Wilderness or Wedding: Which?

Did Jesus go into the wilderness for 40 days or attend a wedding in Cana of Galilee?

There seems to be a contradiction between the account of the Gospel of John and the other Gospels, which clearly show that Jesus immediately went into the wilderness for 40 days, fasting and being tempted by Satan. But a close examination of the text demonstrates clearly that no such contradiction exists.

Brother Ron Dudek of the “Answers in Genesis” ministry has posted a very clear and excellent answer to this problem on the answersingenesis.org website. I repost it here in its entirety, because he did such a good job of explaining it. (I have made slight editorial adjustments to the text to conform to my study format.)

Disclaimer: JHS Publishing has no formal relationship with AIG ministries, nor vice-versa. Reposting this material on my website does not constitute a blanket endorsement of all attitudes, affirmations, or affiliations of AIG ministries, and vice-versa. However, AIG is an excellent ministry, and I thank God for the good work they are doing defending the literal Genesis account of Creation.

https://answersingenesis.org/jesus-christ/wilderness-or-wedding/

Wilderness or Wedding? Was Jesus in the wilderness or at the wedding in Cana three days after His baptism? by Ron Dudek on June 19, 2012; last featured July 2, 2012

Mark’s Gospel claims Jesus was “immediately” driven into the wilderness after His baptism, but John seems to disagree. Ron Dudek examines the context of these passages.

The “Problem”: Mark’s Gospel claims Jesus was “immediately” driven into the wilderness after His baptism, but John seems to disagree.

“Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.” (Mark 1:12–13)

However, in his Gospel, John seems to say that Jesus was in Cana three days after His baptism. Is there a contradiction?

The Solution: Anyone 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. 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. This is called exegesis. With this in mind, let’s take a closer look at what the Gospel of Mark states concerning the timing surrounding Jesus’s baptism.

“It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. 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 He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.” (Mark 1:9–13)

Five events stand out in the above account.

Jesus was baptized by John.

The Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove.

The Father spoke from heaven.

Jesus was driven into the wilderness.

Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness for 40 days.

These five points seem to flow as a play-by-play chronology, with little or no room for long gaps between them. 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. This order of events is also portrayed in Matthew and Luke. As such, it is highly unlikely that He could have been in Cana three days after His baptism.

To solve this alleged problem it is necessary to read the entire record of John’s account.

Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 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 said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord,”’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. (John 1:19–24)

This entire account was written in the past tense. It is therefore describing events that had already taken place from the perspective of John the Apostle. Verses 32–33 mention the baptism of Jesus.

And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’” (John 1:32–33)

Again, the apostle John recorded this as a past tense account of what John the Baptist had already done. John the Baptist was then describing these events to the people listening to his teaching and being baptized.

The alleged problem arises in the second chapter. On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. (John 2:1)

Skeptics mistakenly claim that John was referring to the third day after Christ’s baptism. However, this part of John’s Gospel, though chronological, is not an event-by-event account as is Mark 1:9–13. John’s Gospel allows for gaps (i.e., other events to have taken place) in between the events recorded.

To summarize the events, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist as described in Mark 1:9–11. He then immediately spent 40 days in the wilderness where He was tempted by Satan. After that, He returned to the area where John was baptizing. John 1:29 states that Jesus returned and the day after John the Baptist was questioned by the Jews. John the Baptist identified Him again as the Messiah using very similar language, as we would expect for a prophet referring back to ideas written by previous prophets.

The next day John the Baptist again identified Jesus as ““the Lamb of God”” (John 1:35–36). Jesus then proceeded to interact with Andrew, Simon, Philip, and Nathanael while on His way to Galilee (John 1:37–51). Three days after those events, Jesus was at the wedding in Cana of Galilee where He performed the first public miracle of His earthly ministry (John 2:1–11).

Conclusion: Ergo, without doing any harm to the text, we can conclude the wedding at Cana took place after Jesus had returned from His 40 days in the wilderness and three days after He called the disciples as described in John 1:35–51. There is no contradiction when we carefully examine the various accounts in the Gospels. [End of AIG study]

§C Body: John the Baptist testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Lamb of God and the Son of God

¶U John the Baptist bore witness about the Only Begotten Son (1:15 - 18)

O John bore witness of him, and cried, saying, “This was he of whom I spoke, saying, ‘He that comes after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.’

O And of his fullness have we all received, and grace for grace.

C for the Law was given by Moses;

C but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

U No man has seen God at any time; the Only Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.”

¶C John the Baptist bore witness of his own ministry to the priests and Levites from Jerusalem (1:19 - 23)

U And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” And he confessed; and he did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

C And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he says, “I am not.”

C “Are you that Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”

O Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What do you say of yourself?”

O He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Make straight the way of [Jehovah]!’, as the Prophet Isaiah says.”

¶C John the Baptist bore testimony of the ministry of Jesus to the priests and Levites from Jerusalem (1:24 - 31)

U And they that were sent were of the Pharisees.

C And they asked him, and said to him, “Why do you baptize then, if you are not that Christ, nor Elijah; neither that Prophet?” John answered them, saying, “I baptize in water; but there is One standing among you, whom you do not know.

C He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.”

O These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.

O The next day John sees Jesus coming to him, and says, “Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me is coming a man who is preferred before me: for he was before me.’ And I did not know him; but so that he would be made manifest to Israel, therefore I have come baptizing in water.”

¶O After the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, John saw Jesus again and testified that He was the Son of God (1:32 - 42)

U And John bore testimony, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from Heaven like a dove; and it remained upon him.

C And I did not know him; but he that sent me to baptize in water, the same said to me, ‘Upon whom you shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’

C And I saw, and bore testimony that this Jesus is the Son of God.”

O Again, the next day after, John was standing, and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he says, “Behold the Lamb of God!” And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And Jesus, having turned and seen them following, says to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi (which is to say, being translated, “Teacher”), where are you staying?” He says to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he stayed; and stayed with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.

O One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first finds his own brother Simon, and says to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (Which is translated, “The Christ.”) And he brought him to Jesus; and when Jesus beheld him, he said, “You are Simon the son of Jonas; you shall be called Cephas.” (Which is to say “A small pebble.”)

I think it is very important to go a little more in depth so that we can truly understand this issue, because it is difficult.

There is no disputing that 1:29 -30 are describing the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. And we know from the parallel passages of Matthew, Luke, and Mark that Jesus was “immediately” driven into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan for 40 days and nights.

Therefore, the next paragraph that begins “and John bore testimony, saying, “And I saw....”” is describing an event 40 or more days after the actual baptism when John was describing (or bearing testimony) to others about what he had seen and heard at the Baptism of Jesus. And 1:35 “Again, the next day after, John stood and two of his disciples” is the literal next day after John had been bearing testimony to what he had seen and heard at Jesus’ Baptism, which had occurred 40 or more days earlier.

I say “40 or more days”, because we know that Jesus spent 40 days and nights in the wilderness, but we also know from the Gospel of Luke that Jesus did other things:

“And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee; and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.” (Luke 4:14-15)

So the events of 1:35 “Again, the next day after, John stood....”, could have occurred as much as several months after the actual Baptism of Jesus by John. On the other hand, the events of Luke 4:14-15 could also be seen as occurring together with the events of John 1:32ff. So we do not know, strictly from the Bible text, exactly how many days separate John 1:31 and 1:32.

It is very interesting to me that the first subparagraph beginning with 1:32 "And John bore testimony..." is the beginning of the OO part of the Body Section of this Chapter. Recall that there is a subdivision between the UCC and the OO portions of any UCCOO/OOCCU grouping. In other words, this text comes after a break in the previous action to something completely different than what was going on before. So even though the text itself gives very little indication of a break, by harmonizing the Gospel accounts, it is easy to see that "And John bore testimony..." is showing John relating something that happened in the past, not something that was happening at that moment; and the Golden Ratio design of this text supports the beginning of a new paragraph with 1:32.

The first three paragraphs relate John's testimony to the Pharisees about his own ministry, and the ministry of the Messiah, whom he had not baptized yet.

The fourth paragraph (1:32-42) in this Chapter is the beginning of the OO portion of the Body Section, which is "quite different" than the first three paragraphs (1:15-18; 1:19-23; 1:24-31); and in this portion (which is quite different than the first three paragraphs), John relates his testimony of having baptized Jesus in the past, which according to the harmony of the Gospels, had to have occurred at least several weeks prior to this text.

One thing that is indisputable, at least from my point of view, is that the Bible is the very Word of God. It can be completely and absolutely trusted to give us the truth, as it was given to the Apostles and Prophets by inspiration of God.

I have learned by experience over the 34+ years of my Christian life and studies in the Word of God, and especially after I discovered the Golden Ratio design of the Bible more than 12 years ago, that the Bible is completely trustworthy. The Golden Ratio design of the Bible proves that it is so.

Therefore, the explanation in the AIG study for the apparent “discrepancy” between John’s account and the other 3 Gospel accounts makes perfect sense to me. There are no “discrepancies” in the Bible: there are only problems that we cannot fully understand, because we do not have all of the facts. In this case, I believe that we have enough information to conclude that there are no errors in the Bible text, and that we can accept it as true as it is written.

One might ask the question, however: why would God allow his Word to contain such difficulties and apparent contradictions? Why not make it all crystal clear, so that no one is distracted into doubt and unbelief?

The answer is that God is filtering out the wheat from the chaff! There are many false Believers in Jesus Christ in the world today. I have known many of them myself. The false Believers always stumble when they are faced with supernatural problems, because they do not have the Holy Spirit within them.

I am saved, and I have the Holy Spirit dwelling within me; therefore, when I see things like this in the Bible, I look back at the fact that I am definitely and absolutely saved; I have been born again by the Spirit of God; and I have known and tried to walk with the Lord for more than three decades. How could I be saved, unless the Bible were actually true? It would be impossible to be otherwise!

In other words, I could not possibly be saved, if the Bible were not everything that it claims to be. But I AM saved! I know that I was saved on August 31, 1982; and that God changed my life completely from that day forward; and that He called me into the ministry, and led me through Bible College and Seminary; and led me on a long path that arrives at the present day. He has taken care of me and guided me, even when I have stumbled and failed on many occasions.

That would all be impossible, if the Bible were false and Jesus was not what the Bible says He is. Therefore, the Bible must be true: all of it, every word of it! That means that I can trust it to tell me the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, even though I might not fully understand it.

Therefore, no matter what textual problems that I might encounter in the Bible, even the most difficult ones (and this one in John is NOT the most difficult among them), I know that it is literally true and trustworthy.

My task, then, is to try and understand how there could be an explanation for the apparent problem; and not just respond (like some unfortunately have), “O well, I thought that the Bible was true, but it must not be, so I have to give up on trying to be a Christian, because it is all false!” NO NO NO!

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen: for by it the elders obtained a good testimony. Through faith we understand that the Ages were framed by the spoken Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made by things that are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it he being dead still speaks. By faith Enoch was translated, so that he would not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for the one coming to God must believe that he exists; and that he is a rewarder of them that eagerly seek him.

God put these kind of things in his Word to challenge and strengthen our faith. We need to be overcomers, not “cut-and-runners”, if we want to wear any crowns in Heaven.

“Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him; and he shall direct your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear Jehovah, and depart from evil. It shall be health to your navel, and marrow to your bones.” (Proverbs 3:5-8)