Gospel of Mark Series: Chapter 1 Section 2: Jesus in the desert

Welcome to my Gospel of Mark Series. During 2012-13, each week, I will write a post about the Gospel of Mark as I review and explore each of the 16 chapters and how it may be applied in our daily lives. My goal is to understand and pray the Gospel of Mark.  I hope you will join me on this journey as we travel through the liturgical season of Year B.

In today's post, we explore chapter 1:12-13 which is Jesus in the desert.

Driven by God's Spirit, Jesus goes to the desert to confront Satan, the source of dehumanising evil.  We are shown what the Messiah is sent to do, defeat Satan in his own territory. In the Bible, the desert was the place of testing for the Isralites on theri way to the promised land (Ex 32:8). ti was the place of loneliness where the beasts lived.  It was the home of evil powers, which the wild beast symplised.  Saintan, the pricnce of vevil, and opponent of God lived there.  Yet the desert is also the place where Moses spoke with God on the mountain for forty days (ex 34:28), and the place hwer eht epprophet Elijah travelled for forty days to the holy mountain on the strenth of the food given him by an angel (1 Kings 19:8).

Here we see the true indentity of Jesus, one bringing divine power against Satain, one who can be with the beasts, symbols of suffering and violent persecution (Dan 7), like a new Adame controlling them, and one whom God strengthens by angels.  In Jesus, God deals with evil and creates again.

The interior spiritual experience of Jesus in the desert is left for our devotion to discover.  He was in the desert for forty days.  Unlike the chosen people of God in the Old Testament, Jesus remains faithful.

In our journal and/or our discussion group we may wish to reflect on this passage as follows:

• Name the key points that you have learnt about the person of Jesus in this passage of scripture?
• Reflect on all the key points that you have learnt about the person of Jesus as introduced by Mark.
• Ponder how the Holy Spirit, which comes to Jesus at the river, stirs in him the desire to confront Satan, the enemy of all that is human.
• Consider Satan, the beasts, and the angels as symbols to express what Jesus experienced in the desert when he went to be tested by Satan.
• Reflect on a time in your life where you have felt the conversion of heart after you have struggled with Satan and the forces of evil?
• How can I replicate the experience of the desert and what would I hope to achieve by doing it?
• What do the 3 symbols mean to me in my life?
• Feel the tension between the Holy Spirit and the desert, both of which are prominent in all thre episodes of the prologue (1:2-13)
• How do I expereince the angels waiting on me in times of temptation? 
• What is my attitude to the sacrament of reconciliation- what problems (if any) do I encounter when I think of this sacrament?
• Make a list of areas in my life that need a change of heart and develop an action plan on how this change of heart might occur. (eg name an area and name one/two changes that you will implement with God's help.
• What impact does Jesus in the desert have on you (1:12-13). .
• How has this passage spoken to you- what does it say to you personally?

It is important to remember that St Mark wishes us to know the person of Jesus. 

What does this passage of scripture tell you about the person of Jesus?