Lent I B 2009
Theme: The Dark Knight and the Light Knight
Let us pray.
Most holy, Lord God, we encounter the wilderness in many places and in many guises; be our companion on the way: give us faith, give us courage, give us strength, and always give us your inner peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Last year, I saw a wilderness. It was dark. It was forbidding. It was violent. It was scary. This wilderness was different from most wildernesses. It was heavily populated – high rise buildings everywhere. The daytime was even dark. Lawlessness was the law. The police were on the take. Welcome to Gotham City.
In all of this darkness, there were rays of hope. There was an honest policeman interested in a clean police department. There was a newly elected District Attorney interested in cleaning up government and putting the bad guys in jail. And there was also a vigilante, the Dark Knight, the Batman. There was some good that sought to eliminate the pervasive evil of the city. In a telling scene, Batman apprehends a criminal and asks information regarding a drug deal. Claiming he has told Batman everything he knows, the criminal shouts, “I swear to God.” Batman demands, “Swear to me.”
The organized crime bosses were removed, not by the police, but by a mental case with a sense of humor. Only his sense of humor was as dark as the city. His maniacal laughter caused him to be dubbed as the Joker. The Joker eliminated his competition through assassination.
The Joker then took on Batman. He didn’t want Batman eliminated. He even told Batman that the vigilante “completes him.” Instead, the Joker went after those who were close to Batman to bait Batman into battle.
The Joker tempted Batman. He escalated his violence so Batman would escalate his violence and be seen as someone who is really no different than the Joker. Batman was tempted but refused the bait. Batman wanted the Joker brought to trial. Even then, the Joker put Batman into a quandary that tempted Batman to torture the Joker. The Joker invited Batman to kill him. Batman refused.
In all, it was too much. With the Joker vanquished, Batman received the brunt of the public mood. Batman knew they needed a hero and it wasn’t going to work out to be him. So Batman decided not to defend himself and let the people have a hero in the popular District Attorney. Batman would sacrifice himself to save Gotham City. (In case you think I gave away the ending, I didn’t.)
People debate the Christian themes in the movie, “The Dark Knight.” But there seems to be definite parallels to Jesus’ wilderness experience. Jesus resisted the temptations of Satan. Jesus’ ministry is in a lawless place, Galilee. Batman resisted the temptations of the Joker. Batman eventually sacrifices himself for the good of the city he seeks to protect. Batman is the Dark Knight. Jesus is the knight of light.
For Jesus’ part of this particular story in Mark, it begins with Jesus’ baptism. We have already heard, in January, about Jesus’ baptism. The lectionary then took us on a journey of the early times of Jesus’ ministry. Today, we return to Jesus’ baptism and what happened immediately after his baptism.
Mark’s writing is very succinct. Jesus is baptized by John in the Jordan. Jesus walks the walk as well as talks the talk. His actions will meet his words. As soon as Jesus steps out of the water, he receives the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is described as something like a dove that descends through a crack in the sky.
Then there is the voice. The same voice we heard last week giving the same message as last week, “You are my own dear Son, and I am pleased with you.” (CEV) What is omitted is the listening to Jesus part. Jesus doesn’t yet have any followers to ignore him, causing God to tell them that they should listen.
What happens next is that the Holy Spirit whom Jesus just received compels him to go to the desert or the wilderness or more literally translated, “a deserted place.” Jesus obediently goes. Again with Mark’s terseness, we are told that Jesus stays out there a long time and he is tested by Satan. We don’t hear the specifics that we get from Matthew and Luke.
We remember that forty, as length of time in the Bible, is a euphemism for a long time. We also remember that Satan is a Hebrew word that is something akin to a prosecuting attorney. Satan may have been sent by God to test Jesus to make sure he was ready to begin his ministry. Jesus passed. But in a way, it was probably impossible for Jesus not to pass. After all, he just received the Holy Spirit. How could he fail? All he had to do is listen.
Never before in history has God come to us in human form. The time of testing may have been to make sure that the divine Jesus was in control of the human Jesus. I could say more about this mystery of Jesus being fully divine and fully human, but I am already beginning to tread on shaky ground.
Jesus is in a deserted place. It is a scary place. It is wild. It is dangerous. A person by himself or herself doesn’t stand a chance out there. Jesus was special. Angels kept him safe and tended to his needs. Jesus’ stay in the wilderness is done in faith.
What Mark next tells us is curious and many have commented on just what Mark is saying. It seems that some time after Jesus leaves the wilderness, John the Baptist is arrested – a precursor to an arrest coming later in the gospel. With the John out of the way (though that may be a tad crude way of putting it), Jesus then begins his ministry.
People have struggled with the question of why Jesus waited for John’s arrest to begin his ministry. This is the synoptic sequence of events. In John, Jesus begins his ministry before John is arrested. Scholars tend to accept that Jesus waited to begin until after John’s arrest.
Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee. Galilee is a place with a reputation of insurrection. Galilee is a rebellious place. It is to such a place that Jesus chooses to begin his ministry. Jesus tells people about God’s good news. Perhaps Galilee is restless because of the hardships the people endure living there. They want something better. They want the Romans to leave. They are ready to follow someone who will lead them to a better life without the Romans. Jesus may have assumed that there were people there with the necessary toughness to spread his message after his death.
Jesus told people, “The time has come! God’s kingdom will soon be here. Turn back to God and believe the good news!” (CEV) There is immediacy to Jesus’ message. Not only will the Roman Empire be gone, all human rule will disappear. God will once again rule. The world will be set right. But first, the people must turn back from doing things their way and start doing things God’s ways. They are to not to blow off the good news of Christ, but believe it.
Lent is a traditional time for us to reflect on how we do things our way instead of God’s way. When do we treat someone in a way that would offend or anger ourselves? When do we put ourselves before another? When do we fail to forgive? When do we fail to ask for forgiveness? When you encounter wild animals, will you stay or pack up? How do you tell the difference between Satan’s voice and voices of angels? Do you trust everything that comes from God? Turn back and believe the good news!
We now pray: Gracious God and giver of all good gifts give us the gift of faith and belief, through which we gain trust in your ways and by which we receive the courage to turn back from our ways and turn toward your ways, all through the encouragement of your son, Jesus Christ, through whom we pray. Amen.
Text: Mark 1:9-15 (NRSV)
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved;h with you I am well pleased.”
12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good newsi of God,j 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near;k repent, and believe in the good news.”l
[1]
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h Or my beloved Son
i Or gospel
j Other ancient authorities read of the kingdom
k Or is at hand
l Or gospel
[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. 1989. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.