David J. Collum

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Day 5: Selling Jesus (Mark 1:9-13)

Today’s Passage: Mark 1:9-13


I worry that we are “selling a version of Jesus” which comes across that following Him is mainly a way of solving our problems. That following Jesus is about making life better—even enjoyable—and all for ourselves.

Please don’t misunderstand me, there are many benefits to following Jesus. And God’s Word in John 10:10 is where Jesus says He has come to give us an abundant life (in this world and the next). 

Abundance comes as we follow Jesus and know we are secure about God’s love for us, which enable’s us to love God and love our neighbor. All of this is His Grace and only possible by and through Him. In the end, following Jesus is not at all “about us”.

Abundance is less about our physical bank account, and more about our spiritual one.

Consider what Mark does in this bit of his Gospel. 

He links Jesus’ baptism and temptation. The baptism was a moment, the temptations were in a desert for 40 days. 

I am not sure how often you read the Bible or hear messages about the Bible.

For me, verses 9-13 are rarely “handled” together. I typically hear messages about Jesus’ baptism, or Jesus’ temptation.

If your Bible is like mine, you probably even have subtitles that breaks up the text between verse 11 and verse 12.

What if we read and think about these all together, what might we hear?

We read that as Jesus comes up out of the waters of baptism, the Father speaks, and the Spirit descends. Jesus is called Son, even beloved Son. It is an amazing scene. Do you think Jesus is knowing He is secure in the Father’s love? I do.

We could ponder that bit more, yet the very next sentence reads that the Spirit immediately drove Jesus into the wilderness to face Satan’s temptations.

What do you make of this “unified scene”? If we want to understand what temptations Jesus faced, and how he handled them, we can go to Matthew or Luke’s version. They both spend considerable time with that situation. 

Mark on the other hand does not. Together, these verses show God’s love and acceptance of Jesus and Satan’s immediate reaction. He shows up to tempt.

I can hear Satan, just when Jesus was hungry, asking, “Did He really say you were beloved, well, let’s prove it…”

The same dynamic is true for us.

“There is also a spiritual battle between good and evil into which the disciple of Jesus is drawn. In that context we survive by obedience to God’s will and by drawing on the spiritual sustenance provided in worship and fellowship, Bible reading and prayer, preaching and sacrament.” (The Message of Mark, Donald English)

I worry we are “selling the wrong sort of Jesus”, so that when people do accept Him as Savior, they are unprepared to follow Him into the inevitable battle as Lord.

Faithful discipleship is more about following God than about feeling good. 

When you think of following Jesus, what is the main benefit you think you receive? How is Jesus helping you in this world?