Our passage this week is the temptation of Jesus recorded in Mark 1:12-13. Like so many things in Mark, this passage seems highly abbreviated when compared to the other synoptic gospel accounts. Matthew and Luke add details of the temptation that have become the center of many sermons and lessons. As a result, some of Mark's version has been obscured.
enterprise carThe most striking thing about this passage is the verb ekballo used by Mark to indicate how the Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the desert. Mark uses this verb 17 times, often in the context of exorcisms. The force of the verb is not captured by the NIV's "sent". Better is the NASB "impelled." We are not to think that Jesus is reluctant to experience this chapter of his life, but to see the strong hand of the Spirit leading Jesus in his ministry. The Spirit of the Lord is truly "upon" him (Luke 4:18). We read of similar strong directions by the Spirit in the Old Testament (I Kings 18:12, 2 Kings 2:16, Ezek 3:12, 14 ff, 8:3, 11:24, Acts 8:39 ff.) John's gospel records many statements of Jesus explaining that he is in the world to do and say exactly what he is directed by the Father. We are not to think of Jesus as a puppet, but we are also not to think of the Holy Spirit as anyone less than the sovereign God! God's Spirit is the mightiest of powers and we should expect strong leadership of the Holy Spirit in those things that are in the plan and purpose of God.
The experience of Jesus as a Spirit-filled and Spirit led human being is important for Christians. In order to keep a real doctrine of the humanity of Christ, we must confess that the Spirit's work in and through Jesus is not substantially different than in the life of the believer. The difference is in Christ's sinlessness and divinity, but not in his human nature. In this sense, those current liberal scholars who say we have ignored the spiritual experience of Jesus while emphasizing the doctrine of Christ are at least half right. We should not be afraid to study how Jesus experienced God. God will lead us as surely as he led Jesus. As we affirm that, let us remember where that leadership took him- to the cross.
Jesus goes into the desert "immediately" after the baptism. There is something of a pattern here for all Christians. First,there is the place of obedience. Then there is the blessing of assurance that I am God's child. Then there is the driving out into the place of temptation and testing. This is as much God's work as the blessing at baptism. Mark is clearly telling his readers that their testings and temptations are part of their experience as God's children. Jesus went by that same road. We should beware of any version of Christianity that speaks of uninterrupted bliss without God-sent experiences of testing and temptation. In the desert Satan was the instrument of temptation, but the author of the experience was God. C.S. Lewis observed in The Screwtape Letters that God will not let a new believer live on the mountaintop, but will drive him/her into the valley in order to develop faith and strength that is not addicted to some emotional state, but dependent on God.
The desert is a familiar motif in the Bible as a whole. In the Old Testament, the desert was the experience between deliverance from Egypt and the conquest of the Promised Land. It was a place of cleansing and purification through testing and often painful trial. The Prophets looked back at the desert as the time of Israel's true "romance" with God; the time when God prepared his people to be his covenant bride. Holy men often retreated to the desert as a place where God could be found apart from distraction. But the desert was also seen as a habitation of demons. From the very beginning, Jesus path is not only to heavenly glory, but a road of conflict with evil.