The Blessed Wilderness: Mark 1:9-15 - First Sunday in Lent

⁹In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. ¹¹And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
  ¹²And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. ¹³He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
  ¹⁴Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, ¹⁵and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” 

The Judean wilderness. by Andrew Seaman on flickr. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Where do you go to get away from it all?

Is it a cabin in the woods up north, or a sunny beach down south? Is it your back porch or a quiet room in your home? Is it opening up a good book, or making something with your hands? Is it spending time with loved ones or soaking in some quiet solitude?

Is getting away something that exists only in your dreams, either because of financial constraints or because loved ones depend on you to care for them and keep the bills paid?

Regardless of whatever answer came to mind, I’m sure it cannot compare to where Jesus will spend the next 40 days “away from it all…” 

Immediately after his baptism, the Holy Spirit drives Jesus out into the wilderness, where for forty days he faced of hunger, bandits, wild animals, the elements—and Satan’s temptations.

Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark doesn’t describe how Satan tempted Jesus. But I think one of Jesus’s greatest temptations would’ve been to go home. Why stay in such a dangerous and desolate place? Wouldn’t have made more sense for Jesus to leave the wilderness and get started on his ministry? Why does he stay?

Throughout Scripture, the wilderness is a place of discipline, growth, and transformation—despite also being a place of trials and danger. It is there, in the absence of life-sustaining resources, amid life-threatening dangers human beings learn to trust God—because God takes care of them.

Throughout Jesus’s 40 days in the wilderness, angels waited on him. God’s grace protected and sustained him. As a result, his relationship with God grew stronger. His sense of purpose grew stronger. The wilderness was not a curse for Jesus. It was a place of blessing. His time there was a gift. 

That may come as a surprise, because every Christian will face a wilderness experience of some kind—brought on by tragic circumstances, unexpected loss, or uncertainties about the future. Grief, job loss, physical or mental illness, or the ending of a relationship are just a few of limitless possibilities. The pandemic has been a wilderness experience for all of us (and one that has far exceeded 40 days).

You may be in the wilderness because of your sins and mistakes.

It is no coincidence that Jesus will devote his entire ministry to people who are in the types of wilderness I just described. Whether they are in the throes of sin, suffering, or despair Jesus will join with them and reveal his mercy and grace. Jesus will join you just the same. You will encounter his mercy and grace in ways you never have before. When all other supports give way, Jesus will be your rock and your defender.

I know that’s a pretty lofty promise to speak to someone who’s whole world has fallen apart. You can never say for certain how God is going to act; or when. Faith is all about moving forward in the hopeful expectation of God’s grace.

This is why it is important for you to seek out the same quiet solitude that Jesus experiences with God in the wilderness. Now I’m not saying that you should immediately take a 40-day “vacation” in the Mojave Desert! But, the way things are in this world, you can become so deeply immersed in the desires and demands of life that God becomes an afterthought. It’s hard to see God when you’re buried in other things. When things don’t go your way, you wonder, where is God? But God does not fail. We fail to pay attention. When your focus is exclusive to the most pressing matters at hand, your perspective on reality is going to be awfully small. God is going to be awfully small. 

To repent and believe the good news, as Jesus calls you to do, demands a full stop. Whether you’re in the world or the wilderness, you can’t make it without Jesus. Death and the devil are too powerful. The flesh is useless. But he is faithful. 

Lent is a gift for this reason—it is a time in which we, as one Body, commit ourselves to seeking the presence of God beyond our desires and ambitions. You cannot endure in faith if you do not regularly leave behind the noise of daily life to be in the presence of God. You need, every single day, for Jesus to free you from all the stuff you consume, and the stuff that consumes you, which inhibit the growth of your spirit. You need to regularly receive God’s faithful care every bit as much as you need food, water, and oxygen. Deny yourself the life-giving presence of Jesus and you’re a robot. To embrace self-denial as a gift, you soon realize that Jesus denies you nothing of himself. His faithfulness then frees you to visit others in their wilderness, and makes you the angels who attend to them!

So I return to my original question, but with a twist: where do you go to get away from it all so you can be with Jesus? I pray that during this Lenten season, you will discover that sacred space and time to be in his presence. May your heart and mind be opened to all the ways he is being gracious to you, so that you can face life’s troubles and trials with confidence in God’s amazing grace. If this is something you lack, ask for it—this is a prayer God is guaranteed to answer. 

May your heart be opened to all the ways you can be an angel to someone in their wilderness journey, that together we move forward towards the promised land; the kingdom of God that has come near.