Mark 1:9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tested by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
Mark's gospel does not contain the story of Jesus fasting for forty days. Nor does it contain the account about the devil's three famous temptations of Jesus.
I'm not saying that those events didn't happen. They just aren't a part of Mark's gospel. I'd like to propose that perhaps Mark meant something a little bit (or a lot?) different when he wrote that Jesus was in the wilderness forty days. Perhaps he was talking about the entire story that follows - Mark's gospel as a whole - Jesus' journey from Galilee, through "the wilderness," to Jerusalem and the cross. This will take a few separate blog entries to cover, but I think there is a TON of meaning to be unpacked from that one little verse (13).
First let's talk about Satan.
Satan is not a name. The word satan can mean "adversary" or "accuser." As Mark's story develops, there are characters who personify the adversary/accuser. One of the most obvious, is Peter.
Peter is an "adversary" when he rebukes Jesus for teaching "that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed" (8:31).
And Jesus in turn rebukes Peter!
“Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” (8:33)
Who else in Mark's gospel personifies Satan? How about his accusers in chapter three:
Mark 3:1 Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”
4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.
5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
Dirty rotten Pharisees! Then they come to "test" him (Remember, back in 1:13, Mark says Jesus was "tested" by Satan):
Mark 8:11 The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. 12 He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.”
Mark 10:2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?...”
Then there are the accusers who end up getting Jesus crucified - The top dogs in Jerusalem:
Mark 15:1 Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.
2 “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
3 The chief priests accused him of many things. 4 So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”
5 But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.
Who else in Mark's story might be characters who personify Satan?
How about Jesus' adversaries in chapter three: The teachers of the law and Jesus' family...
Mark 3:20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to seize him (or "arrest" him, same Greek word as in Mark 12:12), for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”
23 So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. 28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”
30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”
31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”
33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.
34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
The irony here as that the adversaries are accusing Jesus of getting his power from THE adversary. Notice that Jesus' mother and brothers are standing outside.
This might bring the reader to ask himself the question: If Jesus' family are outsiders, what am I, an insider or an outsider? A follower or an adversary?
From Galilee to Jerusalem, Jesus has traveled through the wilderness being "tested" by "Satan" on his way to the cross. Now that we've identified some of the "satans" in Mark's gospel, let's look back with an updated perspective at that one little verse:
Mark 1:13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tested by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
In the next blog entry, we will talk about wild animals!
For extra credit, visit L.J. Hooge's brilliant diagram showing the chiastic structure of the above passage (Jesus Accused by His Family and by Teachers of the Law) here: https://biblicalchiasmus.wordpress.com/2010/06/05/mark-320-35/
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