The Desert is a Gift

When Jesus sprung out of the water at his baptism, the Holy Spirit descended, the clouds parted, the sun seemed to focus into a single ray that shone on Jesus' face and these thunderous words were heard from heaven, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  

The next verse indicates that Jesus is then "cast out" by the Spirit of God into the desert "to be tempted by the devil."  The word interpreted "drove" in the book of Mark is the same word he uses to describe a demon being "cast out."  In a very real sense, Jesus' entrance into the desert was not one that he would've chosen for himself.  The Spirit of God thrust him into a very unfamiliar place.  While we do know that Jesus was willing, we can assume that he may not have been feeling particularly excited about entering a wilderness, where there is no food, water, or people to rely on.  The feeling of the desert is loneliness, homelessness, restlessness and directionlessness.  The desert is a place of wandering.  There are no handholds. Everything that you have relied on in the past is gone.  There is no place to rest your head. You are scared. You are desperate.  You are needy.  You are hungry, tired, hopeless, and overwhelmed.  This is why the Spirit of God had to drive Jesus there.   It was not a place that Jesus would've chose for himself.   Jesus may have been willing, but the desert was not his top pick of a reward for being the beloved and pleasing Son of God. 

The only things/persons that Mark records being in the desert are Satan, the wild beasts, the angels, and the Spirit of God.  There were enemies and allies; nothing else is in the desert.  So what is the desert for? Why would God announce the belovedness and pleasantness of his Son and then send him to such a loveless and unpleasant place?  

Maybe the answer lies in a change of perspective.  Maybe, just maybe, the Spirit's perspective of the desert is much different than our own.  In the eyes of the Spirit, the desert was the best thing for Jesus. In the eyes of the Spirit, the desert was a gift!

The desert was a gift because it was a place of identity-formation. The announcement of Jesus' belovedness and pleasantness was not enough; Jesus needed to experience the truth of his newly announced identity.  The desert was the place where he found out who he was apart from all the props of life.  Prior to the desert Jesus had his family, the community, the synagogue, and Jewish culture to support who he was.  But in the desert, he had nothing to rely on.  The only two things in the desert were Satan and the Spirit. Jesus had to choose to believe that he was still beloved and pleasant to the Father even though his circumstances and emotions spoke otherwise.  Nothing in the desert gives you evidence that you are loved. In fact, the desert feels more like punishment than love, more like abandonment than withness.  It is exactly this that forms our identity: can I trust that I am still loved and that he is still with me even in the midst of dryness and pain? Jesus' choice to rely on the Spirit and believe the truth of his identity even in the desert was crucial to his effectiveness in ministry.  Jesus' entire ministry would be built on and sustained by the reliance and truth he learned in the desert.  In the desert, Jesus was being prepared for Spirit-filled ministry.

The desert was also a place of intimacy with God.  Contrary to how we may see the desert, God saw it as a place to be alone with Jesus. The invitation was not an invitation to loneliness, but union.  It was not a place of homelessness, but of finally being at home in one's own skin.  It was not a place of restlessness, but of quiet rest on the Father's chest.  It was not a place of directionlessness, but a  path towards a lifetime of purposeful engagement with the Father. Jesus was not alone, he was alone with God.  Jesus was not abandoned, he was being drawn closer. The invitation of the desert is an invitation to intimacy.  

  

So then, if you are feeling like God is casting you into a desert, like there is nothing to hold onto, do not resist. You may not want to go, but realize that it is not punishment. God is not sending you into the corner for a time-out, he is driving you straight into his firm embrace.  God is waiting for you in the wilderness.  God is longing for intimacy with his beloved and well-pleasing sons and daughters. He wants you to experience the truth of your identity as beloved.  He wants to be with you.  He wants you.  So as we are confronted with the desert, let us willingly accept the invitation.  Let us be led headlong into intimacy with the Father.