Reflections on Mark's Gospel - Mark 1:12

The Spirit drove Jesus into the Wilderness

This account features key characteristics of Mark's writing - brevity, and the use of "immediately".

The dramatic commissioning for ministry did not provide Jesus with a moment's rest. He is sent on his first assignment - to the wilderness.

The word "εκβαλλει" that is translated "he/she/it drove him out" is the same word used when Jesus "cast out" demons. It is a word of power and direction, but not necessarily violence. Jesus was left with no doubt as to where the Spirit wanted him to go.

The wilderness is a place where Jesus (and others) were tested to prove they were equal to the assignment that God (the Father) had given them.

The nation of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years - failing again and again before God let them into the promised land. As the new representative of the "people of God", would Jesus do the same?

The wilderness also represents the place where John the Baptist was based. He baptised in the Jordan, away from the centres of power, but he lived in the wilderness. To qualify as John's successor (and superior!) Jesus did not submit to the (corrupt) powers of the day, he withdrew from them, like John, but what he experienced qualified him for ministry.

Jesus did not prove himself in the "corridors of power", but far from them.