To the Desert

Last week it was mountaintops and this week, the first Sunday of Lent, we go to the desert. Mark tells us that after his baptism, Jesus is driven into the desert by the Spirit. Driven, not led by, enticed, or moved by, no Jesus is driven into the desert. Driven is a word that we might use with cattle as we drive them in from the fields. It's not a word that we would necessarily associate with the work of the Holy Spirit, or even think that Jesus could be driven.

But that is what Mark tells us.  Jesus is driven into the desert, before Mark lets him speak a single word, before he is able to start to gather followers, before he is able to start to describe the kingdom he is bringing, to share any good news, he is driven to the desert.

We'll spend some time thinking about that desert experience this Sunday and wonder together how Jesus beginning his ministry, beginning his journey to the cross, touches our desert experiences.