12The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.
If you've ever read this study by me before, I've changed a few things. While they are small changes, the potential consequences of those changes are impressive.
Now that's He's baptized and humiliated in public and fully a member of the Jewish community, Jesus's next step is to head off to the Wilderness.
But let's not mistake ourselves - this is not a vacation or weekend excursion. This isn't a walkabout or our modern equivelent of "bumming around Europe for a year" or a willful decision to take some time off to focus on spiritual needs. No. Jesus is driven by the Spirit - the same one that showed up as a dove at the Baptism. The Greek term here is ekballo (ekballo), and is often used in connection with exorcisms. It is an active compulsion that the NIV just doesn’t capture very well with the concept of the Spirit “sending” Jesus out.
But that’s not to say that Jesus went unwillingly. What we have here that we can take away is the living, breathing example of Someone whose life is guided – pushed – moved by the Holy Spirit, who is compelled to do the work of God. There is no other option, and for Jesus, God’s plan – and Christ’s plan – was for Christ to be tempted.
Of course - let's not forget that Jesus isn't exactly like us. While we're 100% human, he was both 100% man and 100% God, so the concept of Jesus isn't one like ours, where we're guided or pushed by God. Jesus WAS God. So He was compelling Himself. We are compelled by God. A minor difference, but an important one.
Now, Mark omits some of the details present in the other synoptic Gospels, but the gist of what Mark omits is this: Christ was tempted in all things, and I do mean “all things”. He was presented with power, pride, lust… He was given the option to take His rightful place and to establish His own plan apart from the Father. But for Jesus – it wasn’t even an option. He was compelled. He was pushed ahead by the Spirit. Could He have?
Originally, when I first worked up this study a few years ago, I said "Sure". But having given it some thought, I have to say: no. Jesus could not have. Oh, sure, He has the power to do whatever He wants, and what He chooses to do is good and Godly, but the concept of falling to temptation simply isn't an option for Him. The option wasn’t even on the plate. There is no option for Him to sin, and so to some extent, Satan's gesture of temptation was a hollow one.
Having said that, why go through with it? Why would Jesus allow Himself to be tempted by Satan? There is no purpose in it from a strategic point of view because Satan had to know that Jesus could not and would not sin. I believe the reason for the tempation is the same Gospel Jesus called us to believe back in verses 4 and 5.
For our sake, God needed to show us a Lord and Savior who wasn’t and isn't some unreachable, untouchable abstract. On one hand, we need to know that we are responisble for our sin, and that we are ultimately damned because of it. By being tempted and refusing the temptation, Christ demonstrates to us that it is possible... and more importantly, that we fail miserably. He, on the other hand, did not fail. Sin could be defeated, but we are completely incapable of doing so because we, unlike Jesus, are corrupted by the Fall of Adam.
Which brings us to the other hand. We need a Savior that we can "touch", and by being tempted and resisting that temptation, we now have in front of us a Lord and Savior who, as Hebrews 4:15 puts it: "…not…a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but…one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin." In Christ, we not only have a Savior, but a hope that our temptations to fill ourselves with the lusts of this world are able to be overcome – through Him, and Him alone.
One of the major weaknesses I've seen with the Messiahs of other faiths is that, frankly, they are untouchable. In Islam, for instance, we are faced with a "messiah" in the form of Mohammed who is not only untouchable, you can't even draw him without offending the god of the Muslim faith. In Buddhism, not only is the salvation of Nirvana a "state of mind", but the ultimate teaching of Buddhism is that nothing "real" exists, and that only the esoteric is real - a belief echoed to some degree in Hinduism.
But Christianity offers something different. Not only is our Messiah real and touchable, He was 100% human, tempted by sin just like us, but as 100% God, he was also able to completely resist that temptation. His temptation was real. His nail-scarred hands are real. His salvation is real.
I would like to take a moment before closing to briefly deal with a contradiction between the synoptic accounts of the events after the baptism and the Johanine account. As you explore the faith and share it, you are bound to encounter certain anti-Christian zealots who consider themselves to be experts on the Christian faith. These people are silly, but they are also highly deceptive and occasionally well-trained, and if you encounter one, I’d like you to be armed.
John 1:35 says that Jesus showed up again “on the next day”, which seems to contradict the statement in Mark that He was immediately driven by the Spirit into the Wilderness Temptation. This is not a problem and there isn't a contradiction. The Baptism is not recorded in John - it is only mentioned. This means that the events that take place on the "next day" occur on the day after John bore witness – not the day after Jesus’ baptism.
This is another example of why you need to read scripture carefully, and if you have a problem understanding something, ask.