4th February Trinity 2007, Loneliness

3^rd, 4^th February Trinity

(Sunday after Ash Wednesday)

Blake

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the loneliness of the desert to experience the tempting power of the adversary.

After fasting forty days and nights, He felt for the first time hunger for earthly nourishment. Then the tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, let these stones become bread through the power of your word.”

Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘The human being shall not live on bread alone; he lives by the creative power of every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the parapet 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, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Again a third time, the devil took him to a very elevated place, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give to you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me  as your Lord. “

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship [pray to] God your Lord who guides you and serve him only.’”

Then the adversary left him, and he beheld again the angels as they came to bring him nourishment. 

4^th February Trinity

Blake

February 25, 2007

Matthew 4: 1-11

 In the desert, the cactuses don’t crowd together in groups. Each one has its own space; it stands out as a separate, individual entity.

In these times, human beings can feel a bit like being in a desert – alone, separated from others. This separation enhances our sense of ourselves as individuals – not a bad thing. But the shadow side of experiencing our uniqueness is loneliness.

As a human being, Christ Jesus experienced the loneliness of being an individual. Interestingly we are told that He was sent into this condition by the Spirit. To wrestle with the adversary in loneliness is a divinely intended experience. The adversary’s intention was to cut Him off from both from His divinity and from His humanity.

The temptation to work magic with stones would certainly have given a few hungry people bread in abundance, for a couple of years at least. But would Christ then have been able to offer to all of humanity the eternal bread of His divinely penetrated body?

Blake

In throwing himself down from the parapet, succumbing to egotistical pride in being God’s Son, Christ would simply have ended His human life prematurely. And of course, worshipping the adversary as the giver of the world’s kingdoms would have cut Him off from His Father. Through overcoming the temptations in loneliness, Christ Jesus establishes for all of humanity the middle way – of being a unique individual human being, who at the same time remains openly connected to the Father’s Spirit.

Christ’s experience in the loneliness of the desert gives us a key to the meaning of our own experiences of loneliness. Loneliness gives us the opportunity to meet our spiritual adversaries in full clarity. Loneliness provides us with the opportunity to become aware of our greater God-given task in life; it gives us the opportunity to cleanse ourselves of egotism and pride; to maintain and strengthen our connection with the Spirit of our heavenly Father. Overcoming the temptations in the desert is possible for us now through Christ, and prepares us, too,  for angelic nourishment.

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