Tuesday, February 18, 2025

EmmDev 2025-02-18 [Moments with Mark] Wild and Dangerous

Wild and Dangerous

At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended Him. (Mark1:12-13)
Matthew and Luke give us longer descriptions of the temptation of Jesus. They describe Satan's three temptations and Jesus' scripture-based responses.

Mark's version is raw and primal. It accentuates the absolute essentials and moves away from the theological-intellectual clash we see in the other accounts.

What do we see here?

  1. It happens at once, the moment after Jesus' baptism. The die has been cast and now the Saviour's resolve is tested....
  2. The Spirit sends Him into the desert. He isn't cornered/blindsided/surprised by Satan - this is an appointed moment.
  3. He's in the wilderness - surrounded by wild animals. This is a place of primal testing. There's physical isolation, loneliness, danger and it's clear that this is a test, not only of the spirit, but of the body and mind too.
  4. He was there for 40 days. Throughout scripture 40 is the number of preparation, testing and setting apart. It's an indication that this was the perfect period of preparation.
  5. He was being tempted by Satan. When we read Luke and Matthew, we might be tempted to think it was three "intellectual-theological" temptations. Mark makes it more primal - especially by bringing in the wild animals. This all the wildness and brokenness of hell being pitched at Jesus in the attempt to disqualify Him for the mission He has had Himself baptised for.
  6. Angels attended Him: They didn't rescue Him - they attended Him. In a world where hell pitches itself at Jesus and us, we are still being attended by angels. We are not alone.

We tend to intellectualise and spiritualise the temptation of Jesus. Mark helps us see it in the raw reality of what happened. In the moment Jesus formally set about His mission, all of hell tried to stop Him, but Jesus overcame.

In a video clip about the temptation of Jesus there is a caption: "For my 30th birthday, I gave myself some time away from it all, and NOW I'M BACK!"

(You can watch Matt Maher's song 40 days and the accompanying video here: https://youtu.be/NWKRhk-yYI0 )


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