1st Sunday of Lent (February 18). Torn apart

Prepare to Listen.  You are my Son, the Beloved.
 
Prayerfully Read Mark 1:9-13
9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  10And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.  11And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’  12And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.  13He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
 
Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
What intrigued you as you read these familiar verses?
 
It’s a very ordinary account of a baptism.  Jesus waiting in line with ordinary people to be baptized by an anything but ordinary John the Baptizer.  There’s no introduction to Jesus, or explanation of why he wanted baptism from John.  He came down from Nazareth in Galilee for no other reason than to be baptized by John in the Jordan.
 
What happened when he came up out of the water turned the scene into an extraordinary one.  Jesus saw “the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.”  Torn apart is an intriguing choice of words.  They’re similar to the words the prophet Isaiah used, begging God, “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down” (Is 64:1-2).  If John saw what Jesus did, and that’s not certain, I wonder whether he thought of Isaiah’s prayer.  I wonder if he realized God was answering it.  God had torn apart the heavens and come down in God’s Beloved Son, Jesus.
 
Tearing apart happened again when Jesus died.  The sanctuary curtain in the temple, preventing entrance into the presence of God, was torn in two (Mk 15:38).  God came down and access to God and God’s throne is now possible for all peoples.
 
In these troubled times, it’s good to remember and trust in the God who has come down, the God who will not be silent.  Worship this God today.
 
Prayerfully Respond
O that you would once again tear open the heavens and come down into our troubled times.  Help me live so that others know they too can have access to you today.  Amen.
 
Live obediently.  Trust the God who came down.