Rainbow: un-hyjacked

Genesis 9:8-15; Ps 25 Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant; 1Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:12-15

Today in our readings we come face to face with two of the most often read and re read accounts in the bible: Noah and the ark and JEsus in the desert being tempted.

What do these two have in common?

In the first reading we encounter Noah, the Ark, his family and the animals two by two as they float around for 40 days and 40 nights as the flood waters rise.

The ark becomes a safe haven from the chaos and upheaval that unfolds around them due to sin.

Noah, because of his righteousness, is invited to construct the ark, because God looks around and sees how corrupt the earth is and that is is full of lawlessness.

Certainly an ominous critique on the created world.

After the flood, the ark lands, Ahoy! and out comes this new opportunity at life.

Then we encounter the rainbow, God places the bow in the sky as a reminder that he will never use water to flood and destroy all mortal beings.

But the bow has more meaning than God just not destroying mortal beings.

The flood doesn't change the human condition. In fact, if we keep reading the genesis narrative then we discover the evil that lurks in the fallen heart. God knows this.

What it actually points at is the fact that God has chosen to sustain humanity even in its fallen form, even though evil resides in the human heart, God pledges to be patient with humanity.


The bow reminds us that the hope of humanity does not lie with man and his ability to rise above himself, his weakness, but rather the hope of humanity now resides in God's love and mercy who chooses to journey with us.

The rainbow represents God's deep abiding commitment to humanity, to you and me, even in our fallen state.


We do not go alone and we go now in the warmth of God's mercy to guide us and care for us, even as we stumble along. God chooses to see us through our predicament, the one we ourselves caused.

Now we flip to the gospel. Mark gives us the bare bones version of the gospel. He tells us just enough, trusting we will be able to make the necessary connections as we move along.

The gospel begins with the Spirit driving Jesus in to the desert for 40 days where he is tempted by Satan and he is with the wild beast and angels minster to him.

ALready Mark points us toward the Noah and the ark story.

The 40 days certainly call to mind the many important biblical moments in salvation history that are garnished by some 40 day or 40 year experience. 40 days is often a time of betrayal and trust in which God and humanity deepen their relationship.

Noah and the ark come to mind as well as, Moses on Mt SInai before he gives the the ten commandments, ELijah journeying 40 days before he gets to Mount Horeb where he encounters God , The israelites journey for 40 years in the wilderness before the promise land, the ISraelite nation has peace for 40 years under the judges, the three great kings, Saul, David, Solomon all reign for 40 years, the people of Nineveh do penance for 40 days to obtain God's pardon.

The bible is loaded with important events in salvation history wrapped up in the number 40.

But why do I think JEsus' experience in the desert is connected to Noah?

First of all, Jesus is in he desert which is a place of chaos and upheaval, not unlike the flood. JEsus isn't there alone he has the angels as well as the wild beast to keep him company. Just a sNoah was with his family and the animals so Jesu sis with his family and the animals.

Jesus himself is the ark, the safe haven from the chaos and terminal of desolation represented by the desert.

But mostly i think there is a connection because of the temptation JEsus experiences in the desert.

MArk doesn't tell us what the temptation is unlike MAtthew and Luke but do we really need to know the details. All of us know temptation. All of us are very familiar.

C.S. Lewis was asked once what kind of research and study he did in order to write the book THe Screwtape Letters, a book about how the devil seduces and tempts man away from God. His response is telling, He told the interviewer that he did not have to study all he had to do was look into his heart, "my heart showeth me the wicked and the ungodly."

Regardless of the gory details, the question to ask is what is at the heart of every temptation?

I think it goes back to the rainbow and the covenant.

If the rainbow reminds us that the hope of humanity resides in the mercy of God who chooses to be patient with us, who chooses to journey with us. If the rainbow reminds us that God chooses to sustain us despite our weak and wicked hearts then the heart of temptation would attack that reality.

Wouldn't temptation convince us that we are on our own or that we are to wicked for God's mercy or that we can do it by ourselves we do not need God for guidance. Or perhaps temptation will simply invite us to enter into lawlessness, where we no longer need the law of God to sustain us on our journey.

I think any and all of these are part of every temptation.

And yet JEsus who is tempted comes out of the desert offering us a new lease on life, a lot like the experience of Noah and his family and the animals as the doors of the ark are opened after 40 days and 40 nights.

New life begins to blossom.

Jesus is the one that resist the onslaught. As he emerges from the desert unscathed we see in him the one heart that has never known sin. It is from his heart that new life is offered to us all.

JEsus tells us that the time of fulfillment is has come. In greek, kairos, time, simply means the opportune moment directed by God. There isn Christ arises a new opportunity to life, just like when the doors of the ark opened up and the animals along with Noah's family came out.

For us, that new life is the gospel as JEsus invites us in with that simple proclamation, "the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." We should turn from lawlessness and cling to the gospel, the good news of God in Christ who reminds us of God's promise to patient with us, to sustain us, to journey with us by becoming one of us.



Unlike the flood waters that did not change the human heart, the invitation of Christ, the gospel is meant to penetrate us and transforms from the inside out. The gospel is good news becomes it comes from the one who has stood triumph in the face of temptation, the one who knows our humanity and comes to strengthen us in our journey.

To repent and believe in the gospel simply means to to turn from our wicked and fallen heart and let our gaze fall on the heart of the one who sets us free. We must fix our gaze there on the one who comes to do for us what we could not do for ourselves.

Only then does a new world begin to take shape.

JEsus offers us more than just a new lease on life, a new opportunity, but rather he invites us into a new world order, where the law of grace transforms the fallen reality of lawlessness. The kingdom of God is at hand is the invitation to a new world order.

What a gift. What an invitation!