Lenten devotions 2008

Thu, 7 Feb 2008

FEB. 8 - NOT THAT KIND OF WILDERNESS
Amanda Beachy, a senior Bible and religion major from Kalona, Iowa

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 4:1-11 (NRSV)
Scroll down for complete Scripture.

----------

DEVOTIONAL:
This story represents a different kind of "wilderness" than I usually picture. Through childhood vacations, I was trained to view the wilderness as a place of beauty, hope and renewal. When I think of wilderness, I picture the majesty of wild animals frolicking in meadows and forests, the uninterrupted growth of plants and trees, and monumental cloud shadows gently rolling over mountains.

The desert wilderness that Jesus entered was not this kind of wilderness. Jesus' wilderness was the other kind, the kind wrought with isolation and fear, the kind of piercing, whistling, winds. Jesus' wilderness was a place of temptation, of separation, of hopelessness and fear.

Though I may fail to identify it as such, I've often been in this kind of wilderness. All of us have times when we feel far from God. All of us have times when we have entered full force into the piercing winds of the world. We each have times of temptations, trials and tribulations. Through our experiences of these times, we're allowed to enter into the desert wilderness with Jesus. We identify with the temptation to play God, the temptation to test God, the temptation to worship false idols.

But through Jesus' temptations, we're given instructions on how to withstand our times of temptation. When we begin to slog through our own hopeless wilderness by answering as Jesus, by refusing temptations, by insisting on honoring God, our wilderness times are changed into something life-giving and affirming. Often, we come out of the wilderness able to see God in new and important ways. Able to see the ways in which our lives continue to be shaped. Able to view the wilderness as a transformative place where the desolate becomes lush, the empty becomes filled and our fear is turned into joy.

----------

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 4:1-11 (NRSV)
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.' But he answered, 'It is written,

"One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." '

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, 'If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,

"He will command his angels concerning you",
and "On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone." '

Jesus said to him, 'Again it is written, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test." '

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; and he said to him, 'All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.' Jesus said to him, 'Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

"Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him." '

Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Posted at 21:24 #



Disclaimer:
The views and beliefs expressed in the devotional piece prepared by each individual reflect their own spiritual growth journey and thoughts, and while created in a campus environment that encourages thoughtful questions and reflection on biblical Scripture and contemporary Christian themes, do not necessarily represent the official institutional positions of Goshen College or Mennonite Church USA.