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I am not going to give the Bible study I had planned to give here this week. In the midst of my planning and studying and writing what I would share with you all, God intervened and let me know that the Divine Plan was something different. I don’t know the reasons for the change - to teach me humility, to reach one person in Wednesday night’s audience with a single thought, or something entirely different - but here I am, being as faithful as I can figure out to be.
Instead of talking about the series of encounters with God that I originally had in mind, I am led to share with you my reflections on what seems to be the core theme of the Bible, from one end to the other - Genesis to Revelations. It seems increasingly clear to me that there is only one real story in the universe. One side of that story, as I presently perceive it, is the story of God’s intervention in history to liberate us from our suffering - the Exodus story - God leading the chosen people out of Egypt. Of course, the Israelites left Egypt only to settle in the territory of one of Egypt’s vassal states, Canaan, and that is the other side of the Cosmic Story - our fallible yet persistent efforts to learn how to be non-Egyptians in the land of Pharaoh.
These two intertwined themes are present throughout the Bible, and form much of the context of the Bible story. I believe they are the relevant context for us today, as we seek to understand God’s will for the world we live in and our role in making that will a reality.
Although the Cosmic Story is present everywhere in Scripture, there are a few places where it is presented so succinctly, in such a focused fashion, that one can see all the major sub-themes in one place. One such place is Jesus Christ’s vision quest in the desert immediately following his baptism. No one except Jesus and the devil were present at this time. Since we can assume that the devil did not assist the gospel writers in their task by reporting his failure in such telling fashion, Jesus must have told the story of his temptation himself. This tells me the account has significance, and the details themselves were told to teach us important facts about Jesus’ ministry on earth.
From the perspective of the sweep of time from creation to the end of the universe, this moment as
Jesus left the Jordan was probably the last best opportunity the devil (the Adversary, the
tester) had to derail God’s project with humanity. If Jesus could be diverted from his
ministry, the Kingdom of God could be deferred indefinitely - perhaps even eternally. This was the
time for an attack on the very fundamentals of God’s story and plan for creation. The
leaping-off point for us this week, therefore, is the story of Jesus’ 40 days in the desert
immediately following his baptism.
Last Modified: 5.7.03