Tomorrow starts the first day of Lent. After Jesus is baptized, He is driven into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. During His 40 days, Jesus fasts and is tempted by the devil. Jesus rejects the devil and all of he offers, then the devil disappears and angels appear to tend to Jesus.
This is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus teaches and performs miracles during his ministry. His disciples learn what it is to trust God, to feed the poor, to heal and learn that Jesus is the Son of God, who has come to save the entire world, through the purchase of each and everyone’s body in his own body.
It is in Jesus’s death that each of us are freed from the effects of the Law, which reveals sin and thus brings death.
What about today? What can we learn about God for us today? During this time of Lent, we can reflect upon Jesus’ teachings. Some of the things He teaches us are, caring for the widows and poor, community is important (Jesus was continually in community), the need for Jesus in our lives, the Love of God and the Love of Jesus for all of humanity. This is not a complete list and I invite you to reflect on the vast number of other things He teaches us.
Ultimately, Jesus allows himself to be crucified upon a cross. God incarnate loves all of humanity so much that He sends His Son down to purchase our bodies from the effects of the law and sin. Even though God already owns our bodies, the purchase by Jesus ensures that everyone has the opportunity to experience what God intends for us.
We live in a broken world and the effects of that, ultimately means we will die. We will return to where we came, “From dust you have come and to dust you shall return.” We were given a single body to use here on this earth. We are the managers and God is the owner. Our bodies are temples where the Holy Spirit resides. When we treat our bodies with the respect that reflects the purchase price and value that Jesus’ death demands, then we allow God to use us for our own good and for the good of others.
This time of Lent, we can inspect how we have acted and reacted to our health, towards others, towards ourselves and God. During that time of inspection, we can work towards a renewal of our relationships with others, with God and with our body.
How do we do that? We need to ask for the power of God. We, humans, broken and living in this broken world, do not have the necessary willpower to do this on our own. We need the power of God to help us. The bodies that God has given us, is used for our spiritual life to serve God and God’s children. With the power of God, we can accomplish anything. With that, we also need community.
Just like the disciples, who in community with the power of God (Jesus Christ), were in community with each other. They lifted each other up. They learned from each other and relied upon each other and God. Not until we take care of the dust that God formed into our bodies, can we be as God intends.
Remember, this is a broken world. We live in it and it in us. The brokenness of the world has a variety of effects upon us and our physical well-being. Some things we can control on our own, most we need the power of God. The water we drink, the context we live in, can hurt our bodies and often we have no control over some of the environmental factors that play havoc on our bodies. It is incumbent upon us to take care of our bodies the best we can. Always looking for the best ways to continually be renewed.
It is Jesus’ death that provides us the freedom from the law. It is his resurrection that provides us even more. More on the resurrection later. We are after all, just entering into Lent when we reflect, inspect and renew ourselves in God.