He was in the wilderness forty days...

This is a continuation from the previous post titled "And angels attended him"

If you missed the first three of this series of four blog entries, click here to start from the beginning: https://mattandkim17.wixsite.com/matt/post/being-tested-by-satan

Let's return to that one little verse, Mark 1:13

and he was in the wilderness (Greek ἐρήμῳ pronounced eremo) forty days, being tested by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

I tried to show in the previous three blog entries that there are characters in Mark's gospel who represent Satan, wild animals, and angels. Now I'd like to show what I think Mark meant by saying that Jesus was "in the wilderness."

The wilderness plays a huge role in the bible. Anyone familiar with the bible and the geography of Israel knows that there is plenty of wilderness to be found in and around the holy land. The wilderness is the place where God led the Israelites for forty years before allowing them to enter the promised land. The wilderness is the place where God spoke with Abraham, Moses, and Elijah. The wilderness is the place to where David fled when King Saul tried to take his life.

The wilderness is the place where God met with those who were tested in difficult times. And now, in Mark's story, Jesus enters the wilderness. This is the place where God speaks to him, saying "you are my son whom I love." The most difficult of all wilderness journeys is about to begin: the journey to the cross.

Like I mentioned in the first of four blog entries on the topic of this one little verse, Mark's gospel does not contain the three temptations by Satan in the wilderness. When Mark says Jesus was in the wilderness forty days, I believe he meant that it was forty days from the baptism of Jesus to the cross.

WILDERNESS, IN THE GOSPEL OF MARK

First example:

Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place (or wilderness - same Greek word as in 1:13), where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else - to the nearby villages - so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

41 Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.

43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44 “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” 45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places (or wilderness - same Greek word as in 1:13). Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

An interesting note about the above passage: Jesus touches a man with leprosy, which was forbidden by Jewish law. Doing so would pass the uncleanness to Jesus. Jesus takes the man's affliction onto himself and now must go out to the wilderness, which is the place where lepers should be.

Second example:

Mark 6:32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place (wilderness). 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place (wilderness),” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36 Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”

They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”

When they found out, they said, “Five - and two fish.”

39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied.

This story alludes to Exodus 16, where God provides Manna and Quail to the Israelites, as they had become hungry while wandering in the wilderness. It also suggests a similarity to the story of David, after having fled from Saul to the wilderness, David became hungry:

1 Samuel 21:1 David went to Nob, to Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek trembled when he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”

2 David answered Ahimelek the priest, “The king sent me on a mission and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about the mission I am sending you on.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.”

4 But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here - provided the men have kept themselves from women.”

5 David replied, “Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever I set out. The men’s bodies are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!” 6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the Lord and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.

Just like when God provided for Moses and the Israelites, he also provided for David. And in Mark's story, he is also providing for the disciples as they follow Jesus through the wilderness. Although the disciples fail to recognize it at the time, they are eating the consecrated bread - the bread of the presence - the body of Christ.

CONCLUSION

Let's return one last time to that one little verse rich with meaning:

Mark 1:13 and he was in the wilderness (on his way to the cross) forty days, being tested by Satan (his religious opponents). He was with the wild animals (his political opponents), and angels (his faithful followers and messengers) attended him.

THANKS FOR READING!

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?

HAVE I MISSED ANYTHING?

HAVE I REACHED TOO FAR?

FEEL FREE TO COMMENT BELOW.