“And the Spirit immediately drove [Jesus] out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.” (Mark 1:12-13)
Hi Fighter,
We are now officially in the season of Lent. You’ll be forgiven if you don’t know what that means. It’s not a term developed locally. The word ‘lent’ is an abbreviation of ‘lengthen’, suggesting that the days are getting longer at this time of year which, in Australia, they are definitely not. Even so, Lent is the 40-day period leading up to Easter, and it’s traditionally a time of quietness and reflection as we join Jesus in journeying through the wilderness.
Each year our lectionary gives us a reading focused on Jesus’ wilderness experience. The accounts given in the Gospels of both Matthew and Luke are significantly longer and more memorable than this two-liner given by Mark. Even so, there are a couple of unique elements in this brief description that we don’t get in the other Gospels, the first of which is the description of the Spirit of God ‘driving Jesus out’ into the wilderness!
The only other times this verb, ‘to drive out’ (‘ekballei’), is used in the Gospels is with reference to the ‘casting out’ of demons. Here it is Jesus who is being cast out! If you, like me, think of the Spirit of God as a warm, healing force that calms us when we are distressed, this is an uncomfortable image. Here the Spirit of God isn’t calming the distress but causing it!
The other unique feature of Mark’s account of Jesus’ temptation is his mention of both the wild beasts and the angels. Some have suggested that Mark mentioned the wild beasts because he was writing at a time when the followers of Jesus were being fed to wild beasts in the Colosseum! Whether that’s the case or not, the image that is depicted is of a battlefield. The forces of good and evil are lining up in the wilderness, with Satan and his wild beasts standing toe to toe with the angels. The Spirit of God then hurls Jesus into the midst of the maelstrom!
I don’t know how that imagery connects with you. I find it exhausting. I feel like I never get out of the wilderness. I’m tired of battling the wild beasts, and as I look at what’s happening in our world right now, it doesn’t look like the angels are winning.
Is there any word of encouragement in this narrative? Yes, there is. It’s the affirmation that Jesus has gone into the fray ahead of us. Unlike our politicians, who make declarations of war from the comfort of their offices and let the nation’s youth do their fighting for them, Jesus leads the charge in His own body! This indeed echoes the message of the cross. The skin of Jesus is in the game.
We are at a volatile time in world history. We are tired of the wars, the carnage, the mandates, the propaganda, the murder, the manipulation and the lies. Nothing seems to be getting any better. Have we got the energy to keep on fighting?
Look to the wilderness. There is Jesus doing battle with the beasts! He is still on His feet and is still fighting, surrounded by an army of angels and calling on us to stand alongside Him. What can we do but heed His call?
Our Sunday Eucharist
We had a terrific Sunday Eucharist in the bush last weekend. I had Wade and Scottie sitting alongside me at Binacrombi, and Father Mark with us on the panel.
Appropriately, much of our early discussion focused on the crisis in Gaza, with Mark sharing updates passed on to him by friends in Palestine. Once again, we had fantastic participation from the online congregation.
This Sunday I’m looking forward to having freedom-fighter, Andrew Logan, with us, along with my old friend, Rev. John Jegasothy, who is covering this week for Karyn who has family commitments. Father Ola will hopefully fill out the panel with a homily on one of the Bible’s most difficult-to-understand passages from 1 Peter 3.
Join us from noon at TheSundayEucharist.com, or on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn or Streamyard. I look forward to sharing this Eucharist with you. 😊
Let me work your corner
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What’s On?
- Saturday, February 17th – from noon – Worldwide Rally for Freedom @ Fullerton Street, Woollahra
- Saturday, February 17th – from 5 pm –Concert for Julian Assange @ The Gaelic Club in Surry Hills. Tickets are still available through Eventbrite (I think).
- Sunday, February 18th – Our Eucharist from noon @thesundayeucharist.com or through Facebook , YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn or Streamyard.
- Sunday, February 18th – My birthday dinner from 6 pm @ The Public House. in Petersham. There’s still room. Please RSVP
- Tuesday, February 20th – Boxing at The Mundine Gym in Redfern from 6 pm.
- Thursday, February 22nd – Boxing at The Mundine Gym in Redfern from 6pm
- Friday, February 23rd to Sunday 25th– @ Binacrombi. Please join me.
Yes, it’s a big weekend for me. I’m presiding at a significant funeral today (Friday) and need to get my energy back for the rally on Saturday afternoon, the Assange concert in the evening, and the events on Sunday. Say a prayer for me.
Sorry for the late notice about the Rally for Freedom. I’m afraid I’d forgotten about it until I saw the poster on X (formerly Twitter) with my face on it!
I’ve come under a fair bit of criticism for agreeing to speak at this event with people calling me a ‘Putin puppet’! I’ll be speaking about the situation in Gaza, and I’ll probably add some words in support of Julian. I don’t pretend to be an authority on either Russia or Ukraine, though I’m praying every day for an end to that conflict.
It seems we’re experiencing a lot of fragmentation and partisanship in the activist community at the moment. Some people don’t want you joining their protest in support of Palestine unless your politics aligns with theirs on a range of other issues.
I believe that this is both tragic and self-defeating. The crisis in Israel/Palestine has the potential to evolve into World War III where we could all see our children die! It is so important that we unite on Palestine now – left-wring and right-wring, conservatives and progressives, etc. We need to stop this before it is too late.
OK … in terms of publications this week,
- Father Mark and I have continued to publish on www.israelandpalestine.org. I commend this site to you.
- I finished my tribute site to my late friend, Father Elias, at www.fatherelias.org. If you’d like to add your own thoughts or images to the site, let me know.
In conclusion, let me once again invite you to my birthday dinner at The Public House. in Petersham this Sunday evening. I’ve had just over twenty RSVP’s so far. There is still room for a couple more. It would be great to see you, and I’ll try not to fall asleep, though it will be the culmination of a big weekend for me.
Also, as I said last week, no birthday presents are expected or desired, but if you can make a one-off donation to Fighting Fathers Ministries or take out a monthly subscription via Patreon.com, that would be the best present I could ask for..
Keep me in your prayers, please, as I do you.
Your brother in the Good Fight,
Dave
www.fatherdave.org
www.fighting-fathers.com
www.thesundayeucharist.com
www.binacrombi.com.au
www.oldschoolboxing.academy
www.israelandpalestine.org
www.prayersforsyria.com
www.boxersforpeace.com
www.warriorweekends.com
P.S. If you can’t do a donation or a subscription, please consider picking up some wearable artwork created by my darling daughter, Imogen, at Fightshop.biz
About Father Dave Smith
Preacher, Pugilist, Activist, Father of four
