PHASE TWO: FOUNDATIONS

for His faith movement

For a faith movement that has grown to be the most influential of all time, the way Jesus stepped onto the public stage—to begin the second phase—still feels improbable.

He was about 30. With no headlines or manifesto, He walked to the Jordan River to be baptised in its muddy waters by the desert preacher John the Baptist. Then, instead of gathering supporters, He disappeared into the wilderness east of Jerusalem for six weeks.

Many times, I have led groups down through the Wadi Qelt, a jagged ravine slicing through the Judean desert between Jerusalem and Jericho. Drivers leave us on a cliff edge, to take a zigzag path down into silence and heat. Across the gorge, the Monastery of Saint George of Choziba clings to the cliff. In the 5th and 6th centuries, more than 70 such monasteries and hermit caves dotted this wilderness—a kind of desert city.

For Jesus it was harsh and risky. Summer temperatures climb past 40°C (104°F). Winter nights can drop near 5°C (41°F). It was a refuge for wild animals, fugitives and fringe religious groups. Less than 20 kilometres south lay Qumran, home of the Essenes—the community associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Jesus went into this desert alone. Then, after a 40-day fast, weakened and exposed, He faced a barrage of tests aimed at His identity, allegiance and purpose.

The public launch of His history-shaping movement began not with triumph but with hunger and degradation. And what followed over the next year and a half—before Jesus relocated north to Galilee after John’s arrest—formed the foundation of everything that came later. All four Gospel writers mark this transition from private life to public ministry, but the apostle John lingers on this early Judean period, as if to say: Stop. Pay attention. This is where the pattern is set.

Judea, Samaria, Galilee

Week 5 -  His Baptism and Temptations

Matthew 3:1–4:12; Mark 1:9–13; Luke 3:1–3, 21–23; 4:1–13; John 1:15–35

After his baptism . . . he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness (Matthew 3:16–4:1).

When Jesus stepped into public view, He was not welcomed with popular applause but introduced by two unsettling experiences—baptism and temptation. These were foundational to what both Jesus and His relative John called God’s kingdom—something radically different!      

Jesus arrived at the Jordan River, where John was calling Israel to repentance. John’s life and message were stark: desert solitude, simple food and uncompromising words—fitting Israel’s expectations of the return of the prophet Elijah (see Malachi 4:5, 6; Matthew 11:14). Crowds desperate for spiritual cleansing were confessing their sins and stepping into the muddy river as a sign of turning back to God.

When Jesus joined them, John was shocked! Why would One conceived by the creative miracle of the divine Spirit and without sin submit to a baptism meant for the guilty? He tried to talk Jesus out of it. Jesus’ response was quiet but profound: “It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:14, 15, NIV).

For the first time, Matthew records Jesus speaking of righteousness, a word that would shape Jesus’ entire teaching. It was not about rule-keeping or moral superiority, but faithfulness to God’s saving purpose. By entering the waters, Jesus was identifying fully with those He had come to save—standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the desperate, broken and repentant. This is what righteousness is like, immersed in the mud and reeds of the Jordan, choosing solidarity over status.                                        

As He paused on the riverbank to pray, the Spirit descended as a fluttering dove upon Him, and a voice from the heavens declared, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” The silence of 30 years was broken, and Jesus heard His identity proclaimed aloud. He was God’s Son. This was later described as His anointing (see Acts 10:37, 38). He was Jesus Christ, meaning Jesus the anointed—the Messiah.

His ministry and movement building would flow from this identity—empowered to bring good news, healing and freedom.

The Spirit then led Him into the wilderness. The same Spirit who affirmed Him drove Him into isolation, hunger, testing—and temptation. It jars. It seems wrong! But for 40 days Jesus faced the devil’s assaults, each temptation offering a shortcut to power without obedience. Turn stones to bread—and meet legitimate needs in illegitimate ways. Jump from the temple—to force God’s hand and secure public acclaim. Bow down—and gain the kingdoms of the world without the cross.                                         

Each temptation was designed to undermine and cast doubt on His identity. “If you are the Son of God . . .” the tempter mocked. Jesus responded not with spectacle or strength, but with Scripture, trusting His Father’s word. He refused to grasp, manipulate or dominate. The wilderness revealed the kind of king He would be. His kingdom is not built on appetite, presumption or control, but on trustful obedience. He was Spirit-anointed and Spirit-led.

Then, after the testing, angels attended Him and He returned to the Jordan where John the Baptist declared, “Look! the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John pointed to future sacrifice and promise. He declared that Jesus is “the one who will baptise with the Holy Spirit.” He is “the Chosen One of God,” “the Son of God.”

The foundations of this movement were strangely counter-intuitive, but what began in unsettling humiliation in muddy water and a harsh desert environment was divine purpose. Jesus’ baptism and temptations uncovered the nature of the triune God—Father, Son and Spirit—fully present in our world, living in our neighborhood. With Spirit-anointing and Spirit-leading, these experiences of status reversal, even degradation, revealed Jesus’ real identity—and were foundational to His radically different movement.