Crushing Chaosਨਮੂਨਾ

FROM THE DESERT TO THE GARDEN

In the Bible, humans who have tamed their inner monsters (such as Noah and Daniel) have authority to dwell in peace with the beasts of the field. That’s the context we need to appreciate the description of Jesus’s temptation narrative found in Mark 1:12–13: “The Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.”

In a world where jealousy, lust, and vengeance, have robbed humans of their humanity and turned them into animals, Jesus was in the wilderness taming the wild beasts and demonstrating His ability to tame His own appetite.

Not only does Jesus go out into the desert to demonstrate His authority over His flesh, He enters the wilderness to confront Satan. He is following the outline laid out by the Father—to move the cosmos from Chaos into Order.

Many of us have attempted to tame animals but have never tamed our lusts. We desire control over others, but we lack self-control. And whenever we become obsessed with controlling externals as opposed to internal matters, we create chaos. In fact, much of our anxiety is rooted in our desire to control things that aren’t in our control and never will be.

Another detail connects the chaos language from Genesis to Mark’s gospel. The same word for “cast out” in Genesis 3:24 is used in Mark 1:12 to describe Jesus being “cast out” into the wilderness. Adam and Eve are expelled out of the garden. Jesus is expelled into the wilderness. Adam and Eve eat the fruit in the garden. So, Jesus fasts in the wilderness. Adam and Eve fail to subdue the animal within the garden. So, Jesus subdues the animal within and without.

Jesus was driven out so that we could be brought back in. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The wilderness is not our fate. We’re not stuck out in the desert. We can return to the garden and find rest for our souls.

Lord, help me to grow in self-control even as I let go of what I can’t control. Because of You, I can enter into Order and peace, no matter my circumstances. Amen.