Mark 1:12-13
What
is the greatest temptation that you face on an ongoing basis? You know, the
thing you either struggle to not do and are unsuccessful, or struggle to do but
often don’t complete. Perhaps it was one of your yearly New Year’s resolutions.
It might be the extra sweet in the candy bowl, or the extra clicks on the
computer that take you away from other important things. We all have
temptations and all of us face a unique cocktail of temptation. There are often
very familiar elements to all our temptations, many facing some of the same
temptations, but the mix of pull that each one has on our life and spirit bears
our unique spiritual fingerprint. My mix is different than yours. And so was
Jesus’.
In
typical Mark fashion, Mark covers in two verses what Matthew and Luke each
cover in a dozen or so. I love the way Mark jumps right from Jesus’ official
introduction to the world, ripping open of the barrier between Heaven and
Earth, and God’s voice announcing His identity as the Messiah, the Promised
One, God in the flesh right to Jesus being driven out into the wilderness and
His official temptation event.
Notice
that it is the Spirit of God who drives Jesus out into the wilderness. Jesus
goes willingly, but this word translated “sent” in the NIV is the same word
Mark uses to speak of the expulsion of demons. This is no gentle invitation;
this is necessity. Jesus must go out into the wilderness. He must face Satan
and the temptations. He must come out victorious.
Jesus
is in the wilderness, the traditional place where evil powers were thought to hang
out, for forty days being tempted repeatedly. There are more than the three
specific temptations mentioned in Matthew and Luke. Jesus is tempted throughout
the forty days. We don’t have details, but the tense of the verb indicates that
there was continual temptation over this forty day period.
Jesus
faces Satan, the demon in charge of all the other demons in this temptation. We
might call him the world heavy weight champion tempter of the universe. This is
no walk in the park. This is an all out spiritual war. Satan wants to win. In
fact, he must win in order to foil God’s plan for the redemption of humanity.
We don’t get any details of this battle. We only get two rather curious facts.
Wild animals were there with Jesus, and angels served Him. The mention of the
animals gives a detail about the wilderness experience, the remoteness and
solitude of the place Jesus was when He faced these temptations. He was way out
there, the original Survivor! The only help He did receive, and we don’t know
what they did provide, came from angels. They gave Him what He needed. This
reminds us of Elijah’s wilderness stay in 1 Kings 19:5-8, where Elijah’s needs
were met supernaturally.
There
are things that are compulsory in the Christian’s life. Some things we must do.
There are some optional things, like singing hymns, but there are some must do’s,
like fleeing immorality and seeking holiness. When was the last time you felt
compelled to do something by the Spirit? Have you ever felt such a strong
stirring that you knew it was the LORD? My prayer for you is that you would be
open to this kind of powerful invitation to be involved in God’s work.