One of the things we all know about Lent is that it celebrates the temptation of Jesus – his withdrawal into the desert at the start of his ministry. But like a lot of the things we all know, our preconceptions often stop us understanding what is really going on. We read the words, but because we think we know what they say, we skip over them and they do not sink in. Why did Jesus find it necessary to withdraw himself in this way, at the start of his ministry? Well, I think it was at least partly a question of identity. Jesus must have felt he was in some way special, but what did that mean? Remember, Jesus was a man, truly human and with our limitations, so the question of what does it mean to say he was the son of God was probably as difficult for him as for us. And you can see that in the temptations. The devil is attacking the very idea of Jesus being the son of God and trying to corrupt that into something less than divine. In the story, Jesus answers with proof texts and this must surely be a simplified version of the struggle which went on in his mind over those forty days. Nevertheless it conveys the meaning of the attack on his mission and also how Jesus regarded what he was doing: not tearing down the foundation of what had gone before and which was contained in the law and the prophets, but going forward from it on to something much greater. Jesus’ ministry was a new departure, but showing continuity with what had gone before.
Now I want to go on a bit about interpretation of the bible before going back to the idea of the son of God and our first reading gives us a good bit to start with, part of the creation story, which we all must surely know well. In understanding this story, the first thing to remember is that it is about 3,000 years old. We can’t know for sure when it was written down, but it certainly circulated as an oral tradition for many centuries. During that time, it probably changed, but what survived did so because it had a meaning, it is trying to tell us something. Now what it is trying to say is subject to interpretation. Some people have understood it literally that sin was the breaking of a rule and this was how evil entered into the world, but I think most people can see beyond that to understand that the tree of knowledge is our consciousness. The fact that we are conscious means that we know good and evil and it is only with that knowledge that we can sin. Tigers do not commit a sin in eating their prey – it is just part of their nature. Mankind is different and can choose what to do and in choosing may sin. So this story of the creation is trying to tell us about our human condition. The Fall it depicts is symbolic, but the truth remains that we are still fallen creatures, that is, less than we are meant to be.
Now in our second reading we have Paul doing what I have just been doing, namely interpreting the bible, but in terms which his hearers would have understood. Paul is trying to join on the new understanding of Jesus as the son of God with what he and his fellow Jews knew from the Old Testament. Thinking in terms of the creation story, Paul sees Adam as standing for all mankind and as a result is a type for Christ, who by inference also stands for all mankind. But whereas Adam’s transgression introduces sin and death into the world, the gift of Christ, that is, his life, leads to justification and righteousness.
Now it is hard to put yourself into the mindset of Paul and his contemporaries, but what I think he is getting at is that sin cannot be cancelled by legislation in heaven: it is human action on earth which is required. Sin is real; its effects are real; they cannot be undone by the stroke of a pen. The life of Jesus, the incarnation, was necessary to counter our sins and that is the gift Paul is talking about. Not the Cross alone: but the life, the teaching, the cross and the resurrection. Our salvation lies in that life and resurrection: as Paul says, if Christ be not raised from the dead, you are yet in your sins.
Now it is hard to underrate the importance of this action by God, namely the life of Christ, but it is hard to appreciate what its meaning is on a personal basis. How does this affect me? And just as Christ withdrew to the wilderness for forty days to understand what being the son of God might mean, so we should use these forty days of Lent to understand what it might mean for ourselves. And at every step we will encounter the devil’s suggestion that Jesus is not really the son of God, or that this means something other than what God intends.
I think the first step in this process is quite easy – we need to understand the state of the world as fallen. Well, we all know that the world is going to the dogs don’t we? But perhaps we could use Lent to think about exactly how it is fallen. It is not just a question of it not being quite how we would like it, but rather of trying to look at the world with God’s eyes, to see all the ways in which it falls short of the kingdom of God.
But the next step is a great deal harder: we need to understand our own contribution to this fallen world. Often, this is difficult because our contribution is unwitting, a prime example being global warming. Our excessive carbon emissions in the past were not sinful because we hardly realised the effect they were having, but the effect was there and now our actions have imperilled the lives of others. And there are our little acts of selfishness, the occasions when we have been less than kind, which all accumulate. It’s our lack of collective will which makes society a less than friendly and uncaring place. So the devil will encourage us to relapse into a state of thinking that we are not exactly sinless, but at least no worse than anyone else. And it is here where we need to compare ourselves with what Jesus taught. If Jesus is the son of God, his teaching is not optional, it matters. We need to read the gospels, to understand them – not difficult, but above all, these words must be taken into our hearts.
And going one step further, we need to look at the cross and understand that Jesus calls us to a life of sacrifice. The cross is not our entry ticket to heaven which once issued we can just sit back and enjoy. Following Christ will bring us into conflict with the world. If it did for Jesus, it will do so for us. I doubt whether we in this country will be called upon to make a sacrifice of our lives, but make no doubt about it, following Jesus is hard and will cost us some comfort. Surely not, says the devil. It can’t really make any difference if you give up some of your time, or the little money you might have, or any of the other things which make life comfortable. But it does. Fighting evil in the world demands continuous discipline and integrity. It is not the easy way, but it is the way God wants us to be.
Jesus is the son of God, in spite of what the devil says. And his life and resurrection show that in this way, following him, there is power to change and improve things in the world and in our lives. Not by money or the force of arms, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. So this Lent, let us not focus on fasting and giving up, so much as understanding what flows from believing that Jesus is the son of God, and then acting on it.