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THE GOSPEL OF MARK – THE TIME HAS COME

Bible Study, ,

THE TIME HAS COME

At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Mark 1:12-15

The evidence of Jesus’ absolute confidence in the Father’s love is startling. He was not fazed by the horrific experience He has just come through – forty days in an environment so hostile that no human being ever ventured there, at least not for an extended stay.  And, on top of that, a lone human being at the mercy of an angelic spirit who was unseen, elusive, and bent on destroying Him. On His own, He could not have survived. He had to lean hard on the Holy Spirit, His companion and comforter.

According to Luke, Jesus was FILLED with the Spirit prior to His wilderness experience but returned in the POWER of the Spirit. What made the difference? Forty days of leaning hard on God; forty days of moving from human to divine energy; forty days of the kingdom pressing in on His spirit, thinning the veil between flesh and spirit. What was it that so soaked into His being that it spilled out of His mouth when He opened it? “God is here!”

What was the impact of His announcement on the people? “After 400 years of hearing nothing from God, left to battle it out on our own, abandoned, misused, oppressed, is God really here?   Jesus, you must be joking. How can we believe you?” Jesus said, “I’ll show you.” and He did. Suddenly things began to happen that made them sit up and take notice, things God had promised long ago would happen, that would accompany His Messiah’s coming.

“God is here!” What difference would that make to the people around us if we were to announce it to them boldly? What difference would it make to the people in the church? Do we really, really believe that God is here, now? What difference does it make to you and me? Does it allay fear and anxiety and give us courage and confidence to face life head on? Yes! A thousand times, yes! The fact that God is here makes all the difference in the world. We have a freedom and a peace that carries us up above circumstances and steadies us all the time.

Tested!

Bible Study, , ,

TESTED!

At once the Spirit sent Him out into the wilderness, and He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended Him. (Mark 1:12-13).

Mark’s version of this phase of Jesus’ training to be a son is quite sketchy. He gives no details about this event and yet, according to Matthew and Luke, it was a significant encounter with His arch enemy and one that would set the direction of His mission to reveal the Father as the perfect Son from here on.

He had always lived in fellowship with and obedience to the Father from birth even in an obscure village in Galilee as the son of a peasant carpenter. The Father testified to this at His baptism. But from now on, He would be facing the enemy head on, living in a fish bowl in the public eye, and open to public scrutiny from both supporters and enemies.

The success of His mission depended on declaring and demonstrating who He was – not the son of Joseph and Mary but the Son of God. He came as an accurate representative of the Father to reveal the true nature of their God to His people who had lost their way over centuries of rebellion, punishment and the influences of the surrounding nations.

It was time for them to know who their God was and to return to Him in repentance and trust. Jesus came to show them the way and to pave the way by removing sin and reconciling them to the Father. But how was He to do this? Before He ever opened His mouth to proclaim the good news that God was still in charge and that He had sent His Son to bring them back to Himself,  He had to be sure of His modus operandi. How was He going to convince the people of His identity?

The Holy Spirit had a bold plan. He didn’t send Him into the wilderness to study in a “Holy Spirit School” for forty days. Instead, He let the devil loose on Him just as He had done to His people centuries before when they came out of Egypt. As God’s “son” they had to endure the inhospitable and dangerous environment of Arabia as their classroom in their “school of learning to trust God” for forty years. Jesus must be put through His paces in the equally inhospitable wilderness for forty days.

Isn’t this a rather drastic way to further His education? Why not just sit Him down and give Him some guidelines for conducting His public ministry? No, that was too easy. He had to thrash out His trust in and loyalty to the Father in the “school of experience.” We have to turn to Matthew and Luke for the details of this clash. What was the devil’s plan? To get Him to cut loose from the Father just as he had lured Adam and Eve to do.

Three subtle suggestions – one goal; break the unity between the Son and His Father by getting Him to go it alone. After all, if He was who He said He was, the Son of God, did He not have the authority and power to act as God? If He was hungry, could He not just do a little magic like turning stones into bread? No one would notice and that would deal with His immediate need. It was just a small thing, really – like eating a bit of forbidden fruit.

“No way!” Jesus retorted. “It’s much bigger than you are suggesting. If I did what you are telling me, I would be putting myself under your authority and that is unthinkable.”

“What about getting God to do what you want? Jump and let the people watch a miracle.  After all, didn’t He promise to send His angels to guard you when you fall?”

Jesus saw through that one as well. “Are you crazy? I live under the authority of God’s word. I don’t use it to get my way.”

“Okay, so why don’t you just bow down to me? No one will see you and you can have the whole world without a fight.”

Jesus was adamant. “Get lost, devil! Who do you think you are – God? I will never put myself under your authority. I know who I am and nothing will change that.”

Round one – Jesus, one; Satan, nil. When He left the wilderness, He knew like never before who He was and how He was going to beat the devil. He would trust and obey the Father, no matter what. That’s what sons do.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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