Saturday, week one: Jesus’ repentance and formation (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. He would have walked 8 ½ hours, from inland city to lakeshore to river inlet, covering the terrain across which word of John’s powerful presence had spread.

Apparently Jesus thinks that he, too, needs the word from the wild, that reordering of mind and soul that sets the creation in right relationship with the Creator. But something surprising happens as Jesus emerges from the waters of the Jordan. He sees the heavens ripped apart, a schism opening between the divine and the earthly, never to be mended. Across the divide, the Spirit like a dove, the smallest of creatures used for sacrifice in God’s holy Temple, wafts downward upon him. And from heaven a voice only he can hear blesses him, “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.” It’s unclear that anyone else witnesses what he does.

Then, the same Spirit that descended like a dove drives him immediately into the wild places John knows so well. This Spirit has both gentleness and power. From city, to lakeside, to river, to wilderness, Jesus now knows what John knows. Wild places are not necessarily kind. Mark does not tell us exactly what Jesus encounters in the wild, only that it is satanic and dangerous; wild and yet still infused with divinity. Mark does, however, tell us how long he is there, forty days. Forty days calls to mind other 40s from sacred story:

40 days and nights the earth flooded while Noah found safety in the ark

40 days Joseph spent embalming his father Jacob’s body

40 years the wandering Israelites ate manna in the wilderness

40 days and nights Moses spent atop Mount Horeb with God

40 days the Israelite spies scoped out the promised land

40 years the Israelites spent captive to the Philistines

40 days Goliath takes his stand and issues his challenge to the Israelite army

40 years of David, Solomon, and Joash’s kingly reigns

40 days and nights Elijah fled from Jezebel’s wrath

40 days God grants Ninevah to repent

In sacred story, forty is significant. In every case, it represents a time of spiritual cleansing, a really long time of contemplation and re-ordering.

Text for the day:

Mark 1:9-13

Things to think about:

What could it mean that a schism opened between heaven and earth?

What significance can forty days of Lent hold for you?

Things to do:

Hold these forty days as a time of spiritual cleansing for you, your communities, and world. During these days, look for modern sacred story.

God, re-order things according to your will.

Friday, week one: The proclamation of John (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

John appears in the wilderness dressed like a wild man. He is not wild in the sense of being out of his mind or untouchable, but in the sense of having spent a great amount of time in wild and untamed places. He has been living close to the land, feasting on all the things the land provides.

John certainly knows the struggle to find enough food for each day. He has learned to forage. He knows the edible plants around him, takes his protein from an abundance of flying locust, and has a source for honey. He shelters in local caves, finding respite there from rain and cold, and basks in the sun at river and wadi edge. He is skilled in the tanning of animal hides, and clothes himself in camel skin.

In tune with flower, bee, insect, animal, day, night, season, and terrain, John is a man of the land, a man close to creation, and one who knows how to flourish from the provision of the earth alone.

Our prophets all come from such places, in tune with the wild nature of creation and having spent time close to the earth in solitude. There, without any distraction from the civilized world, they clear their heads and gain perspective. They re-learn the created order: There is God, the Creator; and us, the creation. They suffer no illusion about power or greed.

Then they come to us, clear in heart and soul, with proclamation and action.

John comes proclaiming an examination of conscience and offering baptism for the forgiveness of sin. He calls people to a new way of life, ordered less from civilization and more from the wild. People flock to him, understanding that he knows something they don’t. There is something holy and even right about this wild man.

And then he says, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie his sandal strap.” Don’t come to me, but to him.

Text for the day:

Mark 1:2-8

Things to think about:

What happens in you when you spend time in the wild or thinking about the wild?

What kind of life do you think God is calling you to live? What will it require of you?

Things to do:

Begin the day by remembering your baptism. Take some water, ask God to bless it with the power of the wild and the power of repentance, and mark yourself with the sign of the cross on your forehead, hands, and feet.

God, send One more powerful than a prophet from the wild.