Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”Īnd they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” To solve this alleged problem it is necessary to read the entire record of John’s account. As such, it is highly unlikely that He could have been in Cana three days after His baptism. This order of events is also portrayed in Matthew and Luke. Therefore, it can be derived from a plain reading of the text that Jesus was indeed in the wilderness within a very short time after his baptism.

These five points seem to flow as a play-by-play chronology, with little or no room for long gaps between them. Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness for 40 days.The Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove.( Mark 1:9–13)įive events stand out in the above account. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts and the angels ministered to Him. Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. With this in mind, let’s take a closer look at what the Gospel of Mark states concerning the timing surrounding Jesus’s baptism.

We should never read our own ideas into the text, but we should rather read them with the intention of finding the Author’s intended meaning. Is there a contradiction? The SolutionĪnyone seriously and honestly seeking to discover the truth should always begin by carefully examining the texts to discover exactly what they have to say to us. However, in his Gospel, John seems to say that Jesus was in Cana three days after His baptism. Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. Mark’s Gospel claims Jesus was “immediately” driven into the wilderness after His baptism, but John seems to disagree.

Go into the wilderness