Lenten Perspective: The Wilderness and the River

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The Wilderness and the River

The Lord is my shepherd.

I lack nothing.

Psalm 23:1 (CEB)

All of You is more than enough for all of me

For every thirst and every need

You satisfy me with Your love

And all I have in You is more than enough

From "Enough" by Chris Tomlin

Today is the first Sunday in the season of Lent.  During this roughly forty-day period from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday, Christians around the world remember that Jesus once spent forty days in the wilderness, fasting and facing temptation.¹  We figuratively follow Him into the wilderness, through self-denial, introspection, and penitence.

In two of the Gospels, we read that, as Jesus grew hungry in the wilderness, He began to hear the voice of the tempter.  The tempter called His attention to a stone and said to Him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread."  Quoting the Book of Deuteronomy, Jesus replied, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"²

The tempter then somehow showed Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world in an instant and said to Him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority...  If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours."  Jesus replied, again quoting Deuteronomy, "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"³

The tempter then whisked Jesus off to the roof of the temple in Jerusalem and said to Him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here."  Quoting a Psalm, he continued, "For it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'"⁴  Jesus replied with yet another quote from Deuteronomy, saying, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"⁵  At this point, the tempter decided to leave Jesus alone for the time being.

When preaching on the story of Jesus' facing temptation in the wilderness, pastors are quick to point out that Jesus countered each temptation with Scripture.  Many of us learned Scripture as children, yet, truth be told, our knowledge of Scripture is not always what guides our decisions.  The story of Jesus' temptation shows us that even the devil himself knows Scripture, yet it apparently hasn't made much of a difference for him.  The truth is that, despite our knowledge of Scripture, we struggle with temptation throughout our lives.  I believe that knowledge of Scripture is beneficial, but I think that maybe something else helped Jesus to withstand temptation.

I think that maybe Jesus realized that He did not need any of the things the tempter offered Him.

The temptations Jesus faced in the wilderness are universal.  According to Henri Nouwen, there are three lies we tend to believe about our identity: I am what I do, I am what I have, and I am what people say about me.  Each of these lies is connected to a temptation Jesus faced.⁶

The first temptation Jesus faced was to define Himself by what He did.  He could have established His identity as the one who provided for Himself and for others by miraculously producing bread.  The second temptation Jesus faced was to define Himself by what He had.  He could have amassed wealth, power, and glory for Himself by following Satan and conquering the world.  The third temptation Jesus faced was to define Himself by what people said about Him.  If He had jumped off the Temple and allowed angels to catch Him, the people who witnessed the spectacle would have no doubt that He was indeed sent by God.

Before Jesus forayed into the wilderness, He stopped at the river.

One day, while people were being baptized in the Jordan River as a symbol of their penitence, Jesus went to the river to be baptized as well.  After He emerged from the water, He stopped to pray, and, as He prayed, the heavens opened.  The Holy Spirit descended and, taking the form of a dove, landed on Jesus.  A voice from heaven then said, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."⁷

I believe that, along with a knowledge of Scripture, Jesus took with Him into the wilderness what He received at the river, namely the power of the Spirit and the approval of the Father.  He did not need anything the tempter offered Him because He knew who He was.  He did not need to define Himself by what He did, what He had, or what others said about Him because he already knew that He was the beloved Son of God, with whom God was well pleased.  He knew that God claimed Him, loved Him, and delighted in Him, and that was enough for Him.

A knowledge of Scripture is an important and powerful tool, but we need to know who we are in God.  We need to know that each of us is a child of God, whom God loves, with whom God is well pleased.  We need to understand that we are enough.

I know that it can be difficult to say that God is well pleased with us or that we are enough, especially when we consider our faults and failures.  At the same time, I think that what causes us to go wrong is a failure to believe that, in God, we are enough and we have enough.

A story at the beginning of the Bible tells us that the first humans tended a garden planted by God.  We read that they were permitted to eat anything produced by the garden with the exception of the fruit of a single tree, specifically the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  One day, the tempter appeared to the humans and told them that, if they ate the fruit of this tree, the knowledge they would receive would make them like God.  The humans gave into temptation, ate the fruit they were forbidden to eat, and faced great consequences for their transgression.⁸

The first humans gave into temptation because they did not believe that they had enough or that they were enough.  They were allowed to eat anything produced by the garden with the exception of the fruit of one tree, but what they had wasn't enough for them.  They had to have the one thing they were forbidden to have.  They had been created in the image of God and made the caretakers of what God created,⁹ but what they were wasn't enough.  They had to become even more like God.

On this first Sunday in Lent, I encourage you, the reader, to spend some time at the river before you foray into the wilderness.  In other words, consider spending some time at the beginning of your day contemplating who you are in God.  Know that you are a child of God whom God loves and with whom God is well pleased.  Know that God claims you, loves you, and delights in you.  Then take this knowledge with you as you go about your day.

The wilderness is where we have the opportunity to learn that God is enough for us, and the river is where we have the opportunity to learn that we are enough for God.  Before you journey into the wilderness that is your day-to-day life, consider spending some time wading in the river of God's love.


Notes:

1. Much of this perspective is based on Luke 4:1-13.  Quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version.
2. Deuteronomy 8:3
3. Deuteronomy 6:13
4. Psalm 91:11-12
5. Deuteronomy 6:16
6. Henri Nouwen.  "Being the Beloved."
7. Luke 3:21-22 (NRSV)
8. Genesis 2:4b-3:24
9. Genesis 1:26-28

Christ in the Wilderness was painted by Ivan Kramskoi in 1872.