Walking Into The Wilderness

Scripture: Mark 1:12-13; Hebrews 4:14-15; 1 Corinthians 10:13

Theme: Jesus and Temptation

Title: Walking into the Wilderness

INTRO:

Grace and peace in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

When we last saw Jesus, He was coming out of the water with the heavens opened and His Father saying:

“This is My Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

It’s a comforting picture. It is a picture of victory. It is a picture of heaven and earth coming together.

And then we begin to read on.

We don’t see Jesus being ushered into the Temple and worshipped and praised as the Only Son of God. We don’t even see him surrounded by a multitude of disciples who want to listen to his teaching and preaching.

Instead, we see the Holy Spirit leading Jesus into the wilderness where for the next 40 days he would live among the wild beasts, the angels and endure being tempted by the Devil.

It’s not quite the wonderful picture that we see in verses 1-11.

But it is a picture of life. Life here on God’s Good Earth. Life here on God’s Good Earth after the fall of Adam and Eve.

Let’s look at what John Mark wants to share with us this morning:

I. Jesus is led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit

Not the greatest of places to be led by the Holy Spirit.

The wilderness was not a comfortable place. In fact, the word that Mark uses to describe it refers to a place that is lonely and inhospitable. It’s a place that no one wanted to travel through much less live for 40 days. It’s a place where water, food and shelter were sparse at best.

On top of that Mark tells us that there were some wild animals that inhabited the area. The wild animals at that time would have been some lions, bears and perhaps a cheetah or two. And of course, there would have been plenty of spiders, snakes and scorpions.

The wilderness was just not the kind of place that you would have wanted to go just after your baptism.

And yet, that is where we find Jesus.

Was Mark referring to the time right after the Exodus that Israel found itself having to spend time in the wilderness?

Was Mark pointing out the fact that Jesus, the Second Adam, the Messiah found himself not in the Garden of Eden surrounded by all kinds of amazing plants and animals but instead found himself in a place that was harsh and violent. All of this being the result of the Fall of man.

Was Mark who was writing his Gospel in Rome letting his readers know that Jesus also had to face the wild animals like many of the Christians at that time were having to face them in the Colosseum?

We don’t know but given the fact that Mark does use the words wilderness, temptation, 40 days and wild beasts along with the presence of angels it does cause you to go back to both the Garden of Eden and the Wilderness travels of the Children of Israel.

-How will Jesus, the Messiah, God’s Son in human form handle this hostile environment?

-How will Jesus handle going without food for 40 days?

-How will Jesus handle being on edge every night with lions and bears roaming around?

-How will Jesus get a good night sleep knowing that just a few inches from him there could be scorpions and snakes?

II. The Time of Temptations

That Jesus was tempted shouldn’t surprise us.

After all, everyone who has lived on this planet has had to deal with temptations of all sorts.

Temptations like those experienced by Jesus:

+Temptations to put the physical before and above the spiritual.

+Temptations to seek out the spectacular, to seek entertainment and pleasure over sacrifice and hard work.

+Temptations to do whatever is necessary to be #1 regardless of the cost to us or to others.

Jesus’ temptations were on a level and a scale greater than any of us will ever have to face but we will face times when:

+We are tempted to put the body, the physical things of our lives over the spiritual things in our lives.

It’s why some of the most difficult spiritual disciplines to teach and to practice are abstinence, sabbath keeping and fasting.

All of these require a level of self-discipline that is not very common and yet all of them will yield a great measure of personal spiritual, emotional, and intellectual growth and success.

+We are tempted to seek entertainment (pleasure) along with the spectacular over a life of sacrifice and hard work.

How many times are we tempted to focus on our own pleasures and entertainment. To do what we want to do, the way we want to do it and when we want to do it. To have everyone wait on us and everything be focused on us rather than seeking ways we can help others and focus on their needs?