Friday, April 12
Readings: JER 20:10-13; JN 10:31-42
Jeremiah’s words probably describe how Jesus was feeling as the net began to close around him and his enemies and detractors gained momentum, “All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine.”
We might feel like this at times as well – when people turn against us, speak behind our backs, betray us or delight in our failures and missteps. It’s a terrible feeling.
Jesus tries to “argue” with them and present his case that he’s just doing the will of God. But it doesn’t make much sense to argue with people whose minds are made up. Hard hearts and closed minds do not grow and are not curious. And the consequences for Jesus are serious.
Jesus escapes their clutches and retreats “to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained.” It’s such a simple line that we might gloss over as we read the text. But I started to wonder, “What is the significance of this geographical switch? Why would Jesus go there?”
Scripture scholar, Ched Myers, says that in the beginning of his ministry, Jesus apprenticed himself to John the Baptist and deeply identified himself with this tradition. Ched asks,
Why did Jesus choose this wilderness prophet to apprentice to? John is portrayed by Mark as someone who has “rewilded,” subsisting on the margins of society by foraging from the land (1:6). He invites his people into the sacred waters of the Jordan for renewal—far from the domesticated ritual baths of Judea’s cities and villages. Of course John’s costume—camel hair skins—invokes the memory of the great Elijah (2 Kg 1:8). But that story lacked “closure”: Elijah was raptured into heaven at the Jordan River (2 Kg 2:6-14). Moreover, Malachi later promised that Yahweh would send the AWOL prophet back to Israel “before the great and terrible day of the Lord” in order to turn the people around (Mal 4:5f). So Mark thus opens his story by presenting John-as-Elijah at the Jordan, exhorting the people to repent. This prophetic genealogy is far more important to Jesus’ identity than the kinship lines invoked by Matthew and Luke in their birth narratives.
Jesus, I think, returns to where he started – on the margins – to remember who he is. He surrounds himself with the wild that originally shaped him so that he would not deviate from the course. John, of course, is dead, having been killed by the king for challenging authority. Jesus is probably aware that his own fate will be similar. So he goes home to the wilderness, in a sense, so that his spirit remains “wild”.
Where do you go when you need to recharge? What contexts help you remember who you are? What geography helps you get clear on your purpose or mission?
These are all serious questions for us in a nature-starved world where so many of us live quite disconnected from our surroundings. For today, just go outside if you are able, and be present to nature. Let it teach you something that you need to (re)learn about being wild.