...wilderness

"The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to him" (Mark 1:12-13).

Mark's record of the Spirit's compelling Jesus into the wilderness immediately following his baptism has always intrigued me. The original language is so forceful as to imply that the Spirit literally expelled Jesus into this land of wild beasts and satanic attack.

It is even more striking when compared to Matthew and Luke's gospels which both suggest that Jesus was "led by the Spirit" into the wilderness (Matthew 4:1; Luke 4:1). Despite Matthew and Luke's gentler version, the force is still the same--the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tested, nay, tormented by the devil. Why would the Spirit compel Jesus into the land of testing?

To understand this question, we must go back to the exodus of Israel from their Egyptian oppressors. After 400 years of oppression and enslavement, God sent Moses to deliver the people and to lead them into the Promised Land. A great drama ensues between the "gods" of the Egyptians and the God of Israel. Ten plagues fall, the Red Sea is parted, and the Egyptian army is swallowed up by the raging waters. And then we read, "Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water....and the whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness" (Exodus 15:22; 16:2). Israel would spend the next forty years, the text tells us, wandering in that wilderness of lament and bitterness. A great beginning stalls in the deserts of Sinai.

Like Israel before him, Jesus's story as recorded by Mark begins with great drama. John the Baptist announces the Deliverer; Israel's exile was over for the Messiah had come. The Deliverer is baptized by John and in front of the crowds declared "the beloved Son" of God. What a tremendous beginning to his earthly ministry. And yet, like Israel, Jesus begins that earthly ministry not with healings and miracles, or with fanfare and great teachings, but by being "immediately cast out into the wilderness." Jesus, many commentators have suggested, was re-enacting the great history of Israel in his own life and ministry. He was Israel's Messiah, their deliverer, just as Moses had been.

Yet, like Israel, Jesus would be tested and his test had to precede entry into the Promised Land. But unlike Israel, Jesus would pass the test and his deliverance of his people would be his gift and offering to God for all eternity.

I am mindful during these days and weeks leading up to Easter morning that before we can enjoy the promised land of resurrection life, we too must go through the wilderness. I do not go through a single day without hearing many stories about the wilderness spaces people dwell in through suffering, disappointment, doubt, or sin.

Often, we want to rush through the wilderness to get to the other side. But, like Jesus, we too must travel through wilderness places. Like Jesus, we will be compelled into that wilderness where there are deaths and deprivations. The wilderness is a place of testing trust. In the wilderness of unmet needs, what do we do? Who will we turn to? In what or in whom do we place our trust? When the Israelites faced lack of food and water, they wanted to return to the enslavement of Egypt; at least there they had food and drink. Jesus, on the other hand, took nothing with him into that desiccated place. He was hungry and enticed to turn stones into bread to meet his legitimate need. Instead, Jesus trusted solely in God's provision for his needs, in God's time and manner.

Often, we ask God "why" we are compelled into the wilderness. We grumble and complain in our lament, and try to hurry our way into the Promised Land by forcing our own way, or else we seek to return to Egypt to meet our needs in our time and through our own methods. The journey of all Christ's followers is a journey through the wilderness towards the Cross. We cannot escape it, nor can we go around it. And yet, the wilderness, the Cross, and the ultimate resurrection of Jesus all demonstrate that no matter the wilderness we find ourselves in, God will bring us through to life on the other side. We will not be removed from the suffering of the wilderness, but with God's help we can be transformed by it.

-margaret manning