Mark 1:12-13- The Temptation of Jesus

Scripture: Mark 1:12-13

"The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him”

This past week, I have been reflecting and thinking about being called into vocational ministry. From about 20 years old, I knew that I was going to be a pastor. At other points in my life, I had wanted to be a teacher in some capacity. I remember at one point that I wanted to be a gym teacher (but who doesn’t contemplate that at some point). I thought that it would be a great experience to work with teenagers and point them in the right direction (or something like that). Little did I realize that I would wind up pointing not only kids in the right direction but parents too. This isn’t something that is based around teaching good morals, if Christianity were to teach you about morals and how to live a good life, we would be a dead religion. Christianity doesn’t just present the moral character of God and the perfect expectation He has for everyone, but He present’s the perfect solution to our imperfect condition.

The thought has crossed my mind that I could never be perfectly faithful to God. I’m sure most people wouldn’t have the stones to admit this for themselves, but the Bible is clear: we are incapable of living a perfect life before God. So, Jesus came to us, the perfect Son of God, existing before creation. He came even though we couldn’t and wouldn’t ever be able to please Him fully. Have you ever known such a great love?

Now we find Jesus in another position that He certainly did not deserve. Jesus was placed in the same position as us by being tempted. Sometimes we think that our temptation to sin is too great. Try this on for size; Jesus was being offered more than we could ever receive from the world. We are dust, and we were created from the ground. Jesus was never created. Jesus always existed. He was always seated at the right hand of the Father. All of creation was owed to Him as an inheritance. This king now endured the vile, repulsive, and abominable presence of Satan himself.

Let me tell you, this love isn’t an ordinary love. This love doesn’t dissipate, distance, or despair. This sort of love isn’t a love that can be vanquished, violated, or revoked. This love was a coming of the creator of the universe, fully God, fully man, so that He could endure the same things that we do but in even more significant amounts. We talked about in verse 1-8 how Jesus became a child, suffered persecution, was placed in danger, took the lowest position that could possibly be taken. He did this as one that would inherit the world. He is the one that would bring a grand return of lost sheep to their shepherd.

If you think that you could withstand this temptation, or even that you haven’t sinned, understand that this thought cheapens the self-less acts of a Holy God. To say that we could endure temptation is to say that Christ was unnecessary for us to become adopted and forgiven for our iniquity. This offer is worth more than everything that we could ever own. This love, for Christ to endure everything that we deserved and that we hurt him with, can only be seen as unprecedented and over-the-top. If you are reading this as a believer in Christ or not, understand that there has never been a love like this. This love is holy, this love casts out fear, true love was shown by Christ in His life and on the cross. True love was shown by a God that gave mercy when His recipients didn't deserve mercy. Don’t turn down this gift of grace; turn to this gift of grace. Receive salvation for your soul, and in a time where anxiety, fear, depression, and uncertainty flow abundantly in the life of believers, understand that the love Christ shows in His Word is confident, bold, jubilant, and certain. Christ was tempted by what He hated for those that hated Him. Turn to Christ.

We must understand that this wasn’t a mistake. Jesus didn’t take a wrong turn to wind up in the wilderness. Jesus was submitting to the will of the Father, being driven by the Spirit in such a powerful way. To be driven into the wilderness could be seen as though the Spirit was forcing Jesus out into the wilderness. I don’t mean in the sense that Jesus was rebelling against the will of God. Still, in the sense that the Spirit called Him to go into the wilderness, and out of undying obedience to the will of God, Jesus was driven by His love for the Father.

Although the love for Father drove Jesus, we find one of the first expressions Jesus made of the love of God. He endured the same temptation to sin that could not be tolerated and would not be entertained by Him in creation. And this love was shown by Christ’s obedience to God so that He would bring glory to God. He was driven into pain, suffering, temptation, and mocking by the ones He came to save.