Wilderness Wonderings

“I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way—a voice of one calling in the wilderness.” Mark 1:2

Big events require lots of preparation, and the planning often starts at the site. Wedding coordinators count pews in churches and tables in reception halls and concert organizers pace stages for lighting and sound options, but when God wanted to get the world ready for Jesus, He didn’t send someone to check out barns in Bethlehem, He led an odd prophet out to the wilderness.

It wasn’t Christ’s birth that actually got big billing but the beginning of His ministry, and the Father chose a cousin of the Son to kick things off.  Maybe John the Baptist wasn’t odd, but his wardrobe was weird (“John wore clothing made of camel’s hair”) and his diet was different (“He ate locusts and wild honey”Mk 1:6).  However, it was John’s message that made maximum impact—“After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.  I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit”(Mk 1:7-8).

Of all the interesting facts about this fore-runner of Jesus, what fascinates me most is his location—the wilderness.  John knew it was the place to be because such had been prophesied by Isaiah centuries before. “As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way—a voice of one calling in the wilderness”(Mk 1:2, Isaiah 40:3), so Mark tells us from the start, “John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”(Mk 1:4).

But why the wilderness?  Why not shout the good news from a crowded corner in the city or a busy crossroads in the country? Why have the person sharing the most hopeful words the world had ever heard be in a place so bleak and barren?

Because we are.

We don’t like to admit it and the world does its best to ignore it, but the fact remains that without Jesus our lives are desolate and deserted.  Our days might be filled with a flurry of activities, but ultimately and eternally they will be unfruitful and unfulfilling.  Because God knew that the distractions and delights of the city kept the crowd temporarily satisfied and occupied, He put John the Baptist in the wilderness so that as “the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him(Mk 1:5), the landscape change from lush to lonely would be a silent but strong symbol of their own barren hearts.

Even after God’s grace has rescued us from the wilderness of separation from Him, we sometimes find ourselves in sparse, lonely places of spirit, feeling isolated, empty, and bare.  Whether we are there by the consequences of our own rebellious choices, the hard and hurtful decisions of others, or the providentially allowed circumstances of life, we can be certain that God’s grace calls to us in the desert promising repentance and restoration or relief and rest.  Though like John, we know we are “not worthy to even stoop down and untie his sandals”(Mk 1:7), God set aside His glory to step into our lowly world and lift us up.

The next time you find yourself in the wilderness, fear not.  Let its starkness crowd you to Christ, and know that the wild glory and grace of God can make the harshest places holy.

And be glad you don’t have to wear camel’s hair!