Mark 1:12-13 12And immediately the Spirit cast him out into the wilderness. 13And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan, and he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.
The time word immidiately marks the significant transition after Jesus’ baptism. After receiving confirmation from the heavenly voice, the first thing that happens to him was temptation. Mark’s account is brief compared to Matthew and Luke, which describe the specific temptations Jesus faced. Significantly, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert. This was a test by the Father. The main verb cast out (ekballei) has the sense of throwing out. The word occurs later when Jesus casts out demons (3:22). God used this time and Satan’s desires to show the power of Jesus. This experience would prove the truth of the declaration from heaven in verse 11.
Jesus’ temptation functions in the narrative to prepare for his victories over demons in the coming chapters. The setting of the testing is in the wilderness, in the same area as John’s ministry. Wilderness in the Bible represents a place of struggle and conflict. It symbolizes a place of hostile forces at war with God and God’s people. Forty days can be compared to the forty years of Israel’s desert wandering after the exodus from Egypt (Numbers 32:13), Moses’ forty days on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34:28), and Elijah’s forty days in Horeb (1 Kings 19:8). The wilderness may seem like God is absent, but Mark makes clear that the Spirit was with Jesus the whole time.
During Jesus’ time in the desert, Satan took advantage of the opportunity to try to cause Jesus to disobey God and thus prove that the voice from heaven was incorrect. The word for tempted (peirazomenos) has two different meanings: to “tempt” towards sin and to “test” to show genuine faith. Satan means “deceiver” but became a proper name for the enemy of God’s people. Mark does not specifically describe Jesus’ victory over Satan, but it is assumed. the areas of temptation given by Matthew and Luke focus on his divinity and try to get Jesus to doubt the Father’s care, protection, and purpose.
This passage reveals Jesus as a human, which is in sharp contrast to his divinity proclaimed in verse 11. As a human like us, Jesus identified with us through baptism and his struggles in the desert. In both situations, God the Father confirms Jesus’ identity by the voice from heaven and the ministry of angels. Jesus was tempted like us but overcame the temptation and did not sin (Hebrew 4:15). His temptations were real, otherwise they lose their power and significance. This story also shows the power of Jesus over Satan, which is presumed throughout the rest of Mark.
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