The Important Message -- Mark 1:12-14
The Important Message -- Mark 1:12-14
By Pastor Lee Hemen
Aug 16, 2009 AM
History is filled with the inhumane harshness that many societies have inflicted specifically on their children. Ancient Roman society would leave poorer children to fend for themselves, literally to die on their own if both parents were gone. Even in wealthier homes children that were not well liked could be left outside to die or cast aside for others that were deemed more privileged. Meanwhile, in Greek Sparta, boys were educated to create a strong warrior. Taken away from their parents at age 7 they lived a harsh and often brutal life in the soldiers barracks. Younger males were beaten by older boys to help toughen them up and they were not allowed to cry out in pain. These rituals were thought to make their perspective societies stronger and more vigorous. However the message it gave was one of harshness and cruel bleakness.
Suppose you were deliberately left all on your own by those you thought cared about you most during a difficult or delicate time in your? How would that make you feel? How would you respond? Times of testing in a person’s life can influence the rest of their lives and how they make decisions from then on. However, the time of testing in the life of Jesus was no act of cruelty nor a testing to see if He would “measure up,” rather it was the prelude to something far greater. The message to mankind was so important, the Lord had to be certain of what God was calling Him to do. Let’s discover this morning the important message Mark gives us concerning the time of Jesus’ testing.
READ: Mark 1:12-14
At the end of Jesus’ ministry we find Him partaking of a last Passover meal with His disciples. A group of twelve hand-picked men who had journeyed with Him for three years. But here at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry we find no close friends sharing with Him in a personal trial that would begin Jesus’ lifelong pursuit to declare the good news. These three verses show us how Jesus began His ministry and the importance of the message. In fact, the message was so important that…
I. The Holy Spirit sent Jesus exactly where He needed to be! (v. 12)
1. Right where we are is right where God desires us to be! Often, this is the only way God can get His message across to us! After His baptism by John, Jesus was sent out by God. There are several things we learn from this verse about the importance of Jesus’ message: 1) It was immediate. “At once,” Jesus was sent. There was no time for hesitation or thinking about it. In our day and age where we scrutinize and analyze every little aspect of our lives and how it benefits us personally, this seems kind of odd. Certainly there are those who jump in without thinking, but the plan of God is well thought out and has been predetermined from the creation of the universe! 2) God sent Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. Notice, Jesus completely trusted that guidance. He knew that God was in control and had only the best for His life planned no matter what the outcome was. In our day, we think we not only have a personal right to know from God every infinitesimal detail or our lives but also exactly why He is doing what He is doing. Finally, 3) God sent Jesus where He wanted Jesus to be: In the desert. The word “sent” is from a strong verb (ekballo?) meaning “drive out, expel, send away.” God expelled Jesus to the desert for a reason! God does this even in our lives, in order for us to understand the importance of the message He has for us. There are no physical, emotional, or personal barriers when we are completely alone in the wilderness. It is often the best place for God to work in our lives. So, if it seems like you are in a desert, remember that the message was so important that the Holy Spirit sent Jesus exactly where He needed to be.
EXAMPLE: We live in a day and age whereby we are taught to think that the world revolves around “me.” We come to God in prayer, mostly about ourselves. We sing hymns and choruses and make them mainly about ourselves. We join churches or do ministry when it suits us. Our biggest question in life is no longer, “Does God have a purpose?” but rather, “What’s in it for me?” While our lives are important to the Lord, His plan will happen whether we decide to be a part of it or not. And often where we are in life is exactly where God desires us to be. Not in sin, silly, but where He has us to be, to be used by Him. Can you imagine Jesus coming up out of the water and thinking, “Man, do I ever feel good about myself! I think I’ll go and find some synagogue that meets my needs! Some place that has a good single’s ministry!” Or imagine Him thinking, “Bummer! Now I have to go into the hot dusty old desert and be tempted. Why do these things always happen to ME!?” I am glad Jesus knew the Holy Spirit had Him exactly where he needed to be. If we are in the will of God, we will be exactly where the Holy Spirit needs us to be.
There’s the rub. Many of us are not in the will of God. We think that if we were, then we would never be tempted or have a hard time in life. Everything would be beautiful in its own way. WRONG! What we have done by thinking this is reduce God into being life’s little tour guide. You know, to show us where all the great people and good places are to hang out and have fun in life. When we do, we forget that the message was so important that…
II. Jesus was left alone but never alone to be tempted! (v. 13)
1. We are at our spiritually strongest when we are at our weakest! Jesus had nowhere else to be and no one else to rely on but God the Father. There was a purpose for Jesus to be sent by the Holy Spirit into the desert: Jesus “was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan.” Mark’s brief description of the moral compulsion of the Spirit moving Jesus to head for the wilderness was all part of God’s plan. It was where God would teach Jesus in how to resist the moral evil of the world. What do I mean? Both Matthew and Luke relate that during this time of testing, Jesus rebutted Satan’s attacks. The first attack dealt with personal appetite, pride in particular. The second dealt with popularity of making Himself seen by the people. And the last one dealt with personal power. All the kingdoms of the world would be Jesus’ if He only worshipped the creature rather than the Creator. Interestingly, these are the same temptations Eve faced and failed. And they are the same ones we face each day in our lives as well. Yet in this small gospel of Mark we discover a wonderful message for us as well: Yes, Jesus “was with the wild animals,” but notice that the “angels attended Him.” God provided for Jesus. Even in our wilderness journey where God send us, He does not leave us alone. He attends those He loves. Just as Jesus was tempted, so are we; and just as He was ministered to by God in the wilderness, so are we. The message was so important that Jesus was left alone but never alone to be tempted.
EXAMPLE: Life is not without temptation so stop thinking it can be. Here is a truth we need to get squared away with: We live in a sin-fallen world and we are not perfect. Made holy though Jesus, yes, but not perfect until we reach our final destination. And get this straight: The temptations we face in life are not little pop quizzes sent from God to see if we pass or fail today on the highway to heaven. We are not in the midst of some cosmic video game whereby we have to come up with the right answers, gain so many power points, and choose the right kinds of weapons to defeat the enemy. We have all we need in Jesus Christ. Jesus proved that all of life’s sustenance, power, and purpose is found in Him alone. Putting on the armor of God is not something we do like putting on safety equipment before life’s big game. It is what we intrinsically believe. It is God’s “full armor”! Jesus had the full armor of God because He trusted in the full power of God, do you? He was tempted but won the victory because of whom He trust in. The message was so important that Jesus was left alone but never alone to be tempted.
If we learn anything from Mark’s gospel it should be that Jesus saw that His life had meaning and purpose. It was not about Him, it was all about what God desired and God’s timing. In fact, Jesus saw His life as something to be totally used by God alone because God was in complete control. This is why Jesus could fall perfectly asleep in a wind-rocked sea-swamped boat while everyone else was running around frightened. All He did in life was to bring glory to God. God had Him right where He wanted Him and Jesus knew it. What about your life? Mark teaches us that the message was so important that…
III. Jesus did not begin preaching until the right time! (v. 14)
1. God’s time is the right time! And so begins the ministry of Jesus. Mark does not begin with Jesus’ birth. He does not relate to us about shepherds, wise men, or Mary and Joseph. Mark begins with Jesus’ baptism by John and His immediate wilderness experience. Why? For Mark the message of the gospel was so important that nothing else mattered to him or his writing of it concerning Jesus. For God, timing is everything. God knows that within His plan, the right time brings about the best possible results. Jesus knew this to be true. For His own unbelieving brothers Jesus said: “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right.” (John 7:6) They were not about the business of God, He was. Paul understood God’s timing as well and related: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6) And so it was not until “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.” The witness, the herald, the one crying in the wilderness had to decrease while the Messiah began His ministry. God’s timing is always the right timing. We find this just a little bit disconcerting for our lives in our day and age. We want to know who, what, when, and where of every detail so that we can make the “right choice,” which we often do not do anyway. We fail to because we forget about God’s timing. We want it now and we want it the way we think it ought to be. Period. End of story. But then God says, “Not so fast!” Obedience comes from following God’s timing. When He asks us to do something, when are we to respond? Right then. Immediately. The message was so important that Jesus did not begin preaching until the right time!
EXAMPLE: Life is not a reality TV game show of picking the right door to open. Now I know that for some of you this is going to be a bit hard to grasp and a new concept because you have falsely swallowed a Christian fad that has been out there for a while. But let me be the first to go out on a limb and tell you that it is not necessarily theologically true. Namely, that God is in the business of opening and closing doors that you are to walk through or not. You know, kind of like some game show whereby you have to pick the right door: Door number one, door number two, or door number three. Can you imagine a holy and wonderful Creator watching you and pleading, “Please oh please pick door number…” Come on, this is kind of spiritually sick! This comes from spiritual ignorance, spiritual laziness, or spiritual weakness. If you are walking in the will of God, any door you walk through is… THE WILL OF GOD! Therefore, when God lays before you the opportunity to go and do something for Him, don’tcha think it just might be the RIGHT TIME RIGHT THEN? Just remember a little man named Gideon and his spiritual stupidity concerning dew and a fleece. Never forget that the message of God was so important that Jesus did not begin preaching until the right time!
Conclusion:
While history is filled with the inhumane harshness that many societies have inflicted specifically on their children, God does not work that way with His children. We have learned through Mark’s gospel that the message was so important that the Holy Spirit sent Jesus exactly where He needed to be; that Jesus was left alone but never alone to be tempted; and that Jesus did not begin preaching until the right time! And these things are true for your life in Christ as well. God works the same for all His children.
----
This article is copyrighted © 2009 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission. You now have my permission to use the entire article.
By Pastor Lee Hemen
Aug 16, 2009 AM
History is filled with the inhumane harshness that many societies have inflicted specifically on their children. Ancient Roman society would leave poorer children to fend for themselves, literally to die on their own if both parents were gone. Even in wealthier homes children that were not well liked could be left outside to die or cast aside for others that were deemed more privileged. Meanwhile, in Greek Sparta, boys were educated to create a strong warrior. Taken away from their parents at age 7 they lived a harsh and often brutal life in the soldiers barracks. Younger males were beaten by older boys to help toughen them up and they were not allowed to cry out in pain. These rituals were thought to make their perspective societies stronger and more vigorous. However the message it gave was one of harshness and cruel bleakness.
Suppose you were deliberately left all on your own by those you thought cared about you most during a difficult or delicate time in your? How would that make you feel? How would you respond? Times of testing in a person’s life can influence the rest of their lives and how they make decisions from then on. However, the time of testing in the life of Jesus was no act of cruelty nor a testing to see if He would “measure up,” rather it was the prelude to something far greater. The message to mankind was so important, the Lord had to be certain of what God was calling Him to do. Let’s discover this morning the important message Mark gives us concerning the time of Jesus’ testing.
READ: Mark 1:12-14
At the end of Jesus’ ministry we find Him partaking of a last Passover meal with His disciples. A group of twelve hand-picked men who had journeyed with Him for three years. But here at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry we find no close friends sharing with Him in a personal trial that would begin Jesus’ lifelong pursuit to declare the good news. These three verses show us how Jesus began His ministry and the importance of the message. In fact, the message was so important that…
I. The Holy Spirit sent Jesus exactly where He needed to be! (v. 12)
1. Right where we are is right where God desires us to be! Often, this is the only way God can get His message across to us! After His baptism by John, Jesus was sent out by God. There are several things we learn from this verse about the importance of Jesus’ message: 1) It was immediate. “At once,” Jesus was sent. There was no time for hesitation or thinking about it. In our day and age where we scrutinize and analyze every little aspect of our lives and how it benefits us personally, this seems kind of odd. Certainly there are those who jump in without thinking, but the plan of God is well thought out and has been predetermined from the creation of the universe! 2) God sent Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. Notice, Jesus completely trusted that guidance. He knew that God was in control and had only the best for His life planned no matter what the outcome was. In our day, we think we not only have a personal right to know from God every infinitesimal detail or our lives but also exactly why He is doing what He is doing. Finally, 3) God sent Jesus where He wanted Jesus to be: In the desert. The word “sent” is from a strong verb (ekballo?) meaning “drive out, expel, send away.” God expelled Jesus to the desert for a reason! God does this even in our lives, in order for us to understand the importance of the message He has for us. There are no physical, emotional, or personal barriers when we are completely alone in the wilderness. It is often the best place for God to work in our lives. So, if it seems like you are in a desert, remember that the message was so important that the Holy Spirit sent Jesus exactly where He needed to be.
EXAMPLE: We live in a day and age whereby we are taught to think that the world revolves around “me.” We come to God in prayer, mostly about ourselves. We sing hymns and choruses and make them mainly about ourselves. We join churches or do ministry when it suits us. Our biggest question in life is no longer, “Does God have a purpose?” but rather, “What’s in it for me?” While our lives are important to the Lord, His plan will happen whether we decide to be a part of it or not. And often where we are in life is exactly where God desires us to be. Not in sin, silly, but where He has us to be, to be used by Him. Can you imagine Jesus coming up out of the water and thinking, “Man, do I ever feel good about myself! I think I’ll go and find some synagogue that meets my needs! Some place that has a good single’s ministry!” Or imagine Him thinking, “Bummer! Now I have to go into the hot dusty old desert and be tempted. Why do these things always happen to ME!?” I am glad Jesus knew the Holy Spirit had Him exactly where he needed to be. If we are in the will of God, we will be exactly where the Holy Spirit needs us to be.
There’s the rub. Many of us are not in the will of God. We think that if we were, then we would never be tempted or have a hard time in life. Everything would be beautiful in its own way. WRONG! What we have done by thinking this is reduce God into being life’s little tour guide. You know, to show us where all the great people and good places are to hang out and have fun in life. When we do, we forget that the message was so important that…
II. Jesus was left alone but never alone to be tempted! (v. 13)
1. We are at our spiritually strongest when we are at our weakest! Jesus had nowhere else to be and no one else to rely on but God the Father. There was a purpose for Jesus to be sent by the Holy Spirit into the desert: Jesus “was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan.” Mark’s brief description of the moral compulsion of the Spirit moving Jesus to head for the wilderness was all part of God’s plan. It was where God would teach Jesus in how to resist the moral evil of the world. What do I mean? Both Matthew and Luke relate that during this time of testing, Jesus rebutted Satan’s attacks. The first attack dealt with personal appetite, pride in particular. The second dealt with popularity of making Himself seen by the people. And the last one dealt with personal power. All the kingdoms of the world would be Jesus’ if He only worshipped the creature rather than the Creator. Interestingly, these are the same temptations Eve faced and failed. And they are the same ones we face each day in our lives as well. Yet in this small gospel of Mark we discover a wonderful message for us as well: Yes, Jesus “was with the wild animals,” but notice that the “angels attended Him.” God provided for Jesus. Even in our wilderness journey where God send us, He does not leave us alone. He attends those He loves. Just as Jesus was tempted, so are we; and just as He was ministered to by God in the wilderness, so are we. The message was so important that Jesus was left alone but never alone to be tempted.
EXAMPLE: Life is not without temptation so stop thinking it can be. Here is a truth we need to get squared away with: We live in a sin-fallen world and we are not perfect. Made holy though Jesus, yes, but not perfect until we reach our final destination. And get this straight: The temptations we face in life are not little pop quizzes sent from God to see if we pass or fail today on the highway to heaven. We are not in the midst of some cosmic video game whereby we have to come up with the right answers, gain so many power points, and choose the right kinds of weapons to defeat the enemy. We have all we need in Jesus Christ. Jesus proved that all of life’s sustenance, power, and purpose is found in Him alone. Putting on the armor of God is not something we do like putting on safety equipment before life’s big game. It is what we intrinsically believe. It is God’s “full armor”! Jesus had the full armor of God because He trusted in the full power of God, do you? He was tempted but won the victory because of whom He trust in. The message was so important that Jesus was left alone but never alone to be tempted.
If we learn anything from Mark’s gospel it should be that Jesus saw that His life had meaning and purpose. It was not about Him, it was all about what God desired and God’s timing. In fact, Jesus saw His life as something to be totally used by God alone because God was in complete control. This is why Jesus could fall perfectly asleep in a wind-rocked sea-swamped boat while everyone else was running around frightened. All He did in life was to bring glory to God. God had Him right where He wanted Him and Jesus knew it. What about your life? Mark teaches us that the message was so important that…
III. Jesus did not begin preaching until the right time! (v. 14)
1. God’s time is the right time! And so begins the ministry of Jesus. Mark does not begin with Jesus’ birth. He does not relate to us about shepherds, wise men, or Mary and Joseph. Mark begins with Jesus’ baptism by John and His immediate wilderness experience. Why? For Mark the message of the gospel was so important that nothing else mattered to him or his writing of it concerning Jesus. For God, timing is everything. God knows that within His plan, the right time brings about the best possible results. Jesus knew this to be true. For His own unbelieving brothers Jesus said: “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right.” (John 7:6) They were not about the business of God, He was. Paul understood God’s timing as well and related: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6) And so it was not until “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.” The witness, the herald, the one crying in the wilderness had to decrease while the Messiah began His ministry. God’s timing is always the right timing. We find this just a little bit disconcerting for our lives in our day and age. We want to know who, what, when, and where of every detail so that we can make the “right choice,” which we often do not do anyway. We fail to because we forget about God’s timing. We want it now and we want it the way we think it ought to be. Period. End of story. But then God says, “Not so fast!” Obedience comes from following God’s timing. When He asks us to do something, when are we to respond? Right then. Immediately. The message was so important that Jesus did not begin preaching until the right time!
EXAMPLE: Life is not a reality TV game show of picking the right door to open. Now I know that for some of you this is going to be a bit hard to grasp and a new concept because you have falsely swallowed a Christian fad that has been out there for a while. But let me be the first to go out on a limb and tell you that it is not necessarily theologically true. Namely, that God is in the business of opening and closing doors that you are to walk through or not. You know, kind of like some game show whereby you have to pick the right door: Door number one, door number two, or door number three. Can you imagine a holy and wonderful Creator watching you and pleading, “Please oh please pick door number…” Come on, this is kind of spiritually sick! This comes from spiritual ignorance, spiritual laziness, or spiritual weakness. If you are walking in the will of God, any door you walk through is… THE WILL OF GOD! Therefore, when God lays before you the opportunity to go and do something for Him, don’tcha think it just might be the RIGHT TIME RIGHT THEN? Just remember a little man named Gideon and his spiritual stupidity concerning dew and a fleece. Never forget that the message of God was so important that Jesus did not begin preaching until the right time!
Conclusion:
While history is filled with the inhumane harshness that many societies have inflicted specifically on their children, God does not work that way with His children. We have learned through Mark’s gospel that the message was so important that the Holy Spirit sent Jesus exactly where He needed to be; that Jesus was left alone but never alone to be tempted; and that Jesus did not begin preaching until the right time! And these things are true for your life in Christ as well. God works the same for all His children.
----
This article is copyrighted © 2009 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission. You now have my permission to use the entire article.
Comments