Grounded

The scripture for my Sunday School lesson today was from Mark 10:35-45. It is the story of James and John asking Jesus for the favor of sitting at his right and his left. It is so easy to chalk them off as greedy, glory grabbers.

But as I worked through the scripture preparing, it made me wonder just how Jesus dealt with his own humanity. It says that he was tempted but did not sin. How did He do that. He could not have been immune because that was not how He or God operated. If he came to earth, he came with all the foibles, weaknesses, and humanness in that mortal frame. The only difference between Him and the everyday Joe or Jo was His divinity. So often, I read the scripture "He went off alone up into the mountains" and thought of it only in the context of needing time apart to be with God. To refresh, rejuvenate, etc. But perhaps, He needed time apart from the temptation of fame, notoriety, and power. That fame, not sought but thrust upon Him by the throngs of miracle seekers and well-wishers. The demands of those seeking Him, his disciples included.

Perhaps when He said "The Father and I are one" it was not so much a statement of identity as one of repetition, a reminder of his human make-up. That he was a human-like vessel for the divinity of God. The power was God's, He was his incarnation.

Perhaps Satan knew exactly what he was doing when he tempted Christ in the desert. Power and fame were a pretty powerful drug even to the Son of God. How hard was it to keep the perspective, when throngs followed you constantly, wanting a word from you, a touch from you, even from the hem of your garment. How very hard for Him and how very hard for Him to explain to those who he would leave behind.

As Christians, the very thing within us of any worth is the very thing that can create a trap to snare us. How do we resist? If our blessed Savior was tempted, how can we possibly not be taken down. Perhaps by remembering we are a vessel. That any good within us is not of "us". That we have two choices. One to be a conduit of His mercy and love to those we come in contact with. To do this, all we have to do is remain open, that His love might flow through us. Our other option is to allow the inherent arrogance and pride squeeze and constrict the flow of Him in me.

How do I combat this? Each and every day saying, not only thy will be done, but adding thy will be done through me. Praise God I can say that and Praise God that He hears and answers my plea