First Sunday of Lent Mark 1:9-15 1 Peter 3:18-end

Mark’s Gospel is known for its swift action and movement in the amazing story of God’s work of salvation for his people. It starts as follows: ‘The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’”’. Then, at verse 9, Mark continues with the baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan by John the Baptist (the messenger from Isaiah’s prophecy) and the temptation in the wilderness. In verse 15 this section finishes. Swift and bold, and stating the facts, which are bewildering enough, and painting a picture of ‘how it all began’. If we want to know more about the details, we need to resort to the gospels according to Matthew and Luke, but the basis is there in Mark, what it is all about: the good news of the Saviour, who came to do for us what we could never do for ourselves, to get us out of the murky waters of where our life went wrong, and set our feet on the straight path of God’s will and wisdom. As we have just begun the season of Lent, the focus for today is the temptation in the wilderness. Just two verses in Mark which I might just as well simply quote here: ‘And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.’ It may sound a bit unexpected, after that earlier statement from Isaiah and Jesus’ baptism with God’s voice speaking from heaven, saying, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ Why, we could possibly ask, should Jesus be tempted for a considerable length of time in a desert no less, if he is God’s Son, and doing everything right? It reminds us, perhaps, of the trial and testing of Elijah in 1 Kings 19 but why would God’s Son have to undergo such treatment? We may find an answer in the New Testament letters that remind us of the battle that Jesus was to engage in for our sake, and ‘just as we are’. The confrontation with the devil was a serious matter and Jesus had to be prepared for it as well as he could be. His baptism was an important first step, equipping him for battle, as it were, like putting on the armour necessary to thwart the arrows of Satan. A major defence and shield was love. Love is very powerful. At Jesus’ baptism, God the Father spoke those wonderful words, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved’, and that must have played a very important part in giving Jesus the confidence to go into the desert, prompted by the Holy Spirit. It was like acting out the great drama of the Exodus, when the people of Israel were being led out of slavery in Egypt into the Promised Land. Maybe it was precisely because of Jesus’ identity as God’s Son, that he was to undergo this time of testing, having to tread the path of danger, and going the way that every human being must go. And being rewarded at the end with a deeper assurance of God the Father watching over him, being with him, loving him and acting through him, even on the road to Calvary. The words of love that he had heard the Father speak to him and over him, enabled Jesus to carry out the horrendous task ahead. The Holy Spirit, poured out over him, would guide him on the way. The verses from the first letter of Peter tell us how we also are helped through the obedience of Christ. All of God’s work in Jesus was done having us in mind. Isn’t that amazing! The words of love that God spoke to Jesus, now, through faith, also apply to us. May you hear it this season of Lent, preparing for Easter, for the words of love that God speaks are words of life, enabling us to ‘rise with Christ’ on the day of Easter. Amen.