Sermon Notes: Mark 1:12-13
The Temptation of Jesus
We want to let Mark’s work stand on its own merit. We want to avoid pulling in too much from the other 3 gospel accounts to fill in what we may see as gaps. The reason we want to avoid pulling in material from the other gospels as much as we can is that we want to understand what the Spirit was inspiring Mark to write.
John Mark wrote to a predominantly Gentile audience who had a limited understanding of the Israelite content of Jesus’ ministry. They weren’t ignorant, and Judaism was also not their worldview. Mark’s audience is Gentile, some already Christian and some not.
Mark wants Gentile followers of Jesus to stay faithful, and he wants those who have not believed to repent and follow Jesus.
Mark’s Gentile audience is one of the themes we will encounter. This is one I didn’t share last week, and it is in the appendix for you to check out in its fullness.
We can trust the Holy Spirit’s inspiration of the text as he moved John Mark to write.
John Mark’s intent, and thus the Spirit’s intent, is found in dealing with what he wrote not what he didn’t write.
Mark writes in a way that focuses on his audience’s understanding to help stay faithful to Jesus and help others believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
Mark will include deeply Jewish ideas along the way. And we will reference the other gospels along the way.
We want to try and let the gospel of Mark say what it says and try to hear what the Spirit inspired him to write.
Remember Mark’s Big Idea: Jesus is the divine Son of God and the Suffering Servant Messiah who inaugurates the kingdom of God, who atones for sin through his death, burial, and resurrection, and calls his people to a costly discipleship of self-denial and suffering with purpose and joy.
Let’s read our text: Mark 1:12-13.
What do we see?
1. Jesus is Immediately driven into the desert.
Remember the theme of “immediately”? Not sequence but first principle, the way of truth, deliberately engaging the mission.
After his baptism, Jesus is driven into the desert as the Son of God with purpose.
What is going on here? Watch this.
Exodus 4:22 (ESV) 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, ...
God calls Israel his son.
When Jesus is called the Son of God it is significant. Who is God’s son? Israel? Jesus?
The Lord brought Israel into the desert upon their exodus from Egypt, and Israel failed in the wilderness. Listen to the Lord’s words in Psalm 95 about Israel’s failure: Psalm 95:10-11 (ESV) For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.” 11 Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.”
Israel’s testing in the desert is not marked by resounding success. Israel’s testing in the desert is marked by constant rebellion against the Lord, the fact that they won’t be faithful. Their mission is to be a light to the nations as they faithfully wait for the seed of the woman who will come from them to crush the head of the Serpent and restore all things.
They don’t do this. They mostly fall prey to the Serpent and align with him and his children.
So, when Jesus comes and takes on flesh and is declared to be the Son of God, God is saying that Jesus is everything Israel is supposed to be, and he goes to prove it by being driven into the wilderness like Israel was.
Will Jesus be faithful or will he be unfaithful like Israel?
Mark doesn’t have to declare that Jesus has been faithful in the desert. That is evident in verse 1.
Mark is letting us know that Jesus has done what Israel failed to do. Mark is letting us know that Jesus is the faithful Israel of God.
This is important. Hang with me because it seems like we are getting off point.
The Gentiles (mostly Mark’s audience) are not ignorant of Israel and their history. The Gentiles are kept outside by Israel when God has welcomed them when they repent and believe (this is another theme in your appendix). Israelite followers of Jesus did not want to accept the Gentile as their equal, and thus we get in Acts and Galatians how the church had to deal with the Jew / Gentile problem.
In Galatians Paul will address what Mark is dealing with here. How? Paul emphasizes that God's covenant promises were made to Abraham and his "offspring" (singular), whom he identifies as Jesus (Galatians 3:16). Paul proclaims the truth that Jesus is the heir and embodiment of the Abrahamic blessing intended for Israel as a nation. Through Jesus, the blessing extends beyond Israel to all who believe, creating the family of God made up of all kinds of folks (Galatians 3:7-9, 29), and this is what the church is to look like.
Jesus thus represents the "faithful Israel" who perfectly fulfils God’s demands (Galatians 2:19-20; 3:24-25).
Mark wants his audience to know that Jesus has gone into the desert after his baptism like Israel.
Yet unlike Israel, Jesus was faithful and is the fulfillment of God’s promise. Therefore, Jesus is the Son of God.
Because Jesus is the Son of God, all people everywhere are called to repent, believe, and come into the local church through faith in Jesus.
2. The Spirit drives Jesus into the desert because the testing necessary.
Immediately the Spirit drives Jesus into the desert to be tested.
The theme of “immediately” is very important for the wildnerness.
The Spirit is on the mission of revealing Jesus as the Son of God, and that truth must be proven by the Son of God’s obedience.
Jesus can’t prove he is the Son of God through obedience unless he is subjected to testing. Therefore, the Spirit drives Jesus into the desert.
The combination of “immediately” and “drove” drive home the purposeful mission of the desert for Jesus.
Listen to this: “What happens to Jesus in the wilderness is as divinely orchestrated as what happened to him at the Jordan. The baptism, as we noted, is something that God did to Jesus; the temptation, likewise, is its necessary result, lest Jesus be imagined a divine clone or automaton who had no choice or desire of his own. The temptation establishes the free, sovereign agency of Jesus, who must choose to make God’s will his own. The significance of that choice can be realized only in the context of an alternative and opposite choice posed by God’s adversary. Hence Jesus must be “tempted by Satan.”[1]
Jesus has a real choice to make as the divine Son of God.
If Jesus is protected from testing and no opportunity to disobey, then we don’t get merciful and faithful Elder Brother High Priest. Listen to Hebrews 2:17-18; 4:15: Hebrews 2:17-18 (ESV) 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
NOTE: You really need to read all of Hebrews 2.
Hebrews 4:15 (ESV) 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
The Spirit immediately drove Jesus to the testing in the desert because it was necessary for the work he came to do on our behalf and to relate to us in such a merciful and faithful way as a loving elder brother.
3. Jesus was in the desert for 40 days.
Just like Israel passed through the waters and entered the wilderness, Jesus the Son of God, has passed through the waters of baptism, and has entered the desert by God’s design.
And Mark makes it clear again by his length of testing that Jesus is the faithful Israel, the faithful Son of God, the faithful prophet who speaks God’s word faithfully with no fail.
Israel was in the desert 40 years (Deuteronomy 8:2).
Moses was on Mount Sinai 40 days and nights (Exodus 34:28).
Elijah was led for 40 days and nights to Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:8).
In each of these instances, the wilderness was the proving ground for faithfulness.
As in all these instances, Jesus is in the proving ground of the desert being tempted by the enemy and upheld with divine help.
What is the difference? The difference is that where Israel fails and merely human prophets are imperfect, Jesus wins as the perfect Son of God.
NOTE: Moses and Elijah did not fail in their wilderness challenges like the nation did. Moses and Elijah are a pattern that Jesus fulfills as the greater Moses and the greater Elijah.
Jesus succeeds where Israel fails, and he is the greater prophet who preaches God’s word and fulfills God’s word.
4. Jesus was tempted by Satan in the desert.
“The wilderness was, to the Hebrew, a gloomy place of terror, the abode of devils and unclean beasts.”[2] – R. Alan Cole
I would also add that the desert was viewed this way by other civilizations. The desert was the opposite of Eden, God’s garden.
Being tempted in the desert by Satan is a detail we should not overlook. What is happening here has its roots in the book of Leviticus. It’s a strange text. Don’t overlook the strange parts of your Bible. Lean in. Ask questions.
Leviticus 16 presents a mysterious and strange event where two goats are selected on the Day of Atonement for the ceremony. One of them is for a burnt offering to the Lord and the other for a sin offering sent into the desert. Lots are cast for which goat is for Yhwh and which goat is sent into the wilderness, and the destination is to Azazel.
Most scholars agree that Azazel is not a location but a “demonic” being.
NOTE: If you are an X-men fan, ask yourself why they chose Azazel for one of the X-men and why they portray him the way they do and where did they research for that information. That’s if you really want to have some fun. If you want to be boring, just ignore it.
Leviticus does not tell us why. It assumes you understand already what is happening. It only states this situation as a matter of fact. And so you don’t think I’m nuts, I cite the Yale Bible dictionary here for you to evaluate:
“...understanding ʿăzāʾzēl as an epithet of a demonic personality is the most reasonable. The main evidences for this are: (a) Lev 16:8 prescribes that Aaron is to place a lot on each of the two goats provided by the Israelites. One lot designates one goat as being “for Yhwh” while the other lot designates the other goat as being “for ʿăzāʾzēl.” As the first lot is for a supernatural being, Yhwh, so the second lot should be for a supernatural being of some sort.”[3]
Why is this important?
God has Israel do this because they needed to know that they are in a cosmic battle of good and evil, and they are going to have to constantly choose the Lord over evil, and that by sending this goat to Azazel, they are looking forward to the day when evil will finally and successfully confronted and defeated.
Jesus, who is Yhwh in the flesh, by going into the desert to be tested by Satan, is the sacrificial Son of God who goes into the wilderness to confront the Adversary, the Serpent, and in this first of many demonic conflicts in his ministry, Jesus wins and declares that his final victory will be accomplished at the cross. His triumph is sure because his victory in the wilderness has been secured.
Jesus, by going into desert as the Son of God puts Azazel in his place and lowers his heal on the Serpents head to be crushed at Calvary.
5. Jesus entered the dangers of the wilderness and received divine help.
In our 3rd observation we mentioned Jesus’ temptation and him being attended to by divine help. This is John Mark’s last sentence in verse 13: “He was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.”
What is Mark saying that may make sense to his Gentile audience?
James Edwards observes that Emperor Nero was savage to Christians in the 60’s of the first century. He notes that Tacitus, the Roman historian who lived AD 56 – AD 120, later commented about Nero’s savagery toward Christians that “they were cast out, clothed with the hides of wild animals, and torn by savage dogs.”[4]
If that is how Nero was treating Christians, what if Mark is telling his Gentile audience that like them having their faithfulness tested, Jesus was tested at the hands of Satan, and Jesus was also helped along by the power of God the Father.
Therefore, they too will receive the powerful grace of God to sustain them as they remain faithful like the Lord Jesus.
The imperfect tense of the word for “ministering” tells us that the divine messengers ministered to Jesus throughout the testing not merely at the end.
Likewise, Jesus will see that his people are sustained through trials as they stay faithful.
Just like the Father did not abandon the faithful Son of God but sent his messengers to minister to him in his testing, the Lord will not abandon his faithful people in the wilderness of testing at the hands of their suffering.
Application
1. Jesus is the Son of God. Repent, believe, and receive him.
2. Jesus has faced temptation and won so that he can mercifully and faithfully help us when we are tempted.
1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV) 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
3. Jesus necessarily suffered to pay for sin, and in his suffering is able to help us in the temptation of suffering.
There is a theology in Mark’s account and all over Hebrews 2-4 that we can’t ignore, and that is a theology of suffering.
Mark’s audience is subjected to suffering for their faith.
The Hebrew audience of the author of Hebrews is suffering.
All are tempted in their suffering to abandon the Lord for something easier, for some relief.
Suffering is a temptation. It’s not like a temptation of pleasurable sensuality. It is a temptation of unpleasant senses.
Pleasant senses can tempt us to sin. Unpleasant senses can tempt us to sin.
John Mark’s audience needs to know that Jesus has gone into the desert and suffered, and he has marked the path of suffering for them to walk it successfully with him guiding and never abounding them in it.
Jesus has conquered, and he is the Son of God. We have everything to lose and nothing to gain if we turn back. Don’t let suffering cause you to disbelieve in your heart and turn back to Egypt.
Azazel is a terrible task master, and Jesus will see us through to the restoration.
Hang on.
4. Pray: Faith / Suffering / Increase / Holiness / Sending
Appendix
Let me give you the remaining themes we’ll encounter as we study through Mark. I shared 3 last week. Let me give you the last 4 quickly. I kept them numbered the same as in my original list. So, here are 3-6:
3. Insiders and outsiders
The theme of insiders and outsiders distinguishes those who are enemies of God and those who are not.
Jesus will tell us that he teaches in parables because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven are for the insiders and the parables keep the outsiders from understanding. That’s a little hard to swallow, but it is what Jesus says. In doing this, Jesus will uncover the bias of those who think they are insiders based on their status and are not.
The real insiders are those who live by faith and begin to understand Jesus’ teaching.
The outsiders are the faithless.
The problem is that the faithless and outsiders of the kingdom of God are the cultural insiders but actual enemies of God.
The actual outsiders are enemies of God.
The insiders are those who have been marginalized by the faithless people in power.
That feels confusing, but it becomes clear as you walk through Mark’s gospel, and it should cause each one of us to take account of ourselves, to test ourselves, to make sure we are in the faith.
4. Gentiles
The emphasis on Jesus working in the North parts of Israel among the Gentiles and close to Gentile territory and not in the southern Jewish-heavy portions shows us the Lord’s intent on reclaiming the nations and conquering the land and people taken captive by the forces of darkness.
The emphasis you will find in the prophets on the north is important, and it’s a theme for a whole Bible exposition not for a study through Mark alone. But Mark picks up on it because it is geographically significant in the prophets, and Jesus actually works from the north of Israel.
The point is that it is Gentile, unbeliever territory.
Jesus’ work in Israel was not for them to have him to themselves, but to redeem and invite them to mission with him to rescue the Gentiles taken captive by the Serpent Dragon to do his will.
5. Messianic secret
Mark is full of Jesus telling folks he heals to keep it quiet, and they usually don’t do it.
Why would Jesus want folks to keep quiet about what he will later tell us to go preach?
Paul said it in Ephesians 3, and we read it last week.
There is a mystery to God’s plan in Genesis 3 about who the seed of the woman is and how the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent dragon. Until the right time, God keeps the Skull Crusher’s identity shrouded in mystery to keep the enemy from impeding God’s work.
In fact, the Lord will successfully lure the seed of the serpent into his trap by his humble ministry and refusal of popularity. He will play them into putting him to death through is willingness to go to the cross and keep his identity on the down low not realizing that by his death he tramples over death, the curse, and crushes the Serpent’s noggin.
Listen to how Paul speaks about this mystery that God and his faithful are to understand has been revealed in the gospel in 1 Corinthians 2:6-8: 1 Corinthians 2:6-8 (ESV) 6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
We know the mystery now because it is the good news in its fullness from Genesis to Revelation.
This is why Jesus labored to keep his identity a secret. From Genesis 3, the enemies of the cross have been trying to wreck God’s plan. The genealogies of the Old Testament are there to show us the teams, and the Serpent’s seed have been trying to destroy the woman’s seed since God’s declaration.
Jesus intends to keep things as shrouded as he can until the resurrection.
6. Focused journey
After Peter confesses Jesus is the Messiah (8:27ff), Jesus sets out with focus to the cross, and Mark captures Jesus’ journey very starkly. Jesus’ focused journey to the cross becomes his invitation to us to join in the focused journey of being with him on mission as the way of the cross.
[1] James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos, 2002), 40.
[2] R. Alan Cole, Mark: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 2, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1989), 109.
[3] David P. Wright, “Azazel,” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 536.
[4] James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos, 2002), 41.