Devotional Part 2

08 Mar 2021

In the Wilderness?

Jesus is baptised not merely with water but also with the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:10-11). Whatever Jesus relationship was with the Spirit prior to His baptism, this event marks a change in that relationship and a turning point in Messiah’s life and ministry.

Messiah was baptised in the Spirit so that all who believe may also be so baptised.

The Spirit immediately drives Messiah into the wilderness where He was tempted (v13) This unmistakably calls to mind the wilderness wanderings of Israel.

The wilderness was the place where God taught Israel to obey Him in faith, surrender to His will, and rely upon Him for all things. They went where He led and when He led. When the cloud moved, they moved. When the cloud rested, they rested. They ate mana from heaven and drank water from a rock.

It is just so with Messiah, the true Israel. He is led by the Spirit into the wilderness where He is tempted.

But how was He tempted? Well, to answer that question would require a study of the accounts of the other evangelists, something that would distract us from the focal point of this study, suffice it to say that He was tempted in His flesh.

Messiah was led into the wilderness to be tempted in the flesh?

Yes, but more than this, He was led, as were Israel, into the wilderness to learn obedience, faith, surrender, and total reliance on the Father by the power of the Spirit.

The wilderness is not necessarily God’s rebuke to His people, it can also be His training ground. It is the place where God trains us to overcome the flesh.

If you feel that you are in the wilderness it is not necessarily because God is done with you, far from it. You are on His training ground being drilled as a good soldier, learning the art of war so that you may wage war against the flesh - and win!