in you? Will God really save you and everyone else?”
Jumping off the temple in Jerusalem would have been quite a public spectacle. If he descended with angels carrying him, it would have been a clear message that he was sent from heaven. It certainly would have made things easier later on when he was constantly accused of being a liar and heretic. Even later in his ministry, Jesus asks his disciples not to let people know he was the Messiah (Matt 16:20). Again, Jesus chooses to disregard his status, and desires not to be seen as a god but as a human.
Finally we get to bowing to the devil. This is clearly a sin according to scripture, but is what the devil offers something so bad? Isn’t his ultimate goal to win back all of humanity? And isn’t that what we all want? Every day we pray for someone to fix the wrongs of this world and create world peace. We want someone to bring us justice and ease all our sufferings. This is what the devil offers, without all the suffering and dying and waiting in between. Jesus had the kind of status that would make the devil hand things over.
Jesus then says, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” These words appear more than once in the bible, but in one instance in Deuteronomy 13:4, it adds “and cling to him.” This reminds me of what it says about marriage in the bible and how the apostle Paul describes marriage as a metaphor for Jesus’ relationship with the church (Eph 5:32). Depending on your translation it says that the two who are married “cleave to” each other, are united, become one, or become one flesh, etc.
I believe, his true purpose was to simply be with us, to create this union between all of humanity and God. The end result may look like world peace, but he claims that alone is not what we need, but being with God is. In order to create this union, Jesus had to become “fully human” (Hebrews 2:14-18). Jesus has not given up his or power or authority as the son of God, but because of his love for us he has most definitely given up his privilege. Because he loves us, he chooses a life that is completely human from birth through death. If Jesus attained the world at this point, and fulfilled all our prayers, he would have failed in reuniting God with us.
Every moment he experiences human existence, every moment he chooses to put down his privilege, he chooses to be with us before anything else. Every moment of his life is about bringing us closer to God. He is not passively suffering, but he is actively choosing. He is choosing us.
That 40 days in the wilderness seems so lonely and painful to me, but when I know that his thoughts were solely on us, on me, my own loneliness and pain in life seems to lessen. Most of us don’t have the power, authority, or status to make the choices that the devil provides to Jesus. When he makes his choices, Jesus sees us, loves us, and chooses to be with us in our humanity. When Jesus was lonely, he decided to be lonely with us. When he starved, he starved with us. He doesn’t save himself, because he knows we can’t save ourselves. When we are full of doubt and fear, he holds onto us. When he is powerless, he is powerless with us. When we can’t go on, he will not leave us behind.
He always chooses us.
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Postscript:
This Lent, instead of foregoing something, I am going to try something different by remembering Jesus is present with me in my humanness, that every time I am frustrated with my weaknesses, God is right there with me. Perhaps it will help me be present with others, as well. This past year, stories of so many people suffering around the world have surfaced and each story has made me realize how much privilege I have. I usually read these stories and am able to move on with my life, even though those people can’t. Knowing how Jesus put down his privilege, I'd like to think about what it means to put aside my privilege as Jesus did. I’m not sure how it will turn out, and if I can truly be present with Jesus and others, but my hope is that it will help me understand the heart of God in a new way.
Post-Postscript:
The other half of this essay I've planned to post for Easter, so stay tuned!
