THE BAPTISM AND TEMPTATION OF JESUS
The Gospel of Mark #2
Pastor Dennis Clanton
Woodland Church
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
(Mark 1:9–13, NLT) “One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.” The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness, where he was tempted by Satan for forty days. He was out among the wild animals, and angels took care of him.”
LIFE CENTERED AROUND SCRIPTURE.
JESUS IS THE CENTER OF IT ALL!
1. Jesus submitted to baptism for God’s plan and purpose for the world.
(Mark 10:38, NLT) “Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?”
2. The heavens are split apart.
(Isaiah 64:1, NLT) “Oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down! How the mountains would quake in your presence!”
3. The Holy Spirit descends.
(Isaiah 11:2, NLT) “And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”
4. The voice from heaven.
(Genesis 22:18, NLT) “And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”
5. The testing in the wilderness.
(Genesis 2:19, NLT) “So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one.”
(Isaiah 11:6–9, NLT) “In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all. The cow will graze near the bear. The cub and the calf will lie down together. The lion will eat hay like a cow. The baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra. Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm. Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for as the waters fill the sea, so the earth will be filled with people who know the Lord.”
6. Jesus defeats Satan and the rest of the Gospel is the release of the captives.
(Mark 1:12–13, ESV) “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.”
“No; it was none of these. Rather, as Dinur explained to Wallace, all at once he realized Eichmann was not the godlike army officer who had sent so many to their deaths. This Eichmann was an ordinary man. “I was afraid about myself,” said Dinur. “I saw that I am capable to do this. I am … exactly like he.” Wallace’s subsequent summation of Dinur’s terrible discovery—“Eichmann is in all of us”—is a horrifying statement; but it indeed captures the central truth about man’s nature. For as a result of the fall, sin is in each of us—not just the susceptibility to sin, but sin itself.” – Charles Colson, Who Speaks for God?, pp 27-28
a. From the face of God to face the devil.
b. The Roman Christians faced the wild animals.
c. Emotional, physical, and environmental loneliness led to three temptations.
i. Character
ii. Creativity
iii. Communion
JESUS’ VICTORY IS OUR VICTORY!
(Galatians 2:20, NLT) “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
“Well, when he comes knocking upon the door of my heart, and asks ‘Who lives here?’ the dear Lord Jesus goes to the door and says, ‘Martin Luther used to live here, but he has moved out. Now I live here.” – Martin Luther