The Spirit leads the Messiah
by Pastor Glenn Crouch
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At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness (Mark 1:12).
Read Mark 1:9–15
I’ve always thought of Mark as the action movie of the gospels. He gives us one scene after another, with very little rest in between. In our passage today, we have Jesus’ baptism, forty days in the wilderness, temptation, John’s arrest, the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and ‘repent and believe’. All of that happens in seven verses. We also see the Holy Spirit at work, descending on Jesus at his baptism and leading Jesus into the wilderness. I believe Mark wants us to understand that the Spirit keeps doing this – leading Jesus from one scene to another. Mark is eager to show us that Jesus is the promised Messiah and that as we see who he is, we, too, will want to follow the Spirit’s lead and follow Jesus.
Having put our trust in Jesus, we have peace with God; we have eternal life; we have so much – but we are not promised a trouble-free life. We sometimes forget that ‘to follow’ means to go through the same things the person you are following has gone through. We see in the gospels that Jesus faced many difficulties. He went through hunger, thirst, weariness, suffering, betrayal, and so much more. Remember Mark 8:34 (take up your cross). Of course, Jesus had many good times with friends and family; he enjoyed many a good meal with good conversation and, no doubt, enjoyed much of the good creation (that he created).
Like Jesus, the Spirit is going to lead us through various action scenes. We are going to go through glorious times and challenging times – and even devastating times. As we do, remember that we are not the action star – Jesus is! The Holy Spirit, whom we received in our baptism, is with us. Jesus promised he would never leave us. We are the precious children of our Heavenly Father.
Heavenly Father, thank you for fulfilling your promises and sending Israel’s Messiah – my dear Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Help me to follow your Spirit’s leading so that my life may be based on repenting and believing in Jesus. In his mighty name, I pray. Amen.
Glenn is the pastor of St John’s Lutheran Church in Esperance and also looks after St Paul’s Lutheran Church in Kalgoorlie–Boulder. Glenn has been married to Karen for 38 years, and they have two grown sons – and their first grandchild is on the way (due March 2024).
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