Rev. David Diller’s sermon entitled, “The Real Test,” was based on Mark 1:9-15.  Three episodes are covered as Jesus begins his public life: his baptism by John, his temptation by Satan, & his first preaching in Galilee.  The Holy Spirit that brings blessing & affirmation to Jesus also drives him into the wilderness of life for forty days.    Like the forty days of Lent, this is a time to look at options, think things through, come to terms with reality, & make a plan.  He was tempted by Satan, i.e. he had to choose his course.  He was with the wild beasts, i.e. life is full of perils that can harm us.  The angels were ministering to him, i.e. friends & mentors assist & guide us through life.

The Church has regularly denied the humanity of Jesus by thinking about him as divine.   This means he merely acts as a human when all the time he is God in disguise with un-limited knowledge, experience, & power.    He only seems to make decisions & interact with others when all the time he is God reading peoples’ minds, controlling their actions, & establishing outcomes to make him look good.  He is neither engaging human life nor setting any kind of example.   The whole gospel story becomes the nonsense of religious fiction.

In fact, Jesus was a human, faced with all the choices every human must make about sex, money, career, honesty, worship, residence, death, & a million other decisions.  Life comes as gift, for God loves us all & gives us our moment in the world.  With the gift comes the demand we live in the ambiguities of history.   We can fight to secure ourselves or we can have faith & trust God will provide what we need so we can live for God by loving others.   Jesus chose to live for others & began his ministry in the world.