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JESUS IN THE WILDERNESS
Finding Your
True Self
Ellis
Orozco
The
wilderness experience has a long history in Judaism as the place of suffering,
testing, and preparation.
Moses
fled into the wilderness to escape death in Egypt (Exodus 2:15).
It was in
that wilderness he heard the call of God (Exodus
3:1-2).
And
eventually, Moses led the people into that same wilderness where they lived as
nomadic tribes for forty years.
It was
his wilderness experience that prepared Moses to lead the people out of
slavery, and it was their collective wilderness experience that gave them the
Law and prepared them to conquer the Promised Land.
THE WILDERNESS AND JUDAISM
The book of Numbers, which is entirely devoted to chronicling
this experience, describes the harsh environment of the wilderness and how it
led to Israel’s spiritual development as a nation.
Rabbi Irwin Kula explains:
The true goal of the Exodus was
to take Egypt out of the Israelites. The experience of the seemingly endless
journey transformed a people — crushed, frightened, subservient and dependent —
into a people with initiative, self-respect, anger at oppression and even
militancy. The Israelites at the Jordan are a very different people from the
one that left Egypt. They are ready to fight their own battles. They are a
community committed to one another and to the covenant that binds them
together.
Bamidbar [the book of Numbers]
reminds us that wherever we live, there is a better place, a world more
attractive, a promised land, but the way to that land is through the
wilderness.
The Hebrew post-slavery wilderness experience, then, was
particularly formative. But it didn’t end there.
David also fled to the wilderness to escape the murderous
threats of Saul (1 Samuel 23:14).
He lived in caves, always on the run. He organized a band of
fighting men who bought into his vision for Israel.
Together they survived in the wilderness under constant threat
from the most powerful man in the land.
It was the relationships David built in the wilderness that
forged friendships he would keep to the end of his life.
It was his wilderness experience that forged the character that
sustained David throughout his many trials as King of Israel.
It was in the wilderness that God saw Hagar, rescued her, and
promised to make her child into a great nation (Genesis 21:8-21).
It was in the wilderness that God sent an angel to feed,
encourage and replenish a terrified and suicidal Elijah, fleeing the murderous
threats of Queen Jezebel (1 Kings 19:1-9).
And, it was to the wilderness that Jeremiah longed to escape
from a lying and violent nation (Jeremiah 9:2).
The wilderness, then, was a place to escape the pressures of the
world, and find God’s reassuring presence, strength, care, and provision (Nehemiah
9:21; Jeremiah 9:2; Psalm 55:5-7).
It was the place where God prepared his people to do great
things.
Perhaps the Psalmist best
describes the role of the wilderness in Israel’s history when he sings, “But
he [God] brought his people out like a flock; he led them like sheep through
the wilderness” (Psalm 78:52).
God didn't lead Israel into the wilderness to get them out of
Egypt, but to get Egypt out of them.
CONCLUSIONS: THE WILDERNESS IN
THE OLD TESTAMENT
In the Old Testament, the wilderness was:
· A place to temporarily escape the pressures of life.
· A place to find strength from God.
· A place to find strength from God.
· A place to discover more about yourself.
· A place that builds character.
· A place that prepares you for the future.
THE WILDERNESS AND THE LIFE OF JESUS
“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16).
Jesus spent more time in the wilderness than most realize. He began
his life as a spiritual leader under the ministry of John the Baptist.
John was a priestly-prophet who lived in the wilderness (Luke 1:80) and preached a baptism of repentance for
the forgiveness of sins (Luke 3:1-6).
He was the one that the prophets spoke of who would be a forerunner to
the Messiah, “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the
way for the Lord, make straight paths for him’” (Luke 3:3).
John formed a community that lived an ascetic lifestyle in the
wilderness (Matthew 3:4).
Jesus was part of that community (John
1:29-34).
Jesus spent the first part of his spiritual journey, literally, living
in a wilderness experience.
After his baptism, Jesus was pushed further into the wilderness by the
Spirit (Matthew 4:1).
He was there for forty days and forty nights (the biblical language
that means, “a really long time”).
This was a defining experience for his life. It was this wilderness
experience that solidified his understanding of both his identity and mission.
This wilderness experience prepared him to follow God at all costs.
In this wilderness experience Jesus felt the full weight of the power
of Satan, and at the same time, the full concentration of God’s sustaining
love.
Jesus was tested, spent, and replenished in the wilderness.
This wilderness experience was common for the first-century Jewish
sage. Rabbi Kerry Olitzky writes:
For the Rabbis, the desert, the wilderness is actually a
desirable place to be — very different than what the English words perhaps imply.
In our parlance, the words conjure images of desolation and helplessness. In
the Rabbis’ view, however, the desert is a place where we can see more clearly,
unencumbered by other distractions. The desert reflects freedom and uncluttered
vision, allowing us to take stock of our lives and ourselves in an environment
devoid of outside pressures.
The famous temptation experience was not Jesus’ last time in the
wilderness.
In fact, spending time in the wilderness was a regular practice for
Jesus. He would get up early in the morning, before even fishermen, in order to
get alone time in the wilderness (Mark
1:25).
At a certain point in his own Galilean ministry, he could no longer
enter heavily populated areas and returned to living in a small village near the
wilderness (John 11:54).
No doubt, so that he could make regular excursions into that sacred
space – the space that would become a metaphor for rest, security and God’s
salvation (Revelation 12:14).
CONCLUSIONS: THE WILDERNESS AND JESUS
For Jesus, the wilderness was:
· A place of testing.
· A place of introspection.
· A place of preparation.
· A place of replenishing.
· A place of security.
I hope you can see the importance of the sacred space called, The
Wilderness.
There are several general topics that I hope to write about in dealing
with your time in The Wilderness.
In doing so, I hope to bring Jesus’ wilderness experience into
21st-century language. That’s always a dangerous endeavor. But, in this case,
worth the risk.
About Ellis
Orozco
I am a
pastor, writer, and teacher. I want to help you dig deep into the life of
Jesus, uncovering who he truly was in order to find the spiritual strength to
live a strong, confident life and make a lasting impact on the world.
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