New Testament Studies

The Gospel of St. Mark

By Robert C. Crowder

Lesson Three

Mark 1:12-13 And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness. And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.

Mark continues his fast paced narrative with the pronouncement that immediately after Jesus is baptized and God announces to the world that He is his son, the spirit drove him in the wilderness to live with the beasts and be tempted of Satan for forty days.

Think back to the last forty days in your life.  Think of the significant things that happened to you and those close to you.  In my last forty days I have had a surgery, a visit from family, ate 120 meals, worked 281 hours, have written five lessons, made 128 changes in this website and slept 267 hours.  How about you?

Now think about what was happening to Jesus in the wilderness.  We know that Jesus fasted these forty days (Matthew 4:2 and Luke 4:2) that is 120 meals not eaten.  I know how I get when I just miss one meal, think of not eating for all these days.  Think of the hunger pains, headaches and weakness caused by the lack of nourishment.  The lack of the necessities of life, food in this case, can cause us not to think clearly and loose control over our minds and things we would say.  Both Matthew and Luke say that Jesus fasted the forty days and then Satan tempted him.  Of course that would be the time that mortal man would be at his weakest.  This would be the time when not thinking clearly a man could easily be tempted and won over.

Have you ever missed a meal or two?  Remember how your body took control over your thoughts and emotions?  Remember how the only thing on your mind was to eat and nothing else mattered?  Have you ever fasted for a day?  The body drives home the point that your are a weak vessel and without food you will certainly die.

There is a passage in the book of Genesis that points this out very clearly.  Turn in your bible to Genesis 25:29-33 And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.  And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?  And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.

We do not know how long Esau was without food but we know he was hungry.  He asked Jacob for some food and Jacob bargained for his birthright.  A small bargaining session happened and Esau traded his birthright for basically a bowl of soup.  He bargained and sold his birthright of all things!  The inheritance was divided equally between all the sons except the eldest, who received a double portion (birthright).  But that is not all.  His action in giving away his birthright gave up so much more.   The birthright; that right which belonged to the first-born, on the death of his father, to the government and spiritual instruction of the family, officiating as their priest, offering sacrifices, and thus securing the blessings with which the performance of these duties would be connected. A double share of the inheritance also fell to him.  So Esau traded away half his fortune, position in the local government, and priestly position in the family all for a bowl of soup.

Yes hunger can do strange things to mortal man.  But Jesus wasn’t just hungry; he was also stripped of everything he had in the world.  In the desert, Jesus had no bed to comfortably sleep on, no chair to sit and relax on.  He had no bath or shower to refresh with and nothing to help get him over the boredom of his current position in the desert.

But Jesus was not mere mortal.  He was God and Man at the same time.  As Satan came to him after the forty day fast, the time Jesus should have been at his weakest, Satan tempted him with three recorded items:

• If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

• If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

• Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

In 1 John 2:14-17 we read that sins can really be divided into three areas, For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.  Satan started off tempting him where he was the weakest first, food.  When that failed he tempted him in another area of weakness, his strength.  When that failed he tempted him in his understanding, worship Satan and he would give him all the kingdoms of the world.  Satan tempted him in these three areas, and Jesus repeated scripture to Satan.  In doing so Jesus spoke the truth and Satan had no alternative but to try another angle.  Remember, Satan’s first tempting was with Eve.  He questioned Gods command with reason and Eve and Adam succumbed.  Here Jesus merely quoted scripture.  No room for reason or earthly wisdom.  Just scripture.

Jesus passed all three of the recorded tests.  This was a big win in the vernacular of the sporting world.  Jesus passed the test.  These four words, Jesus passed the test, crams 960 hours of hunger, desert dirty living conditions, left alone with no one to talk to only your own thoughts and pain of hunger into them.  In these two verses we see how strong a God we worship.  The writer of the book of Hebrews uses some powerful words to help us in our times of trials and tribulations.

Hebrews 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

When you are going through trials of your own, try quoting scripture and see if the path you are to take doesn’t become very clear.

This week was one of those for me.  Through some political wrangling, half of my responsibilities were removed and given to a subordinate of mine.  At first I was hurt and asking, “Why me?”  I prayed to God asking and this passage came to mind of Jesus being tempted.  I had eaten meals and my strength was up.  I had slept on my pillow top bed in comfort.  I had showered and put on clean and pressed cloths and I realized that I was not in any way being tempted like Jesus was.  Oh sure my position was weakened.  And all sorts of hurt feelings and thoughts of passing the blame to others crossed my mind.  And then it hit me like a ton of bricks.  Who is in charge here, Jesus or me?  The answer of course was Jesus, he is my shepherd and he leadeth me.  So I prayed asking how I was to handle this current situation.  I found my solace in Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

This is hard to practice, as you probably know.  Vengeance is much easier because those around you can jump on that bandwagon with you.  But to do good to those who used lies and deceptions against me was a very bitter pill to swallow.  But I took my medicine and immediately the clouds of despair left.  The quagmire was solidified and the path became very clear.  My mind was rewarded with the knowledge that earthly things will pass away but our witness will remain.  The situation is still there, but I can say that I have moved to another level and have peace about how God is in control!  It is only through trials and tribulations that we can understand the pure joy of John 16:33.

"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

 

ã 2002 bobsbiblestudies