Devotion: The Spirit leads the Messiah

At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness (Mark 1:12).

I’ve always thought of Mark as the action movie of the gospels. He gives us one scene after another, with very little rest in between. In our passage today, we have Jesus’ baptism, forty days in the wilderness, temptation, John’s arrest, the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and ‘repent and believe’. All of that happens in seven verses. We also see the Holy Spirit at work, descending on Jesus at his baptism and leading Jesus into the wilderness. I believe Mark wants us to understand that the Spirit keeps doing this – leading Jesus from one scene to another. Mark is eager to show us that Jesus is the promised Messiah and that as we see who he is, we, too, will want to follow the Spirit’s lead and follow Jesus.

Having put our trust in Jesus, we have peace with God; we have eternal life; we have so much – but we are not promised a trouble-free life. We sometimes forget that ‘to follow’ means to go through the same things the person you are following has gone through. We see in the gospels that Jesus faced many difficulties. He went through hunger, thirst, weariness, suffering, betrayal, and so much more. Remember Mark 8:34 (take up your cross). Of course, Jesus had many good times with friends and family; he enjoyed many a good meal with good conversation and, no doubt, enjoyed much of the good creation (that he created).

Like Jesus, the Spirit is going to lead us through various action scenes. We are going to go through glorious times and challenging times – and even devastating times. As we do, remember that we are not the action star – Jesus is! The Holy Spirit, whom we received in our baptism, is with us. Jesus promised he would never leave us. We are the precious children of our Heavenly Father.

Heavenly Father, thank you for fulfilling your promises and sending Israel’s Messiah – my dear Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Help me to follow your Spirit’s leading so that my life may be based on repenting and believing in Jesus. In his mighty name, I pray. Amen.

Devotion written by Pastor Jim Strelan

Prayer Points

We pray for the Australian Lutheran World Service and Uniting World and give thanks for their work to help war affected communities.

We give thanks for opportunity to build relationships with our supporting churches and their communities.

We pray for the Cely Pineda, Cinzah and Cohlung families.

Micah Award

Alexandra for showing compassion and service.

Olivia for showing compassion and courage