Jesus Knows Our Struggles

Introduction

Dress Temptation Joke

Struggling to make ends meet on a first-call salary, the pastor was livid when he confronted his wife with the receipt for a $250 dress she had bought. "How could you do this?!" "I was outside the store looking at the dress in the window, and then I found myself trying it on," she explained. "It was like Satan was whispering in my ear, 'You look fabulous in that dress. Buy it!'" "Well," the pastor replied, "You know how I deal with that kind of temptation. I say, 'Get behind me, Satan!'" "I did," replied his wife, "but then he said, 'It looks fabulous from back here, too!'"

But seriously, we have periods of struggle.

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you thought, “If one more thing happens, I don’t know how much more I can take”?

What brings on this mindset? Its called life and we all face it every day don’t we.

We can all face times when we face a temptation we didn’t see coming. There can be stressful times in our workplaces. Other times it can come about by catastrophic financial setback, strife in the home, a tenuousness in the home front, the battle with a health recovery that seems will never end, or the fact we can face spiritual warfare.

Every person in this room, no matter your age or stage, knows what it feels like to be in the wilderness of life. People can be surrounding you, yet you feel as if you are in battle all alone. And the battles we face at that time are very real from our perspective; the pressure is real, and you feel so vulnerable in those periods.

And let’s be honest when we have those periods and they prolong there can be other possible dangers lurking if we are not careful.

We can venture off in even more dismal directions and we can develop coping methods that are wrongful and drive us to sinful actions.

When the situation becomes so dire we wonder “does anyone really understand what I’m going through? Does anyone really care?”

... and we even get to the point:

Does Jesus really know what it’s like to struggle and face temptation as I’m encountering at this moment?

This morning we study two small verses this morning that reminds us that Jesus can identify with our struggles.

Mark chooses not to provide the details that Matthew and Luke’s accounts offers, but he provides the intensity-the grit-of Jesus in the Wilderness.

And...this short account answers the heart-cry of Christians, but it may answer your heart-cry today:

Yes, emphatically, Jesus knows your struggles:

He knows your battles, He knows your temptations, He knows your weaknesses, and He meets us today with arms of grace opened wide to receive us right where we find ourselves.

We find today that Jesus was victorious over temptation. Now if we were to be brutally honest, more times than not we have not succeeded, but I want to offer up hope-we can succeed in overcoming temptation in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Let’s walk through these two verses this morning. Turn in your Bibles or look on the screen with me at Mark 1:12-13.

Mark 1:12-13

Mark 1:12–13 NKJV

12 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. 13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.

Prayer

Message

Mark preaches/teaches quick excerpts from the life of Jesus. Let me be quick and to the point:

Do you realize that Jesus “immediately” experienced the wilderness after His baptism?

Immediately is used 36 times in Mark.

In other words, the Father and The Spirit had affirmed the Son with the words “for You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”, and “the Spirit descended like a dove.” Jesus faced within the same day as He began His public ministry affirmation and was quickly followed with adversity.

“Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.” There was no pause between the glories of the Jordan River and the grit of the Judean wilderness.

John the Baptist was a “voice crying out from the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.” And...the first encounter post His affirmation to public ministry is to be directed to the wilderness.

All three Gospels agree:

Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13

Matthew says: “Then Jesus was led…”

Matthew 4:1 “1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”

Luke says: He returned from the Jordan and was led…

Luke 4:1 “1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,”

Mark says: “Immediately…”

So understand this:

**The temptation took place the very same day Jesus was baptized.

The first event in His public ministry was not preaching — it was a test.

Ill. Child graduating college to enter the real world

As we think about that, how many have you walked through a child’s college or trade school graduation?

I find it interesting as they discover the sticker shock of what life costs?

Whether you have been to the graduation of your children, your grandchildren, nieces or nephews you attend their graduation taking photos, they are given the limelight on the stage, they wear the cap and gown, family comes and everyone dotes over them. They may even get a good meal out of the ordeal as the family comes and celebrates with them.

But Monday morning comes after all the festivities. They unpack their dorm or apartment. They show up Monday for their first day of work at their entry level college or trade position. They get their first pay check two weeks later and they are excited to see what they earned. By this point the money from parents starts to diminish, their car insurance is passed on to the new working adult in short fashion, the cell phone bill, their new rent and new power bill and the list goes on and they begin showing up to work each day and find that they aren’t the fat cats they thought they would be. Growing up for that freshly graduated college student is eye opening to say the least.

The applause ends for that college student, reality starts and the next chapter will have a whole new set of challenges.

In a much greater way, Jesus goes straight from the applause of heaven — the Spirit descending, the Father speaking — into the wilderness, into conflict, into the fire.

Why does Mark want us to feel the speed? Because there is a spiritual principle here that every believer needs to hear.

Sometimes the hardest spiritual battles come immediately after the greatest spiritual blessings.

It’s true in Scripture:

Israel passes through the Red Sea → immediately enters the wilderness for 40 years.

Elijah calls down fire from heaven -450 Baal prophets 1 Kings 18:20-40→ immediately Jezebel threatens him and he hides in a cave.

Paul is saved and baptized → immediately he faces persecution.

You could have made a commitment to growth and discipleship in recent days and → immediately temptation hits.

It’s true for us:

You recommit your heart to Christ — immediately distractions arise.

You make progress in your marriage — immediately an argument flares.

You step out to serve in church — immediately discouragement attacks.

You share the gospel with someone — immediately doubt creeps in.

Why? Because the enemy always questions what God affirms.

Jesus hears:

“You are My Beloved Son,” and the devil immediately whispers, “If You are the Son…” turn these stones to bread.

Friend, don’t be surprised when the devil shows up after God speaks. But in the same breath, let us not misinterpret spiritual attack as spiritual abandonment.

Sometimes the greatest struggles come not because God has left you — but because God is preparing you. He is growing you, discipling you, maturing you in the faith. He is preparing you for a greater assignment.

Ill. Military Boot Camp-what seems harsh are things to save a soldier’s life and help him or her go the distance for what battle reality is.

Jesus was tested immediately… and He stands with you in your trials and testing today.

1. Jesus Understands Our Battles — He Was Led into the Wilderness (v. 12)

“Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.”

Mark’s wording is strong.

Oh listen dearly beloved, the Spirit didn’t say to Jesus, “Jesus, if you can fit it into your schedule, I would like for you to stop by the Judean wilderness. Jesus, if it’s convenient, I would like to ask a favor of you.” The Spirit wasn’t suggestive, He did not invite Jesus to participate, the Scripture states: The Spirit drove Him.

Drove-Exballo-which means the Spirit means He cast, pulled, He took Him or led Him.

Ill. Have you ever been grabbed by the hand in a public place to be carried to the bathroom to redirect your thinking. Jesus is God equal, but He voluntarily followed the lead of the Spirit. Oh that we would follow His lead in our lives in such times.

**The wilderness was not an accident.

It was an assignment.**

Jesus knew the shock of entering a hard season suddenly. He knew what it was like to be thrust into a place of testing.

And friend, some of your wilderness experiences are Spirit-allowed seasons to shape you.

There are times that the Lord allows periods not as we might think of as discipline or punitive in nature; but times that we are being developed. You may interpret times in life as being battered while God’s is possibly developing you behaviorally.

Oh listen, look at trying times as preparatory times. Ill. Terry tells of a friend that he enjoys his outlook on life. Normally, someone calls with a problem and this friend calls and states we have an opportunity.

ILLUSTRATION — The Wind Tunnel Are you aware that before a jet is cleared to fly, it’s pushed into something called a wind tunnel. Extreme winds. Intense turbulence. Stress from every direction. Not to destroy the plane—but to prove its strength.

The wilderness for Jesus was not to destroy Him—it was to demonstrate who He was and who He is. And sometimes the wilderness in your life is not there to crush you, but to prepare you.

APPLICATION

The phone call that changed everything—Jesus understands.

The temptation that came out of nowhere—Jesus understands.

The loneliness, confusion, and the vacuum that is sucking the life out of you —Jesus understands.

And here’s why this matters: If Jesus was Spirit-led into a hard place, don’t assume God has left you because you find yourself in one right now.

If the Spirit leads Jesus into battle, the next question is— What happens there?

2. Jesus Knows Our Temptations — He Faced the Enemy Directly (v. 13)

“And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and was with the wild beasts…”

Mark gives us no details as the other gospel accounts do. Mark didn’t choose to discuss Jesus’ hunger. He didn’t record asking Jesus to turn the stones into bread. He didn’t emphasize going to the pinnacle of the temple or going up on a high mountain. Mark didn’t focus on the activities, He focused on the atmosphere.

The question would be then, what did Mark emphasize?

There are three details in this account we need to understand to fend off temptation.

Defense

As you face temptation, as you walk through trials, struggles, is there an enemy at work? Yes. Will you be attacked? Absolutely. Will you have to put up a defense? Absolutely.

Mark minces no words: He wanted to point out that Jesus faced Satan and if Jesus faced Satan, we will too.

What should we know about Satan? He’s real. Jesus faced real spiritual attack and was victorious I will add.

How He accomplished that from the other gospels is for another day. We do want to know that Jesus encountered Satan and we will too.

Satan represents the reality that we will face spiritual warfare.

Jesus wants us to know that Satan is a real force to be reckoned with. There is much that could be said about Satan, but let’s realize most importantly that he is an adversary of God. The word “adversary” simply means that Satan is adverse to any and everything you have to do with God. He is the enemy.

Genesis 3:1 “1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?””

1 Peter 5:8–9 “8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”

Let me say it in simple words we can understand: Satan is about destroying your life in Christ Jesus. He is about destroying anything and anyone that is pro Jesus and pro the the things of God.

Satan’s assignment is to “snatch away the seed that falls on the path.”

Mark 4:15 “15 And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.”

May I share Good News with you this morning.

2 Thessalonians 3:3 “3 But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.”

James 4:7 “7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

1 John 4:4 “4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

Secondly, Jesus faced Wild Beasts.

Danger

Are there dangerous periods we face if we are not careful. Absolutely.

Wild beasts — danger, vulnerability

In the Bible, the word “wild beasts” refers to a large, untamed animal. The term refers to chaos, danger or judgment.

Psalm 50:11 “11 I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.”

Definitive Time Frame

Testing is for a season, but it has an end in sight.

Forty days — prolonged testing

The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, Volume 2, D–G Forty

Forty

1. Forty days and forty nights of rain

Genesis 7:12 — “And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.” God resets the world through judgment and renewal.

2. Moses on Mount Sinai for forty days

Exodus 24:18 — “Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain…forty days and forty nights.” A period of revelation and receiving God’s Law.

3. Israel’s forty years in the wilderness

Numbers 14:33–34 — “Your children will be shepherds here for forty years…because you have not obeyed the LORD.” A season of testing, discipline, and dependence.

4. Jesus fasting forty days in the wilderness

Matthew 4:1–2 — “He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward He was hungry.” A time of testing before launching His public ministry.

This is a great truth and should bring us great comfort in our times of testing and temptation.

Forty represents a finite time. There is an end in sight dearly beloved and I pray that gives you hope. If forty represents a symbolic significance, could it be that we look at our situations as a time that God is perfecting something in us?

When you incorporate the attributes of Satan, the wild beasts and the forty days I believe we can find hope in Christ and His provision for us in those periods:

Let me offer up some other considerations about Satan.

Satan Comes and goes

Job 1:7 “7 And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.””

Satan moves from one place to another. He must “travel,” indicating spatial limitation. He cannot be everywhere at once.

You’ve heard something of this nature before:

Satan is dealing me fits, that must mean He is leaving you alone.

If Satan has to walk around to find trouble, he is not God. God fills heaven and earth; Satan does not.

Satan must “leave” a place and “return”

In Luke’s account of the temptation in the wilderness we read in Luke these words:

Luke 4:13 “13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.”

Satan comes, attacks, and leaves. He is active in moments, not all moments.

Temptation is intense, but temporary. It is “for a season.”

Satan “entered Judas”

Luke 22:3 “3 Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve.”

Satan entered the swine.

There is much more that could be said, but let’s understand that Mark emphasized the intensity that Jesus faced. He feels your struggles.

Mark wants you to feel the intensity.

Jesus faced a level of temptation none of us will ever experience.

3. Jesus Supports Us in Our Weakness — The Father Sent Care (v. 13)

“…and the angels ministered to Him.”

Jesus was not left in the wilderness to fend for Himself. He is God and He was God at this particular scene, but He was also man, He was flesh, He was mortal. He faced the same fears and struggles we face. Other scriptures stated He was hungry. “ ....And the angels ministered to Him.”

Jesus wasn’t alone in His testing. He wasn’t without strength. He wasn’t without support.

In Matthew’s account it states:

Matthew 4:10–11 “10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” 11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.”

It’s interesting what the word “angels” means in the Greek.

A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible 32. ἄγγελος

32. ἄγγελος aggĕlŏs, ang´-el-os; from ἀγγέλλω aggĕllō [prob. der. from 71; comp. 34] (to bring tidings);

You remember that the angel Gabriel came to Joseph and Mary-they shared a message with them. The angel comforted them to strengthen their faith in what was an overwhelming bit of news.

Ill. First Responders

When a firefighter runs into a burning building, they don’t stay alone. There’s a team behind them—communicating, supporting, supplying oxygen, watching their back.

Jesus had angelic first responders ministering to Him. And in your struggle—God has a way of sending:

a timely scripture-notice that Scripture sustained Jesus in Luke and Matthew’s account.

Matthew 4:10 “10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ””

a song

a sermon

a friend

a moment of clarity

a wave of peace

an answer to prayer

APPLICATION

God always supplies what His children need:

“God is faithful… He will make a way of escape…” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

1 Corinthians 10:13 “13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

Jesus understands your battles. He knows your temptations. He supports your weakness. And He gives victory.

CONCLUSION — Bringing It Home

No matter what wilderness you’re in today— you have a Savior who understands, who sympathizes, and who strengthens.

When you feel alone—He has been there.

When you face temptation—He has battled that.

When you feel weak—He sends ministering grace.

You are not alone in your struggle.

CLOSING INVITATION (Warm, Gospel-Centered)

Angelos means pastor, messenger. The Lord has sent me to share this word for you today.

Friend, the greatest wilderness of all is life without Jesus. Sin isolates us. It separates us. It leaves us vulnerable to the enemy. But Jesus entered the wilderness for you— and ultimately went to Calvary for you— so you don’t have to walk alone.

Today, if you do not know Christ as Savior and Lord, He invites you to come.

And believer— if you’re weary… if you’re tempted… if you’re hurting… come to the One who knows your struggle, who understands your heart, and who gives grace in time of need.

The altar is open. Jesus is near. Come to Him.