Road to the Wilderness

Road to the Wilderness

Mark 1:9–13

Mark wastes no time... there’s urgency in his Gospel... you can sense it in the cadence, the brevity of his words. Jesus is baptized, the heavens are torn open, the Father declares His pleasure in the Son—and immediately (at once!) the Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness. The Christ, the Messiah, our Redeemer... was NOT led away from danger, not towards applause or recognition, but into isolation, want, and temptation.

Of course, Mark doesn’t bother to tell us what Jesus’ specific temptations were... that was left to the other Gospel writers. For Mark, it was enough that Jesus was tested... that the Christ walked the road to the wilderness.

And nothing about any of this was an accident. It wasn’t a missed-exit or a wrong turn (nor detour) that landed Jesus in the wilderness; it was the first stop along the way to the Cross.

In biblical (Reformed) theology, we confess that Christ is our Second Adam and true Israel. That where Adam fell into temptation, Jesus stood firm in resistance.

*Where Adam was surrounded by lush gardens of comfort and abundance (and fell despite his blessings), Jesus endured the harsh reality of depravation & temptation and endured.

*Where Israel faltered during forty years in the desert, Jesus remained faithful during forty days of testing in the wilderness.

Christ’s obedience was not meant to be simply inspirational—it is substitutionary. He obeyed where we rebelled... and He resists where we capitulate.

Notice also who sent Him there. Mark is very explicit here: the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness.

This directly confronts a modern-day assumption that has permeated even the most Biblically based churches —that God’s favor guarantees earthly blessings. It’s what people read in countless “self-help” devotionals, and it’s what we hear from smiling preachers. The “Word of Faith” movement says that if you just trust, and have faith, God will give you your “best life now” - that wealth and health and prosperity are the end result of obeying God. But tell that to Jesus! Just moments after the Father’s declaration, “You are my beloved Son,” Jesus was plunged into hardship. Divine approval does not exempt Christ from suffering, and it does not exempt us either.

Of course, the Prophets understood this, most all faced “desert places” - rejection, abandonment, ridicule - for sharing God’s Word.

Habakkuk (in 3:17) confessed in the light of suffering... “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, YET I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

He could say that, because Habakkuk came to the understanding that the wilderness never meant abandonment.

Satan tempted Jesus, and Satan will tempt us... but angels attended Jesus. The heavens are never silent when you and I face wilderness moments. We’re never beyond the care and comfort of our Lord... even when earthly trials and difficulties persist.

Jesus did not enter the wilderness to prove something about Himself, but in order to secure something for you and for me. His victory over temptation is credited to those who are united to Him by faith.

When you and I, as believers, face seasons of dryness, testing, or spiritual opposition, we do not enter those places alone or unrepresented. Our Savior has gone before us—and He has prevailed.

Because Christ overcame, you and I can stand firm, too. Because He endured, we are upheld. The wilderness is NOT a place of defeat, but a place where God refines His people and displays His sustaining grace.

Where have you and I assumed that God’s favor should shield us from difficulty, and temptation?

What does it mean to trust God’s presence when our comforts in this life are stripped away?

Those are great questions for us to wrestle with during Lent, as we inch closer to the Cross with Jesus.

Let’s pray:

God, we thank You for sending Your Son into the wilderness on our behalf. When we are tempted to measure Your love by our circumstances, remind us of Christ—beloved, obedient, and faithful even in the desert places. Strengthen us by His victory, sustain us by Your Spirit, and teach us to trust You when the path leads through the wilderness. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.