Bethany Bullet - February 29, 2012

Mark 1:9-15

Jesus had joined Jerusalem at the Jordan River; He, Himself had gone under the surface and risen as one baptized by John. Without any transition, without any interspersed action, and without any additional information we find that Jesus went from the water to the wilderness. He was just at the place most associated with lavish liquid (the Jordan) and all of a sudden He goes to the place most associated with an absence of ‘agua’.

From Baptisms wet grace to a barren wilderness place, our Lord has gone.

Of course, it isn’t just liquid He lacks - He is without company, let alone a cohort or better yet some chums. At this point in the Gospel narrative, John the Baptist’s ministry has been public, he’s been baptizing by the hundreds (perhaps thousands); however, Jesus has yet to gather His first follower, let alone the entire dozen (disciples). Jesus’ public ministry has yet to begin. Of course disciples are not all He is deprived of - Jesus goes without for 40 days…

V 40 days without human connection and touch,

V 40 days without someone to share a meal with,

V And 40 days without a meal itself!

Have you found yourself going without?

• Maybe it’s a meal you’re lacking or someone to dine with.
• Perhaps you’ve found yourself in the desert of depleted wellness and the wilderness of an empty wallet.
• Maybe you’ve found yourself with the arid atmosphere of limited physical contact or the emotional lack of anyone who you know will be there to catch you should you fall.
• Perhaps your body, your company, or your family has been ravaged by worry about the future, warring spouses, and weakened zeal.

The desert east of the Jordan is not the only wilderness our Lord journeys to in Lent!

In the Lent of daily life, Jesus enters the barren place in which He finds His children (the one you find yourself in) and our Lord comes as refuge for the ravaged.

-Pastor Kevin Kritzer