The Push of Love
I love St. Mark: he says so much by saying so little.
Unlike his evangelist counterparts, Mark gives us very little detail about Christ’s time in the desert: there are no vivid descriptions of Jesus being tempted to turn stones to bread or jump from the Temple parapet. There are no Scripture quotes from Satan or witty retorts from the Lord. Rather, just the Action News facts: Jesus was in the wilderness. Satan was there. There were angels, too. Then Christ left with a message to proclaim to the world.
What are we supposed to do with this, especially as we begin our Lenten journey? How does this help us now in 2024?
The answer, I believe, is found in the first three words of the Gospel: “The Spirit drove …” In fact, this says everything. Here’s why:
The Spirit, by definition, is the outpoured Love between the Father and the Son. The Love between Them is so powerful – so awesome, in the truest sense of that word – that it can’t help but be the distinct Third Person Presence of God at work in the hearts and lives of all who believe.
And it was that very same Spirit that drove – DROVE – Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. That’s the key word here -- Love drove Jesus. Jesus went in love where he knew we also would be. Every single one of us.
We all face desert moments in our lives, and they often come in different times and seasons. We have faced the desert of doubt: “Where are you God?” We have wandered through the wilderness of suffering. We have crawled through the pains of hell when sin drags us down to its near depths.
And Jesus, in his great love for us, wanted to experience what we do and feel what we feel when we are being tempted by Satan to turn away from grace in all the ways that evil tries to pull us away from truth and holiness. The Lord, who knew not sin, wanted us to know that He gets it. He understands our struggle.
This may not be Mark’s reason for doing so, but I have often prayed with the thought that the reason Mark didn’t list Jesus’ three traditional desert temptations was because we were to understand that Jesus was driven to the wilderness to wrestle with our very temptations.
Stop and really pray with this incredibly beautiful thought: Jesus was tempted with every single motive to sin that you and I have ever faced.
He wrestled with every urge to lie, cheat and steal. He struggled under the weight of hatred and abuse in its many forms. Jesus was tempted to turn others into objects used for our own pleasure. He was offered cheap pleasures at the expense of one’s own virtue.
Jesus had all of it thrown at him in the desert … and the Spirit of Love said: “Stay for them, so they too will have the grace to conquer Satan on their own desert journeys.”
I will be the first to admit that as Church, we don’t really talk about Satan and sin anymore as we should. But make no mistake: we are in a battle for our very souls. Satan wants them. He wants us to suffer in the same way he now does because he chose to refuse the grace. He decided he knew better. Satan believed following his own will was the way to freedom, but he was dead wrong. And you know what they say: misery loves company.
Therefore, Jesus went into that space of misery to drag us out: to let us know that we are never abandoned in the fight to save our very souls. He walked into our desert spaces to say: “I got you. Don’t let the emptiness of selfishness rule your heart.”
When all is said and done, that to me is a great definition of sin – choosing the path of selfish pride and letting that steer our lives. Every sinful act, when it comes right down to it, is choosing intentionally to listen to the voice that seductively whispers: “You are the only one who matters, and do whatever you need to do to get what you want.”
It started with an apple. It continues today with everything from pornography to gossip to choosing the busyness of life that places God at the bottom of the list or outright excludes Him completely.
And therefore, Jesus went to the desert in order to come forth and ask: What will you choose?
These next 40 days of the season of Lent are such an incredible gift of the Church which allows us the space and time to ask ourselves that very question: What am I ultimately choosing in life?
Am I putting myself before God? Have I forgotten my baptismal call to serve Him and love my neighbor? Am I unwilling to humble myself before the Lord and ask forgiveness for the ways in which I let Satan lead me to walk away from grace? Am I choosing covenantal mercy and healing or am I choosing the parts of me that would rather hide among the darkness of disobedience and shame?
If you want to fight the wilderness battle, here’s the way to do it – and get ready to fight, for Satan is a wily one:
First, turn your will over to God and let Him transform it into His own: “Thy will be done.” Then, like every good athlete and soldier, train yourself for what lies ahead: Pray every day, and not just a lazy nod to God here and there. Dedicate time to the conversation and the love that awaits. Fast from those things that often replace God in our lives and offer the sacrifice to the One who transforms them into battle gear for us and grace for others. Lastly, give of your time, talent and treasure to remind your head and heart that the world does not revolve solely around you.
When we do these things, Satan can’t win. Remember, he only wins when we let him. The desert reminds us of that.
So suit-up this Lent and let Love drive your heart in the desert moments you will face, knowing that you never battle the temptations alone. Instead, these very moments become the ways in which we are transformed by Christ to love like him and pour-out our lives in love.
When we are willing to walk through the desert and return to the Father with repentant hearts, then our wills become His, and God’s Kingdom reigns. When His Love fills us – and not the selfishness inspired by Satan – then it drives us, too, to go to the places where Christ Himself always goes: to the lost; to those who suffer; to the Cross.
For it is only there where we find our true selves. It is only there where we find God. It is there – at the Cross -- where Satan loses the battle.