Lent 1, Gospel of Luke

Luke 4.1-13

“‘You are my son the beloved. With you I am well-pleased.’” (Luke 3.22) With these words, Jesus is identified by God and sent out to begin his ministry. But first, Jesus goes into the wilderness to learn what those baptismal words mean for him.

And in the wilderness, Jesus encounters the devil. Now, we expect the devil to be evil, but what the devil offers Jesus are GOOD things. First the devil offers Jesus the chance to make bread—just think how many hungry people Jesus could feed with this bread! Next, the devil offers Jesus the chance to rule the kingdoms of the world—Jesus could govern the people differently, with justice, and bring peace to the world. For the third test, the devil simply wants to see the saving power of God in action—a demonstration of God’s faithfulness. All seemingly GOOD things!

So it is with all the evils of the world. The evil offered up by the devil in today’s story masquerades as good. On the surface, what the devil offers sounds good, but Jesus is not fooled.

Today there are many places in the world where something which appears to be good actually produces evil consequences. Israel’s security barrier is only one example. Feeling threatened by suicide bombers, the Israelis are building a wall to keep them out—this seems like a good thing, right? Protecting people from danger, keeping children safe? Isn’t this what we all want? This is a good thing!

But where I have seen the wall, it only masquerades as a security barrier. The wall is not being built on the border between Israel and Palestine. It is being built many kilometers into the West Bank. All the area between the border and the wall, then, becomes Israeli territory because it is now on the Israeli side of the wall. The wall is a way of claiming more land for Israel, gobbling up olive groves belonging to Palestinian farmers. As I stood in the hilltop village of Jayyous, an Arab village in the West Bank, north of Jerusalem, I saw how the wall had been built to protect a nearby Israeli settlement, which had also been built on confiscated Palestinian farmland. The wall ate up more of the farmers’ orchards, cutting them off from the village. From that hilltop, the wall looked to me more like a way of stealing land from Palestinian farmers. More than 6000 olive trees were uprooted to build the wall, destroying an agricultural economy and reducing the income for the village—now many of these farmers, unable to get to their fields, depend on United Nations food aid for survival.

The map shows the wall snaking its way into the West Bank so that the Israeli settlement of Zufin can be included within Israel (Green Line is boundary between Israel and West Bank; red lines are the completed wall; purple lines are the wall under construction and planned). Read more about Jayyous and the wall:

• U.N. report


• Photo essay of uprooting trees in 2004


• An Ecumenical Accompanier’s story from Jayyous in 2009


• My experiences in Jayyous in 2008

Photo: Jayyous farmers' olive groves, seen from the hilltop village

Our unconditional support of Israel has seemed like a good thing. For sixty years, the U.S. has supported Israel with military aid, equipment and training. We have sided with Israel in the United Nations. The U.S. has refused to condemn Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands. We have been uncritical of Israel’s arrests, interrogation and torture of Palestinian professors and students. We have stood by while Israeli soldiers, using American ammunition, have attacked Palestinian schoolchildren and peaceful protestors. Aircraft attacking Gaza in 2009 were manufactured by Boeing, as were the smart bombs they carried. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11743. These are complicated matters, and I don’t mean to suggest easy answers, but we need to examine our country’s actions and make changes.

Jesus was baptized as he began his ministry and so are we. This Lenten season offers us a “wilderness” time, time for testing our own purpose in the world. What are the devil’s messages to us? What is the work God would have us do to help bring God’s vision of justice, mercy and peace?

Gracious God, you sent your son to show us your way of justice, mercy and peace. Help us to be led by your Spirit during these forty days in the wilderness of Lent. Transform us by the power of your Holy Spirit and strengthen us to be your partners in building the world you have promised. Amen.