In the Desolate Places

Readings for this meditation: Mark 1:32-end and Exodus 39:1-21

“Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.” - Mark 1:45b

Jesus has become so in demand among the crowds that he is helping, that he has to go outside of the populated areas, into the “desolate places” and let the people come to him to be healed. Of course, in this case, Mark is speaking of literal desolate places, the wilderness, places that are unsuitable for life to flourish. Not many of us have much experience with the literal wilderness, but in these recent days, we’ve all become more acquainted with that feeling of strangeness and exposure that the wilderness brings, even as we remain in places that are familiar.

It’s probably not typical for most of us to think of our homes as desolate places, but here in the midst of quarantine, when we are separated from one another, even our home can begin to feel like a desolate place. 

As Christians, we proclaim in the midst of these trials that Jesus Christ is there, even in our desolate place, if we will seek him. 

To see this, let’s get back to the Gospel and see why Jesus was in the literal desolate places in the first place. Jesus’ ministry of healing people of both their spiritual and physical sickness has made him so popular that he can no longer go into the towns that he comes across. Instead, people come to him to be healed. His work has been so successful that he has to remove himself from the population centers. Jesus is in demand, because the power that he has is real and it is changing lives. 

We see things like this from time to time in our culture, things that capture our collective imagination, things that dominate our news feeds, things that promise to bring the real change that we want to see in the world. But this with Jesus, this is something different. Jesus isn’t just providing a product or a service; he is making people whole by casting out demons and healing them of their diseases, showing us that God cares for not just our souls, but our bodies as well. We see that Jesus is not motivated by money or by fame. In fact, he instructs those whom he has healed to not mention what he has done. It is almost as if Jesus wants to keep news of his ministry under wraps, because the time was not yet right for him to reveal himself to the authorities in Jerusalem. No, Jesus wasn’t trying to band together a revolution, he wasn’t trying to form a club, nor was he drumming up support for the family carpentry business. Jesus was proclaiming the Kingdom of God. 

Verse 38 of Mark 1 tells us that Jesus’ intention was to preach in the places that he visited. This preaching that Jesus was doing is very closely connected with the healing he is also doing. The Kingdom that he proclaims is found in his deeds as much as it is found in his words. And while we don’t have in this chapter the exact words of Jesus’ preaching, though we can find it elsewhere in the Gospels, the message of Jesus’ actions in this chapter is clear: the Kingdom he is bringing about in himself is a kingdom of God’s healing presence with us. His kingdom heals and brings wholeness to bodies, hearts, minds, and souls.

One good way for us to interpret the Scriptures is to look to Jesus as the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures. Exodus 39 is largely about a breastplate that the metalworkers of Israel made for the chief priest, who at that time was Moses’ brother Aaron. On this breastplate, there were 12 gemstones, one for each of the tribes of Israel, each with a name of a different tribe inscribed on it. In Exodus 28, when God commands that this breastplate be put together, he says that when Aaron goes into God’s presence, the breastplate is a way in which Aaron will bring the people into the presence of God, a major function of Aaron’s role as priest. 

If we look at Jesus as the fulfillment of the Scriptures, as the fulfillment of the Old Testament office of priesthood, we see him as the one who brings us, the people, into God’s presence, as Aaron brought the people before God on the jeweled breastplate. But not only does Jesus bring us into the presence of God, he is God and he comes to be present with us. The union of God and God’s people is the role of a priest. Jesus, the higher, better, true priest, embodies that union from the very beginning of his ministry, preaching, healing, and casting out demons. And so these two very different images, jewels on a breastplate and a man out in the desolate places healing people, are in a way very similar. They are instances of God uniting with his people. 

Today, you may feel far from God. Maybe, like many of us, you are stuck in your home and you miss your friends, your family, you miss coming to church. Maybe it feels like no one can reach you and you feel that same way toward God. Maybe you feel isolated from God, because of some hurt that you are carrying, or some sin that you have committed or was committed against you. Whatever the reason, if you feel far from God, or even if you feel close to him, seek Jesus today. He can be found in the desolate places. He can be found where you are.