Unlike the Lucan and Matthean versions of Jesus’ forty days in the desert, the Markan version does not provide any details about Satan’s temptations. In year B, then, we must wait for the Second Sunday of Lent to learn more about what temptation looks like for Mark’s community. And what do you know; when Satan arrives on the scene in Chapter 8 there are no horns, no pointy tail, and no smell of sulfur. There is only Peter.
The temptation to reject the cross, it seems, often comes from the inside, from within the church, sometimes from its very leaders. Christians are always seeking the easy way out. Over and over in its history the church has succumbed to triumphalism (which Luther calls the theology of glory). And, interestingly enough, the motive is not fear, but pride. We all want to be on the winning team but, unfortunately for us, both the Church and the individual Christian are only really winning when losing. If we are “winning friends and influencing people” it might mean that we have turned away from the shameful way of the cross.
