(The Temptation of Jesus)
The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And 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.
(Jesus Begins His Ministry)
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Comment: If you want to read more about this here, briefly described event, you will find fuller accounts in Matthew’s and Luke’s gospels – chapter 4 in each. But I maintain my custom of writing about what is written in the passage before us.
The temptation – The Spirit ‘drove’ Jesus into the wilderness. This either hints that Jesus was a bit resistant (which I doubt) or that it was to be a very significant time, or that the sinless One was, as he began His Ministry, about to be well and truly tested! And (maybe to help Him know how hard temptation is for us sometimes) He had to deal with Satan very close up, in a wild place physically and surrounded by wild beasts. These animals were not the rabbits and wallabies of Australia, but lions and bears and wolves! What does the angels ministering to Him mean? Quite frankly I don’t know. Did they feed Him? – but we are told elsewhere that he fasted; Did they whisper words of encouragement in His right ear, while the devil spoke in His left ear? Quite frankly ‘knowing’ the answer will be I guess a guess! But I don’t doubt the angels found a means to encourage Him.
His Ministry – We don’t know how long after Jesus came out of the wilderness John was arrested. We don’t know how long he was imprisoned before he was beheaded. This passage tells us that his arrest and Jesus ministry in Galilee were related. His message had four main points mentioned here….
- The time is fulfilled. The forerunner had come and the promised Messiah was on the spot!
- The kingdom of God was at hand because the King was there to fight the illegitimate ruler of mankind (Satan). That fight took Him to the cross and a great victory there!
- Repent – John’s message continued and is an essential part of getting right with God.
- Believe in the gospel; believe here is more than academic knowledge but heart commitment. The gospel here is the full dealings of God to bring salvation as an option for all who will believe.
Prayer: Help me to meditate deeply on all that is said in these couple of verses, please.
As I read it! 
Thank you Barry for your comments on this passage. Mark writes almost in haste. He doesn’t waste words. The other reason could be that he wasn’t present at many of the events about which he writes, and he gleaned his information from others, as I understand it. One interesting point which came to me as I was reflecting on these verses was about John the Baptist being put in prison, and then beheaded, just at the time of Jesus beginning His ministry. I wonder whether John, the one who came to prepare the way for Jesus, had done the work God prepared him to do, and because his work was done, he was removed from the earthly scene? There were no more followers of John because he had been removed, but Jesus was now the One to follow. God bless you.
LikeLike