Gospel in Art: The temptation of Christ in the wilderness

The Temptation of Christ, 2011 © Eric Armusik, all rights reserved

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 18 February 2024
Mark 1:12-15

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness and he remained there for forty days, and was tempted by Satan. He was with the wild beasts, and the angels looked after him.

After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the Good News from God. 'The time has come' he said 'and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News.'

Reflection on the painting

From time to time we all find ourselves in something of a wilderness. That wilderness can be a place where we feel lonely, vulnerable, or under threat in some way. There are people who experience the wilderness side of life more intensely than others, sometimes from the very first years of their lives. For them, life has always been a struggle.

We can be driven into the wilderness by many factors. It might be the sudden onset of ill health or the loss of a life partner or a job. There may also be times when we find ourselves in something of a spiritual wilderness. At the material level, everything may be going quite well for us, but spiritually we feel impoverished, disconnected from God. This is what our Gospel reading is talking about. The reference to 'Satan' indicates that there was a spiritual dimension to his testing experience. It was Jesus' relationship with God, his faithfulness to God's call and mission, that was being put to the test. This testing experience came at the very beginning of his public ministry. He would face a similar testing experience at the end of his public ministry, during the course of his Passion, in particular in the Garden of Gethsemane, less than 40 days from now.

Our painting is by Polish-American artist Eric Armusik, who is one of today's strongest purveyors of traditional figurative painting in Christian Art. It is a rather scary painting, yet very effective. Satan is portrayed as a cunning, evil, deceitful man with long hair, covered by a haunting black cape. Wild beasts and threatening black ravens fills the landscape. Jesus is bare footed, accentuating his vulnerability.

As we begin our Lenten struggle to renew our response to Jesus' calling, we are being assured that we will not be alone in that struggle. The Lord will be with us as one who has been tested and tempted in every way as we are. We can enter that struggle confident that, in the images of the gospel reading, the wild beasts will not get the better of the angels and Satan will be utterly powerless over us.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/mark-1-12-15-2024/