Mark 1:12-13

Passage

The Holy Spirit thrusts Jesus into the wilderness.  While He was in the wilderness, He was under temptation from our adversary, Satan.  His only company was the wild animals.  The angels of God were ministering to Him. 

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

The Holy Spirit thrusts Jesus out into the wilderness.  No sooner does God declare Himself present among humanity than Jesus takes leave of humanity.  He goes out into the wilderness.  There are several thoughts as to why Jesus would spend this first 3.65% of ministry time on earth all by Himself.  Jesus needed to prepare for spiritual battle.  Jesus needed to prepare for the blindness of humanity.  He needed to be ready for what was going to happen.

How do times when we are all alone help us prepare for life?  Can you connect with God when you are alone?  When have you needed alone time most in your life?

Second Thought:

Unfortunately, Jesus wasn’t only allowed to prepare while He was in the wilderness.  Jesus was tempted by Satan.  There is a clear point in this story.  We can flee from sin.  But we cannot avoid temptation.  Even when we are alone and separated from the world we will undergo temptation.  Furthermore, we know that we can have confidence in our temptation.  If Jesus was tempted and overcame temptation, we can be confident that if we truly humble ourselves to Him then He can help us to overcome temptation as well.

How do you deal with temptation?  How do you prevent temptation from becoming sin?  What role does God’s Word and the Holy Spirit play in this struggle? What role does your spiritual community play in this?

Third Thought:

Speaking of spiritual community, notice that God’s angels cared for Jesus while He was in the wilderness.  Furthermore, Jesus was among the wild animals.  As for the angels, we don’t really know how it was that the angels cared for Jesus.  But it does remind us that God does not leave us alone when we need Him.  As for the animals, this is a neat fulfillment of Old Testament literature.  Hosea 2:18-20 talks about a covenant between us and the beasts of the earth.  Isaiah 11:1-10 talks about God’s Messiah and the fact that the beasts of the earth will be at peace with Him and lie down with one another.

How has God helped you when you most needed Him?  Have you ever felt as though God had left you alone only to see how He has provided for you all along?  What do you think about this idea of creation being at peace with God’s Messiah?  How can you demonstrate this peace in your relationship with creation?

Passage for Tomorrow: Mark 1:14-15