From The Water To The Wilderness

Mark 1:9-12

Mark 1:9–12 (ESV)

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

INTRO

Well, He finally shows up. His cousin John the Baptist has spent at least the last 6 months preparing the people for His highly anticipated arrival.

You would be hard pressed to find a better hype man than John the Baptist. His royal introduction of the new king is 2nd to none, in that it fulfills prophecy & captures the imagination of the masses.

John the Baptist, a country preacher, steps back, surveys the crowd and says, “He who comes after me is mightier than I. And I am not worthy to even stoop down and untie the straps of His sandals. I have baptized you with water”, John says, “but He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.”

Can’t you see & hear this crowd of Jews from the country of Judea and city of Jerusalem, both the common man & religious elite, listening to John, scratching their heads, reasoning within and among themselves saying; “Who could this be? A man mightier than John and one who administers a baptism of the Holy Ghost?”

Who is this man? Well, verse 9 puts an end to their suspicion. It’s Jesus of Nazareth. In Verse 1 Mark explains, He’s Jesus Christ the Son of God.

Jesus comes from Nazareth of Galilee to be baptized by John.

And in v 11 we hear:

1. A Major Announcement

Jesus the king, publicly submits himself to baptism. Unveiling His humility, as His baptism identifies himself with the cantankerous nature of sinful humanity.

· He who has no sin, identifies himself with sinners

· In his perfection, he identifies himself with the imperfect

· In his divinity, he identifies himself with our depravity

· In his righteousness, he identifies himself with our unrighteousness Jesus submits, the heavens open and a voice echoes from the heavens and says, “This is My beloved Son in who I am well pleased.”

After Jesus submits & obeys, the Father verbally expresses his pleasure with the Son. This Major Announcement in v11 tells us that, God is pleased when we live to please Him!

Jesus didn’t have to do it, but He did it to fulfill prophecy in obedience to the scriptures & submission to the Father. Not to receive praise from the people present and not to impress his cousin John, but to please the Father. On this day Jesus is living for an audience of 1!

That’s a very applicable & note worthy highlight. Because we don’t live or engage in ministry for man’s approval & affirmation.

WE live my life to please the Prince of Peace!

Everything we do, we ought to do it to please the Master!

And when we live life like that, God expresses His pleasure with us.

That’s verse 11, but in v12 the storyline goes from 1 extreme to another. That was v 11, but in verse 12 things take an unexpected turn.

· In v11, Jesus is in the Water

· In v12, He’s in the Wilderness

· In v11 we see Trinity

· In v12 we see Temptation

· In v11 we enjoy the Father of Life

· In v12 we encounter the Father of Lies

Verse 11 yields to us a Major Announcement

Verse 12 introduces a:

2. Menacing Adversary

The text says that Jesus literally goes from the Water to the Wilderness. From Divinity to Danger, from a place of Welcome in v11 to a place of Warfare in v12.

Mark writes his gospel account to be relatable to Roman citizens. And both Jews & Romans alike, believed that the desert and or wilderness was the territory of the demonic.

Mark is relaying the fact that Jesus goes from holy ground to hellish ground.

And what provides even more tension in the text is who’s responsible for Him being in such a dangerous place.

· Sin doesn’t put him in the wilderness

· His enemies don’t put him in the wilderness

· The spirit puts him there!

In fact, Mark says the Spirit DRIVES him to the wilderness. God puts Jesus in Satan’s classroom.

What do you do when the spirit drives you to a place you really don’t wanna be!?

This passage is pregnant with practical theology, because we always talk, write, pray & sing about the spirit driving us to a better career, prosperity, past our haters, to our best life now.

But the text reveals that sometimes the spirit of God will drive you into the wilderness! A place of Chaos & the Unexpected.

A Wilderness experience can look like:

· Sickness

· Debt

· Unemployment

· Divorce

· Betrayal

· Loss of a love one

I don’t care who you are or how long you’ve been who you are, everybody’s gotta go through the wilderness sometimes!

I love it because the text says Jesus submits to the Water in v 11 and he submits to the Wilderness in v12. If we’re going to live a productive Christian life we’ve got to be willing to submit to God when everything’s good & submit when everything’s chaotic!

The text says that after the sensational, edifying experience of the water, the Spirit drives him into the wilderness to be Tempted by Satan for 40 days.

Matthew & Luke says he’s tempted by the devil – Accuser

Mark says he’s tempted by Satan – Adversary

Same person 2 different agendas.

An accuser seeks dirt

An adversary seeks destruction

Jesus is sent into the wilderness for a face off with the destroyer!

But Mark says, its only to be tempted. That word tempted means to be tested.

The spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness to face off with Satan not to be destroyed, not to be defeated, not to be diminished, not to be calloused or crushed, BUT TO BE TESTED!

Every now and then God will drive us from the Water of peace to the Wilderness of conflict to test our faith!

Drive us from the Water of comfort to the Wilderness of unpredictability to test our commitment!

But look at your neighbor and tell them whatever wilderness you’re experiencing right now, you won’t lose your mind, family…. its only a test!!! Last time I checked the teacher gives you a test because its time to go to the next level!

Notice if you will, Mark doesn’t tell us what this test is about, all we know is that a test takes place. However, Mark does suggest that Jesus enters this test with a Divine advantage. In that God’s spirit is responsible for putting Him in Satan’s classroom.

Which tells you & I that no matter what happens to Jesus while enrolled in Satan’s classroom, it’s all in the hands of the Lord!

One day this country preacher was recovering from major surgery...

3. Ministry of Angels

Matthew says the angels minister to Jesus after the test.

Mark clearly indicates that the angels minister to Jesus during the test.

I’m glad Mark writes his account, because I just don’t need strength after the test. I need it during the test.

During the test we get:

· Weary

· Wounded

· Worn

But while the test is taking place, I’ve got me some angels!

I would of quit by now, but God sent his angels to strengthen me in my weakness.

The word Satan aint got a s on it, that means its just 1

The word angels got a s on, that means its more than 1

When life takes you from the Water to the Wilderness always remember, YOU’VE GOT MORE ANGELS THAN YOU DO ATTACKERS!!

“All night….”

From the Water to the Wilderness

I’m so glad, Jesus went through the wilderness, because after the wilderness he healed the sick…