Two Lenten Images: Flood and Desert - Cleansing Water and Purification Heat

This is based on my lecture note from the Sunday scripture study I teach....

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What is your image for Lent?  Water or dry desert?

Well, I was just tempted to spell “desert” , “dessert”, effected by my own carnal desire, on which I still need to work on my own spiritual discipline.

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Most people associate Lent to desert. In particular, they image the desert where Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights before he started his public ministry after his baptism in the Jordan River. This image can be drawn from the Gospel reading for the First Sunday of Lent Year B, Mark 1:12-15.

But, given that the great flood in the days of Noah is mentioned both in the first reading, Genesis 9:8-15 and the second reading, 1 Peter 3:18-22, some people may reflect Lent in light of the flood.  The flood mentioned in the first reading and the second reading was caused by the intense rains poured relentlessly for 40 days (Genesis 8:12).  Thus, the diluvial story of Noah’s Ark (vessel), Genesis 6:9-9;17, can be related to Lent.

This year, Year B, the scripture readings for the First Sunday of Lent (Genesis 9:8-15;1 Peter 3:18-22;Mark 1:12-15) present two contrasting images for Lent to set a tone for this Lenten journey. 

The first reading, Genesis 9:8-15, first reminds us that the flood was God’s act of judgement against the wicked. Then, this scripture narrative assures that those who are righteous in the eyes of God, such as Noah, are saved from the judgement, as God establishes a covenant with them.  In fact, this sets a pattern throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament, all the way to Revelation. The prophetic books in the Old Testament make this pattern very clear in the form of the deuteronomic cycle.

In fact, in making a theological reflection on Lenten meaning, this pattern set in the diluvial narrative (Genesis 6-9): God cleanses the world of sins by sending the judgement, such as a flood, to punish the wicked but to save the righteous.  God further makes a new covenant with those who have been saved from the judgement and awards them with prosperity, as done to Noah.

The Gospel reading, Mark 1:12-15, succinctly tells that the Spirit took Jesus to the desert and stayed there for 40 days, ministered by angels, while being there among wild beasts and being tested by Satan’s temptations. But, Matthew 4 and Luke 4 give more detailed accounts on Jesus’ 40-day stay in the desert by describing that Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days and that Satan came to tempt Jesus when he was very hungry as he was about to complete the fasting.

The desert is a place of spiritual cleansing, as the water of the Sacrament of Baptism does.

In the first reading, the flood from which Noah was saved cleansed the world. In a way, this fact serves as a prototype of baptism that John was offering in the Jordan River to prepare the coming of Christ, cleansing sinners with the water. And, Jesus himself came and was baptized, though he had no sin.

Following his baptism, as the Gospel reading tells, the Spirit took Jesus to the desert. In a way, this was to complete and fortify the cleansing effect of his baptism by subjecting  Jesus to the purification and fortification effects of the desert.

Baptism cleanses. But, it is more of external cleansing. To complete the total cleansing and purification, both externally and internally, the water cleansing has to be followed and complimented by the desert cleaning, which focuses more on internal cleansing and purity.

Whether your primary image for Lent is the desert of the flood, it is about spiritual cleansing, as both the water, associated with the flood and baptism, and arid dry heat, associated with the desert, purify our faith and the world.  Whether the water or desert heart, those who endure with faith, as described by Paul in 2 Timothy 4, can not only survive all the challenges and overcome temptations, as Noah did with the flood and as Jesus did in the desert. It is because this process is not just cleansing and purification but also fortification. As long as this process of led by the Spirit, as indicated in Galatians 5:22, fortitude is a result of enduring the water cleansing, perfected and fortified with the desert heart cleansing and fortification.

What we can learn from the First Sunday of Lent scriptures is that we need both water (flood, baptism) and desert heat to make our Lenten transformative journey more meaningful. Not whether a flood image or a desert image.

Let us further proceed on this Lenten journey with both water and desert to be cleansed, purified, and fortified, both externally and internally. This is our Lenten transformation toward Easter.