In a way, this passage is a very emotional one for me, as I read the first few verses detailing the baptism of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit descending on Him like a dove, that's very cool, and the voice of God saying "You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy." Then the spirit 'compelled' "Jesus to go into the wilderness, where he was tempted by Satan for forty days" vs. 12-13 Other gospels go into greater detail of the temptation of Jesus, but Mark .. but Mark's gospel goes toward the relationship that Jesus had with John the Baptist, and it's a quiet lament. John gets arrested, and the first words of Jesus in Mark's gospel is in vs. 15 "The time promised by God has come at last!" he announced. As an ode to the words of John the Baptist He says "The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good news."
Jesus had been on that spiritual 'high' of receiving not only the Holy Spirit, but also an affirmation from God, and then He went into the desert to experience the 'valley's' as it were ... This prepared Him for ministry that would go against the cultural grain, and built his character enough to stand the test of the crucifixion.
As a believer trials will come at us from everywhere, there will be tests of faith, but God has given us His strength and assurance to overcome those obstacles.
What I really gained out of this passage as I read it for myself this morning, is Christ's love for John, the fact that His first words in the book of Mark, was re-emphasizing John's message. John's preaching of those words would land him in jail, and eventually death, and here Christ speaks those words, that would through His ministry eventually lead Him to the cross. Wild eh?
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