Most of us have heard the famous "Who’s on First" routine by Abbott and Costello. The sense of timing is what has made that to be one of the funniest routines in American entertainment.
Timing is important in most everything. The right timing affects the outcome of an event – timing dictates the order things happen and it also sets the pace.
In Mark’s Gospel, we hear that Jesus begins his ministry "at the right time." He didn’t arbitrarily find himself in the role as Savior. He arrived at God’s perfect time. Timing Is Everything. We see this is especially true in Jesus’ life: 1) He Came to the Right Place and 2) He Came for the Right Task.
1) He Came to the Right Place
The stage was set. The time was right according to the world’s history. And God sent his Son. Throughout the Savior’s life, we see that he was sent to the right places. From his birth in Bethlehem, to his resurrection in Galilee, Jesus was always in the right place.
Earlier, St. Mark tells us that Jesus deliberately sought out John the Baptist and entered with him into the Jordan River. At the right time, Christ was baptized. As Jesus walked from the riverbank, he entered into work he came to accomplish – redemption from sin.
Timing is everything. It is true of us as well. Unfortunately, timing is everything bad for us. We have a horrible sense of timing. We sinful beings have a knack to find ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. We enter this world in a bad place. We are born in sin. From the moment we are conceived, the Bible tells us, it is in sin.
The time we spend in this life is filled with sin. We commit terrible sins. And we find ourselves in the wrong place. We find ourselves in the wilderness. Our sinful acts lead us into the barren wastelands of depression, guilt, sorrow, anger, and pain.
We often find ourselves alone and hopeless. We find that we are harassed and helpless. Temptations to fall into sin are great. The temptation is there for us to take counsel from the devil, the father of lies, rather than from Jesus who speaks only the truth. Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6).
Consider the consequences of taking such advice! Each of us has to admit there is the temptation to conform to this world, to listen to the devil as he urges us to grab glory and success for ourselves in this life, our own hearts deceive us and insist we give in to selfish gratification. And we’re convinced that we are headed towards an oasis – fleshy desires are pleased under the shade tree of sexual promiscuity and perversion, there’s an unquenchable fascination to sip the sweet waters of instant satisfaction; we demand constant, cheap and easy entertainment, we must line our pockets with expendable cash, and spend every ounce of effort on pleasing our every whim and fancy.
Soon our paradise becomes a wasteland, our oasis a desert. Instead of finding cool comfort in the shade of sexual perversion, we find that the heat of guilt and shame bear down on us. The sweet water of materialism sours into a cesspool as we realize that we can’t quench our greedy thirst for more. We never have enough!
And so we find ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. And, yet, the Bible declares: “At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.” We are familiar with the temptations Christ endured. St. Mark doesn’t record them for us, but we’ve learned them. The devil challenged Jesus to prove himself to be stronger than temptation. Change stone into bread: The temptation to use power for the wrong purposes. Jump from the temple: The temptation to gain popularity by testing God. Bow down to Satan: The temptation to idolatry.
Christ was tempted in every way we are, yet he was without sin. Sin’s purpose is to lead us away from God and to trust in ourselves. Satan wanted Jesus to sin, so he would away from his heavenly Father, away from the work of redemption, and towards his own needs and desires. If the devil could have gotten Christ to fail, then he would surely have us all.
Make no mistake, though. These words are written for our comfort! It was necessary for Jesus to be cast out into the wilderness. He had to encounter Satan; the one responsible for bringing sin on the entire human race. Jesus entered the wilderness of temptation for us, so that he could grapple with Satan in our place. He endured every one of our temptations, so he could overcome our weaknesses and prove to be faithful in place of our faithlessness. Timing is everything. Jesus proves he is our Savior by allowing himself to be in the right place at the right time. He faced Satan on our behalf.
Jesus endured temptation in this life, but it wasn’t easy. As a human being he suffered hunger and thirst, he appreciated wealth and power, he felt the pressures of temptation. But he willingly faced it all for you and me.
2) He Came for the Right Task
It’s been said that Jesus beat the devil with a big, ugly stick. That moment found it’s culmination on the cross. That was the big, ugly stick Jesus used. But it was all done in accordance with God’s Word. Jesus overcame the devil’s temptation and powers the same way we must – with the Word of God.
The Word – that’s what the almighty Son of God used to ward of Satan’s attacks. God’s Word works. Jesus himself demonstrates a complete trust and reliance in the Word. He not only used it in the midst of temptation, but he went out and proclaimed it: “Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!’”
Talk about perfect timing! “The time has come!” Jesus proclaimed. He was referring to the times of refreshing and salvation that the Word of God long promised. Jesus heralded the very word that he came to fulfill. His message of repentance led people back to Scriptures, in order to see that he came to accomplish every promises of God. Jesus is the one who came to obtain redemption for all people. This is line with the words of Jeremiah, “’The days are coming’, declares the Lord, ‘when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.’”
Christ Jesus came at the right time to accomplish the right task. He came to offer the forgiveness of sins and secure our salvation for eternity. Jesus did not come as some social or political leader. He came as the One sent from the Holy One, who would turn sinful hearts back to the heavenly Father. The only way to forgiveness and salvation, as Christ points out, is to “repent and believe the good news.” Repentance means to have a change of heart as far as sin is concerned; to turn from sin and trust in the only one who can save us. Our hearts find this turning point in the good news of forgiveness in Christ.
Jesus is all we need for our soul’s protection. He lived perfectly in our place, he died innocently in our place, and he proudly proclaims his Word of reassurance to us. Who else is given such protection? The most powerful man on earth – the President of the United States – doesn’t even have such assurance and comfort. It’s true, the President has the entire Secret Service at his disposal and their mission is to keep the president safe at all costs – even if it means taking a bullet for him.
Unfortunately, all it takes is one bullet. And there has been one too many presidential assassinations to prove that even our best and most willing attempts to offer protection fail miserably. All it takes is one person in the wrong place at the wrong time. That is why God has given us his Word. Far better than an army of Secret Service officers is the sure promise of God. More faithful than an army of infantry soldiers is the faultless Word of truth.
Jesus came to “take the bullet for us” so to speak. He was willing to endure temptation on our behalf, to be the perfectly obedient child of God in our stead. He was willing to suffer in this life. He was willing to give his very life for us, so that we might have a new life of joy and peace now and the hope of a perfect life to come.
God’s Word proves without a doubt that Jesus came at the right time – according to the Father’s decrees; he went to the right place and he accomplished the right task. And because of Jesus’ saving work our sins are forgiven and we are now God’s beloved.
It’s all about timing. The time is now for us to hear this good news again. We need to hear it. The only thing that can lead us away from senseless temptation and turn us back towards God is the gospel – the wonderful news that Jesus has done everything to cancel out our sins. Let’s not forsake this word of truth. So remember that any time God offers his word of comfort to us, it’s the right time. Amen.
