Mark 1:13-15 - Driven By The Spirit, Tested By Satan, Victorious By The Word

Let’s read Mark 1:9-20, “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’

The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And 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.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’

Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.”

Sometimes I will meet with someone and we’ll have a great discussion around the Word of God. I will often end our meeting by telling them that they should not be surprised if something happen in the future that will test the Word of God that has been put into their hearts. Sometimes they will ask why I have said this and I will take them to the Parable of the Sower.

In this parable Jesus tells His disciples that when the Word of God is sowed into a person's heart several things can happen. (Luke 8:4-15)

• First, Satan attacks so that they will not believe and be saved.

• Second, there may be a time of testing where they may fall away.

• Third, they may experience cares, riches, or pleasures that keeps the Word from being fruitful.

• Fourth, the Word may be received into a good and honest heart where it will bear fruit.

Have you ever considered that when Jesus taught His disciples the Parable of the Sower He was speaking from first hand experience regarding these things? There is a sense in which Christ had seen this dynamic played out throughout redemptive history. For example, in Exodus 1-14 the LORD raises up a mighty deliverer and prophet in Moses. Over a period of time the LORD uses Moses to deliver Israel from Egypt. You can imagine that when this happens, Israel worships the LORD with spontaneous praise in Exodus 15:1-21. This worship is short lived, however, and in three days the people of Israel began to grumble against the LORD. (24)

Despite their grumbling, God graciously performed a miracle and provided water to drink. (25) Then the Word of God is spoken to them in Exodus 15:25b-26, “There, at Morah, the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there He tested them, saying, ‘If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments and keep His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.’”

Notice that God gave them His Word and then we are told that God tested them to see if they would be faithful regarding what had been revealed. God had showed Israel His power, He had been gracious to them, and He gave them His Word that they were to respond in trusting obedient faith. Israel, however, proved to be faithless. A short time later, when Israel become hungry, they grumbled (16:2), saying, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” After this God would again give Israel His Word, but they would prove again and again to be faithless.

According to Mark 1:9-13 there is another sense in which we see that Jesus experienced these same things when He was in His earthly ministry. God's people Israel had not responded well, but how would Jesus respond when He was tested in the wilderness. In Mark 1:9-11 the heavens are torn open, then His Father speaks a wonderful word to Jesus, “This is my Beloved Son, whom I love and am well pleased!” Then in Mark 1:12-13 Jesus is immediately taken by the Holy Spirit to be tested / tempted. As we have seen, Israel often failed to believe the Word of God, but in our text, we see that Jesus believed the Word, obeyed it perfectly, and even appropriately applied God’s Word during the temptation to defeat Satan’s onslaught!

In Mark 1:12 we read, “The Spirit immediately drove Jesus out into the wilderness…”. Jesus is baptized and He is immediately taken by the Holy Spirit to fight a spiritual battle. Is this not often the case with someone who hears the gospel? Initially they show an interest in the Good News, but very quickly Satan comes to take the Word so that they will not believe and be saved. Does not something similar happen to new/young believers? They repent and believe the Gospel and immediately they experience significant spiritual warfare that they have never experienced before. Similar to how God treated Israel, the LORD is often so gracious to such new believers as He defeats their enemies and ministers to them as Jesus is ministered to in our text.

John Mark, the author of this Gospel, probably faced a significant spiritual battle during the first missionary journey which led him to abandon the mission and return to Jerusalem. (Acts 13:13) Over time, however, Mark matured and became very useful for Paul in ministry. It is not uncommon to stumble like John Mark did early on, but it should not persist indefinitely like it did in Israel. In the end, God was displeased with that generation, and they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years and died there.

In Mark 1:12 Mark uses a verb (ἐκβάλλει) which means that Jesus was “driven out”, “compelled to go out”, and “expelled with force”. Mark's use of this word is stronger than the verbs that Matthew and Luke use. Matthew uses a verb (ἀνήχθη) that is translated, “was led up”. Luke uses a verb (ἤγετο) which is translated “was led”. Mark’s use of this word suggests that Jesus’ time in the wilderness was not a spiritual retreat, but a Spirit driven confrontation with Satan. So often we go to retreats hoping to experience the life transforming change that we desire, but it is the spiritual battles that you and I face that can produce these things when they are endured by faith in the Word of God.

Our LORD is a good example of this. By considering these different gospel accounts we see that at this time two things are happening. On the one hand, Jesus is being driven out by the Spirit. He is being 'compelled and expelled with force' into the wilderness. On the other hand, we see that Jesus is 'led' by the Spirit. One way of looking at this is that the Spirit led Jesus out into the wilderness with a strong inward compulsion. Jesus did not resist the leading of the Spirit in any way. No, Jesus went out into the wilderness willingly and with joy. (James 1:2-4) Jesus was not like Israel who grumbled, murmured, complained, and who wanted to turn back.

Another interesting fact in our text is that Mark uses ‘imperfect’ verbs in v. 13 which stress the fact that Jesus was continually in the wilderness, continually being tested, and continually being ministered to by angels. This was a sustained season of testing and not a momentary or occasional testing with breaks in between. Can you imagine what this must have been like for Jesus? All other men would have collapsed under this season of temptation.

Proverbs 24:10 says, “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.” The word ‘faint’ means to grow weary, lose courage, or give up under pressure. Jesus did not falter in the day of temptation because He had great strength and it prevailed! Jesus had great strength because He had the Spirit and He stood upon the Word of His Father. In John 1 we are told that Jesus was full of grace and truth, and this is one of those times where we see the evidence of these things in His life.

In light of these facts you can better appreciate what Hebrews 4:15 says of Jesus, “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.”

I wonder what it must have been like for Jesus during those 40 days in the wilderness? How much greater must these things have been for Him then they are for you and I. Satan has tried to kill Jesus even as a child, but now He will try to destroy Him through these temptations. You can imagine how strongly Satan would come against Jesus.

• Would Christ’s sufferings be any less than what Job had experienced by Satan? (Job 1-2)

• Would Jesus’ suffering be less than what Peter endured when Satan asked to ‘sift his faith like wheat’? (Luke 22:31)

• Surely Jesus’ experience was not less than what Paul describes as his thorn in the flesh that made Him cry out to God for deliverance three times? (2 Corinthians 12) Surely Paul, who filled up in His flesh the sufferings of Christ (Col.1:24), and whose ministry was defined by suffering (Acts 9:16), is not to be compared with the sufferings of His Savior Jesus Christ as He endured these temptations and testings.

• Surely Jesus’ temptations were stronger than the trial that made the Psalmist cry out, “How long O LORD, how long?” (Psalm 13) And how quickly and constantly Jesus would have turned to the Father during this season and said with the Psalmist, “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.” (5-6)

A commentator told a fictional story regarding Jesus’ wilderness experience that provoked my thoughts. Imagine that you were a Jew living in Israel during this time. One day you might have looked to the east and saw a man coming out of the wilderness area all by Himself. The man looked tired, hungry, and exhausted. It appeared as though he had barely made it out of the wilderness alive. The people ran up to this man and they noticed that he looked like he had been in a life and death struggle. They asked him if He was OK? The man replied, ‘Yes, but you should see the other guy!’

This story made me consider how intense Satan’s attacks must have been against Jesus at this time. Nevertheless, in the end Jesus came out of this wilderness experience as the victor. Without a doubt, those forty days in the wilderness were not easy, comfortable, or pleasant; however, it was worse for Satan and his doomed kingdom! This is confirmed in Mark 1:15 when Jesus leaves the wilderness and begins to proclaim, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the Gospel.”

My friends, consider this carefully. When Christ emerged from the wilderness, no matter how He looked at that time outwardly, He did not need our help, we need His help! Jesus had defeated the strong man and plundering his kingdom. We were held captive, but Jesus can deliver us from this bondage if we will repent and believe the Good News!

That story did make me wonder how Jesus would have looked after those forty days? On the one hand, we know that Jesus was subjected to hunger, thirst, and weariness. His flesh would have looked like ours would have looked after forty days in the wilderness with no food as He lived among the wild beasts. I would assume that His body would have showed the signs of a man who had been in a great battle.

In the show ‘ALONE’ one of the winners sat in his shelter and simply laid low and conserved his strength to outlast everyone else. This is not what Jesus did while He was in the wilderness. He was continually experiencing a great struggle as He battled daily against Satan.

Having admitted these things, I bet Jesus came out of this stronger than we may initially think. During this time of temptation Jesus continually lifted His soul to the Father and placed His trust in Him and in His Word. Therefore His enemies, who were wantonly treacherous, did not get to exult over Him. (Psalm 25:1-3) Jesus faithfully walked in the Father’s ways and tread upon righteous paths. (25:4-5) As a result of these things Psalm 25:13 is especially true of Jesus Christ, “His soul shall abide in well-being, and His offspring shall inherit the land.” Because of the outcome of this time of testing Jesus’ offspring will obtain a great inheritance!

During this time, can’t you hear Jesus quoting Psalm 23 and so many of the psalms from the Psalter. For example, I can hear Jesus standing upon Psalm 27:1-3 & 14 which says, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an enemy encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident...Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” Yes, Jesus’ flesh may have showed signs of this struggle, but His spirit was strong, courageous, and fearless!

Because Jesus stood upon the Word of God and depended upon the Holy Spirit during this testing He returned from this battle victoriously. In His flesh He may have looked a certain way, but the scriptures focus in on His spiritual strength. In Luke 4:14 we read these words, “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee…”.

Over the last couple of weeks, we have seen that Jesus succeeded where Israel had failed. God so often blessed His people, but this revealed a problem. Psalm 106:15 speaks of this when it says, “...He gave them what they asked, but He sent leanness into their soul among them.” (KJV)

Consider the leanness of soul in unbelieving Israel, contrasted with the well-being of Christ during the temptations that He endured. (Mt. 4:1-11;Luke 4:1-13) Remember that these temptations are at the end of these 40 days when Jesus was very hungry. (Mt.4:1-2 ;Lk. 4:1-2)

• Temptation#1: When Jesus was tempted by Satan regarding His hunger, He quoted scripture and confessed that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. As we have seen in Exodus 15 Israel did not have faith in God and His Word so they grumbled, complained, and demanded food from God and turned their attention back to Egypt.

• Temptation#2: Satan tempted Jesus by showing Him all the kingdoms of the world and offered to give them to Him if He worshiped him, but Jesus quoted scripture and withstood this temptation. Jesus would not take the easy path but determined to go to the cross and suffer greatly. Israel, however, was supposed to be a light and a witness to the Gentiles so that they might be saved, but they failed to do this. Instead they became like the nations and worshipped their idols.

• Temptation#3: In the third temptation Satan took Jesus up onto the highest place of the Temple and tried to get Him to jump off and let the angels protect Him. Jesus quoted scripture that said we are not to put the LORD to the test. Israel often did this to the LORD. (Ex.17:1-7) Hebrews 3:9 reminds us of this, “There they put me to the test and tried me, although they had seen what I did for forty years.”

Applications:

When God speaks, when truth grips your heart, when conviction is awakened, when the heart turns to the LORD in repentance- do not be surprised when the test comes.

When temptations come upon you, you must learn to stand upon the Word of God, entrust yourself to God, obey His Word through the strength of the Spirit, and apply the Word of God by faith which receives grace.

Your testing is preparation for your calling. Your wilderness is shaping you for ministry. Your battle is equipping you to help others. The believer who emerges from these temptations clinging to the Word becomes a powerful instrument in the hands of God.