FORTY DAYS OF TESTING

Sunday's Matthean lection is also found in Mark and Luke. The Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness in Mark. In Luke and Matthew, the Spirit leads Jesus. Being driven and being led are very different descriptions. The former conjures an image of Jesus going with hesitation, even reluctance. The latter paints a picture of readiness and willingness.

Wilderness conjures up a lot of ambivalent images for us who study scripture. God appeared to Moses through the burning bush in the wilderness. The Ancient Israelites wandered almost aimlessly in the wilderness for decades. Many of them died there, including Moses. John the Baptist was a "voice of one calling in the wilderness." The wilderness does not seem like a very hospitable place. Yet, God's surprises abound in the wilderness!

And then there is the number 40, a long time in scripture. It rained 40 days and nights during the time of Noah. Forty years separated the crossing of the Red Sea and the crossing of the Jordan River. Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us that Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness being tested. Matthew and Luke add that he fasted. This narrative is the basis for the 40 days of Lent. We might imagine that Jesus was alone in the wilderness during those 40 days of testing. He was not. Jesus had company. Wild beasts. Angels. And Satan. God's surprises do abound in the wilderness!

My friends, let us never forget. Satan did not betray Jesus. Judas did. Satan did not deny Jesus. Peter did. Satan did not plot to arrest and kill Jesus in secret. The chief priests and scribes did. Satan did not abduct, torture, abuse, and murder Jesus. The Romans did. Satan is not behind the War on Terror and the War on the Poor. Satan is not responsible for the economies of death that pervade our world. Nor is Satan responsible for the deaths brought about by COVID-19. We all know who are responsible and should be held accountable for all these.

Lent begins today, Ash Wednesday. Who among us wants to spend 40 days in the wilderness being tested by Satan? Jesus went. And he passed.

*art, "Jesus is Tempted," JESUS MAFA, 1973, from Cameroon (from the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives).

METAMORPHOSIS

It's one of our earliest assignments in elementary science: metamorphosis, from caterpillar to butterfly. Sunday's lection is also about metamorphosis although most English Bibles use "transfiguration."

If we read our Bibles then we know that Moses, Elijah, and Jesus all experience mountain-top encounters with God. All three went through very trying and challenging times in their lives and their encounter with God enabled them to complete the tasks that God has called them to do. The three went up caterpillars, they came down butterflies.

Metamorphosis.

But not everyone who encounters God come back as butterflies. Like Peter. In the mountain Peter experienced something so special, so unique that we expected him to come out as a butterfly. He does not. He opposes Jesus’s journey to Jerusalem. He denies Jesus. Three times!

Everyone who encounters God in God’s mountain needs to come down. When Moses came down he led in the birthing of a people whose love for Yahweh was expressed in love for neighbor, especially the poor, the orphans, the widows, and the strangers. When Elijah came down he continued the struggle against Israel’s oppressive kings and began a prophetic tradition that ended with John the Baptizer. When Jesus came down he followed the path that led to Jerusalem and eventually to the cross.

My friends, do catterpillars know they will turn into butterflies?

To believe in God's power to effect metamorphosis is to believe that goodness will always triumph over evil; that hope is stronger than despair; that faith conquers fear; that love is greater than indifference; that life will always, always, conquer death! To believe in metamorphosis is to believe in God's power to transform catterpillars into butterflies. Yes, eventually even Peter. And, yes, even you and me!

*art, "The Transfiguration," JESUS MAFA, Cameroon 1973 (from the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives)

MOSES, ELIJAH, AND JESUS

The Gospel Readings since the end of January have been on Matthew's "Sermon on the Mount," particularly Chapter 5. "The Law and the Prophets" serves as a hermeneutical key when reading these passages.

My Jewish teachers in graduate school taught us that one of the best ways to understand the Hebrew Bible--especially the Law (Genesis to Deuteronomy) and the Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve [Hosea to Malachi])--is to focus on who speaks for God in these traditions.

In the Law, God speaks through Moses. In the Prophets, God speaks through Elijah (and Elisha, Deborrah, Samuel, and the rest of the prophets). In our lection (and in the gospels), God speaks through Jesus.

My friends, God speaks through anyone God chooses. God especially speaks through those whose lives proclaim good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, liberation for the oppressed, and God's Jubilee of justice!

Lest we forget: Moses, Elijah, and Jesus are not, and never have been, Christians. Those of us who take pride in calling ourselves Christian should stop thinking that we have exclusive access to God.

*art, "Sermon on the Mount (2010)," by Laura James (from the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives).

Salt, Light, and a Grain of Wheat

Two of the most popular metaphors for the church come from Paul. When you ask people what the church is, most of them will respond with "Body of Christ" or "Bride of Christ."

There are actually more metaphors and three of the most powerful come from Jesus. Salt. Light. And a grain of wheat. The first two come from Sunday's Matthean lection. The third is Johannine. We have heard so many homilies about these three. We are the salt of the earth, we give flavor to life. We are the light of the world, we push away the darkness. We are a grain of wheat, we need to bear fruit... We feel good about being salt, light, and a grain of wheat.

We are so comfortable with these interpretations we miss what those metaphors demand from us: all require self-sacrifice, all require emptying, all require death...

Salt dissolves. Light burns out. And "unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."

We should never forget what Jesus commands us: "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." We should never forget what his earliest disciples remind us: "We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another."

We should never, ever, forget that we follow a Crucified and Risen Lord. There is no Resurrection without the Crucifixion.

When Christ calls us, he bids us come and die.+

*art, "Shine," by Mike Moyers (from the Vanderbilt Divinity Library digital archives).  
+Deitrich Bonhoeffer