With Christ in the Spiritual Wilderness of 2025

                                                  Christ in the Wilderness Virginia Maria Romero

 Then the devil led [Jesus] up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.  If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God,
    and serve only him.’ ”

Luke 4: 5-8 NRSVue

 The Lord your God you shall fear; him you shall serve, and by his name alone you shall swear. Do not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who are all around you...

                    Deuteronomy 6: 13- 14 NRSVue

 This is the first Sunday of Lent, the season of the Christian year which prepares us for the sombre commemoration of Good Friday and the celebration of Easter. In liturgical traditions it is a given that the gospel lesson will tell the story of Jesus' 40-day testing in the wilderness amidst the wild beasts, hence the forty days of Lent. The three synoptic gospels all share this story early, Matthew and Luke saying that it is the devil who tempts Jesus, while in Mark it is Satan -- same evil presence, different name. 

One of the temptations is for Jesus to become ruler of the world, but he responds to the devil with Hebrew scripture verses saying that you can only serve one God. 

You may not be surprised to hear that my mind went to a certain evil tempter as I read this passage in 2025. I thought of the  AI video created as political satire but reposted by our modern day Prince of Darkness. It shows Palestinians on the shattered streets of Gaza followed by a transformed Gaza-a-Lago resort, Trump's proposal. There is a golden statue of the supreme ruler at the conclusion. The president missed the irony. 

Another name for Satan/Devil is Beelzebub, or Lord of the Flies, a title used by William Golding for his novel about boys stranded on an island who descend into savagery. 

As we enter Lent this year we might ponder who and what we are tempted to worship and what it means to be Christ-followers in a "might makes right" world where despots are adored and the "meek shall inherit the Earth" is ignored. 

It does seem as though we have entered a spiritual wilderness from which there is no escape. We may feel be-wildered and be-devilled these days, but Lent reminds us thatour wilderness sojourn leads us to new life in Christ. 

                                                       Christ in the Wilderness -- Purvis Young