Mark 1:12
And //straightway\\ /the Spirit\ urgeth him forth into the
wilderness;

26trans - Immediately after this--Nor; the Spirit driveth him 
forth--ASV; ...took Him out--Nor; ...sent him out--Knox; ..
impelled Him to go out--Wey; into the desert--Mof; into the waste
land--Bas;
TRNTyeager290 - Mk.1:12 - "And immediately the Spirit driveth
him into the wilderness."

Kai euthus to pneuma auton ekballei eis tan eramon.

Kai (continuative conjunction).
euthus (adverbial).
to (nom.sing.neut.of the article in agreement with pneuma).
pneuma (nom.sing.neut.of pneuma, subject of ekiballei).
auton (acc.sing.masc.of autos, direct object of ekballei).
ekballei (3d.per.sing.pres.act.ind.of ekballei, aoristic).
eis (preposition with the accusative of extent).
ten (acc.sing.fem.of the article in agreement with eremon).
eremon (acc.sing.fem.of eremos, extent).

Translation - "And immediately the Spirit drove Him out
into the desert."

COMMENT: Mark is characteristically direct and simple
with his statement. A subject, to pneuma, a direct object, auton,
a verb, ekballei, and a prepositional phrase, used like an adverb,
eis ten eremon. Matthew makes Jesus the subject and uses the
passive voice and direct agency and concludes with an infinitive of
purpose and another direct agency. Luke is even more involved. Cf.
en loc. Cf. also Mk.1:43 and Jam.2:25 for ekballo in this same
sense. Matthew's anago and Luke's ago combine with Mark's ekballo
to give us a composite picture. He was pushed out, driven, led and
led up - in general Jesus was motivated to go out into the desert.
The agent was the HS. We do not know where John went after he
immersed Jesus. He appears in one more vignette before we find him
in prison, soon to be beheaded. The solitary desert is our Lord's
next school room. He must be perfectly qualififed to be our High
Priest by the things which He suffered (Heb.2:10;4:15). Cf. Mt.4:1
for further comment on the first major encounter of Jesus vs. Anti-
christ. 
J&D35 - TIME-- January and February, A.D. 27.; PLACE--In the
northern part of the wilderness of Judea, between Jerusalem and
Jericho on the west, and the upper part of the Dead Sea on the
east. Tradition places it in Mount Quarantania, near the
Jordan--Jesus is supposed to have passed forty days fasting in one
of its caves. PARALLEL ACCOUNTS--Read Matt. 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13.
OUTLINE-- 1. Driven by the Spirit into the wilderness. 2. The
duration of the temptation. 3. Associates in the temptation. 
"And straightway"--The next event after the baptism was
the temptation. What a strange thought it is to read of the Holy
Spirit anointing Jesus and filling Jesus and then immediately
driving Him into the wilderness to be tempted of Satan. This is to
teach us that God's ways are not our ways.
"The Spirit driveth him into the wilderness." The Holy
Spirit did not lead Jesus into temptation, "The strong urge of the
Spirit met the consent of Jesus." The Spirit thrust Him out into
the wilderness where Satan tempted Him.
Ear109,10 - Immediately. In contrast to Matthew (4:1-11) and
Luke (4:1-13), Mark gives us only a brief reference to the
temptation of Jesus (vs.12-13). But some of the distinctive
characteristics of his Gospel show up even in this brief compass.
The first is "immediately." This translates the adverb
euthus, which Mark uses often (42 out of the 54 times it occurs in
the NT). See W.F.Moulton and A.S.Geden, A Concordance to the Greek
Testament. 
This reflects the main characteristic of Mark's
Gospel--rapid action. Whereas John gives us in his Gospel a studied
portrait of Jesus, the lines of which were drawn with loving care
after a long lifetime of meditating on his Lord, and Matthew and
Luke give us a series of colored slides, Mark presents a moving
picture of Jesus' life. Most verses of the first chapter begin with
"and," plus the fact that euthus occurs no less than 11 times here.
We see Jesus moving rapidly from one scene of action to another.
The KJV translates this key word several different ways:
"straightway" (v.10), "immediately" (v.12), "forthwith" (v.29),
which are proper enough. However "anon" (v.30) is both inaccurate
and archaic. In other chapters we find "as soon as" (5:36; 11:2),
which is good, but twice the KJV uses "by and by" (Mt. 13:21; Luke
17:7), which, like "anon," conveys a quite different idea than what
euthus really means.
For those Greek students who might check the Englishman's
Greek Concordance and find eutheos occurring far more frequently
than euthus, a word of explanation is in order. This valuable
reference work uses the Textus Receptus, which is based on the late 
Greek manuscripts. For an accurate tally on the frequency of Greek
words in the NT, one needs to check Moulton and Geden's
Concordance. 
Wuest25 - "Driveth," ekballo, stronger than Matthew's anago,
"was led up," and Luke's ago, "was led"; literally, "to throw out
from within, to cast out, to drive out." It is used of our Lord's
expulsion of demons (Mark 1:34, 39). Expositor's Greek Testament
says: "The first thing the Spirit does is to drive Jesus into the
wilderness, the expression not implying reluctance to Jesus to go
into so wild a place (Weiss), but intense preoccupation of mind.
Allowing for the weakening of the sense in Hellenistic usage
(H.C.), it is a very strong word and a second instance of Mark's
realism: Jesus thrust out into the inhospitable desert by force of
thought. DeWette says that the ethical significance of the
temptation is lost in Mark's meager narrative, and that it becomes
a mere marvelous adventure. I demur to this. The one word ekballo
tells the whole story, speaks as far as may be the unspeakable.
Matthew and Luke have tried to tell us what happened, but have they
given us more than a dim shadow of the truth?" Thus, the first act
of the indwelling Holy Spirit was to bring Messiah to the place of
testing and temptation.
"Into the wilderness." Vincent says: "The place is
unknown. Tradition fixes it near Jericho, in the neighborhood of
the quarantonia, the precipitous face of which is pierced with
ancient cells and chapels, and a ruined church is on its topmost
peak. Dr. Tristram says that every spring a few devout Abyssinian
Christians are in the habit of coming and remaining here forty
days, to keep their Lent on the spot they suppose that our Lord
fasted and was tempted."
Translation. "And immediately the Spirit thrusts Him out
into the uninhabited place." 
McGarvey266 - "driveth him."--While Matthew says that Jesus
was "led" by the Spirit into the wilderness, Mark says "the Spirit
driveth him," using a much more forcible term, and indicating still
more clearly that it was not at the volition of Jesus that the
entered into the temptation.
Barclay12 - No sooner was the glory of the hour of the Baptism 
over than there came the battle of the temptations. One thing
stands out here in such a vivid way that we cannot miss it. It was
the Spirit who thrust Jesus out into the wilderness for the testing
time. That very Spirit which came upon Him at His baptism now drove
Him out for His test. In this life it is impossible that we should
escape the assault of temptation; but one thing is
sure--temptations are not sent to us to make us fall; they are sent
to us to streng- then the nerve and the sinew of our minds and
hearts and souls. They are not meant for our ruin, but for our
good. They are meant to be tests from which we emerge better war-
riors and athletes of God. Suppose a lad is a football play- er;
suppose he is doing well in the second team and shows real signs of
promise, what then will his trainer do? He certainly will not send
him out to play for the third team in which he could walk through
the game and never break sweat; he will send him out to play for
the first team where he will be tested as he never was tested
before; he will give him the chance to prove himself in the greater
test. That is what temptation is meant to do. It is the test which
is given us to prove our manhood and to emerge the strongrer for
the fight.
NTChendriksen45,6 - By means of his voluntary submission to
baptism Jesus had signified his entire willingness to accomplish
the task assigned to him, namely, to suffer and die in his people's
stead. It is therefore logical that affliction, in the form of
temptation, begins at once. Adam, when tempted, failed. So Christ,
"the last Adam" (I Cor. 15:45) must now be tempted, in order that
by his victory over the tempter he may, for all who believe in him,
undo the results of the first Adam's failure. 
That even Jesus, the Sinless One, could be tempted is a
mystery incapable of being made perfectly clear. All we can say
about it is that this temptation pertains, of course, to Christ's
human nature, since God cannot be tempted (James 1:13). Since Jesus
was not only God but also man, it should not be entirely surprising
that after a fast of forty days (4:2 in Mt. and in Lk.) the
proposal to turn stones into bread was a temptation to him. This by
no means solves every problem, for the very sensitive and searching
mind of Christ must have discerned immediately that proposals
coming to him from Satan were evil. The subject of the temptation
of the perfect Savior is shrouded in mystery. But is not this true
of doctrine in general?
That Christ's temptation experience actually occurred is
taught not only here in Mark and its parallels but also in Heb.
4:15: "He was tempted in all points (or in every respect) as we
are, yet without sin"; that is, without falling into sin. Heb. 4:15
cannot mean, however, that the psychological process involved in
being tempted was exactly the same for Jesus as it is for men in
general. For the latter, including believers, there is first, the
tempting voice or inner whispering of Satan, urging them to sin.
But there is also the inner desire ("lust") goading the tempted one
to give heed to the devil's prompting. Thus man, being "drawn away
and enticed by his own evil desire" (James 1:14) sins. With Christ
the case was different. The outward stimulus--outward in the sense
that it did not originate in the Lord's own soul but was the voice
of another--was there, but the inner evil incentive or desire to
co-operate with this voice from without was not. Nevertheless the
temptation--that is, the sense of need, the consciousness of being
urged by Satan to satisfy this need, the knowledge of having to
resist the tempter, and the struggle to which this gave rise--was
real even for Christ.
For a far more complete account of the separate tempta-
tions see N.T.C. on Mt. 4:1-11. See also Lk. 4:1-13. Mark's
coverage of the temptation is so brief that it will hardly do to
interpret Matthew's far more complete and chronological account in
the light of certain first impressions one may receive from Mark's
words. Neither Mark nor Luke gives us a step by step consecutive
account. Matthew, on the other hand, does present a historical
sequence, as is clear from 4:2 ("after"), 4:5, 10 ("then") and 5:11
("then the devil left him...") and from the inner or thought
connection between the first and second temptations.
It is in the light of these facts that we proceed now to
the explanation of Mark's account, vs.12. "And immediately the
Spirit sent him out into the wilderness." Note the following:
"Immediately...." There was no interval between the glory
of Christ's baptism ("Thou art my Son, the Beloved") and the
hardship of the temptation. As it was going to be in connection
with Christ's transfiguration, so already here the narrative shows
how Jesus, the King, to be sure, but also the Suffering Servant,
proceeds at once from daylight to darkness, from the Father's
approving smile to Satan's contemptuous wile. 
"...the Spirit sent him out." Here others have "driveth
him" (A.V.), "driveth him forth" (A.R.V.), "drove him out"
(Williams, Beck), or something similar. And it is true that the
verb used in the original frequently has the meaning to drive out
or expel. In fact, in this very chapter (Mark 1) the word indicates
the expulsion of demons (1:34, 39, 43). Also, Jesus drove or cast
the merchants out of the temple (Mt. 21:12); and the wicked
share-croppers cast the heir out of the vineyard (Mt. 21:39).
However, when the word is thus translated it is not easy to
dissociate from it the idea of the use of external force in order
to move an unwilling object. And certainly that cannot be the
connotation in the present instance. It would be better therefore,
either--with NASB (NT)--to substitute the rendering impelled him
(to go) out, filled him with an inner urge, moved him; or else, to
take cognizance of the fact that the same Greek verb is also used
in a somewhat weaker sense, namely, released, sent out, put out
(John 10:4; Acts 16:37). 
"...into the wilderness." The question has been asked,
"But was not Jesus already in the wilderness when he was baptized?
Was it not exactly in the wilderness that John was baptizing (Mark
1:4)?" It has been suggested therefore that "the wilderness" into
which Jesus was now sent was more rugged and inhospitable than the
one mentioned in vs.4. Though this is possible, and the presence of
"wild beasts" (vs.13) might even lend some support to this theory,
is it not more reasonable to find the solution in Luke 4:1? In
other words, the meaning may simply be that from the Jordan Jesus
was led into the wilderness. It is useless to venture a guess as to
the location of the particular wilderness region where Christ
fasted and was tempted. Was it a limestone height near Jericho? No
one knows.
One fact must not be forgotten: the wilderness, though
dreadful, especially when one spends at least forty days there
without food, was also the place where nothing was able to separate
Jesus from communion with his heavenly Father. It was also the
place, therefore, of preparation for the performance of the
mediatorial task! Cf. Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16.
TCGTCcranfield56,7 - The accounts of the Temptation probably
go back ultimately to Jesus himself, who may well have told his
disciples about it after their recognition of him as the Messiah. 

In view of Mark's excessive use of euthus we cannot press
it; but all three Synoptists place this incident and the Baptism in
immediate juxtaposition, and there is no reason to doubt that the
one followed the other closely.
to Pneuma auton exballei. He goes not by chance, nor by
his own fancy, but by the leading of that Spirit who had come upon
him in special fulness at his baptism--in obedi- ence to God and in
fulfilment of his mission. In view of Mark's usage ekballei
probably does have the sense of strong compulsion, though often in
Hellenistic Greek it has a quite weak sense. ... Rather should we
think of a moral compulsion by which the Spirit made it clear to
Jesus that the acceptance of his Servant-vocation must lead him by
way of this encounter.
eis ten eremon. ... Whereas other men must avoid
temptation in so far as they can (cf. Mt. 6:13), this man must
voluntarily seek it out and take the offensive ...


Mark 1:13
and he was in the wilderness, forty' days, tempted by Satan,
and was with the wild beasts,--and /the messengers\ were
ministering unto him.

26trans - and there he remained for forty days--Neb; And He
stayed in the desert forty days--Wms; ...by Satan--ABUV; while
Satan tempted him--Phi; He was among...--NEB; There He was
surrounded by wild beasts--Nor; there he lodged with the
beasts--Knox; but the angels waited upon him--Wey; ...continued to
wait upon him--Wms; only the angels were there to care for
him--Phi; and the Angels ministered to his wants-- Rieu
TRNTyeager290,1,2 - Verse 13 - "And he was there in the
wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild
beasts; and the angels ministered unto him."

kai an en ta eramo tessarakonta hameras peirazomenos hupo
tou Satana, kai an meta ton tharion, kai hoi aggeloi diakonoun
auto.

kai (continuative conjunction).
en (3d.per.sing.imp.ind.of eimi, progressive duration).
en (preposition with the locative of place).
te (loc.sing.fem.of the article in agreement with eremo).
eremo (loc.sing.fem.of eremos, place where).
tesserakonta (numeral).
hemeras (acc.pl.fem.of hemera, time extent).
peirazomenos (pres.pass.part.nom.sing.masc.of peirazo, 
adverbial, circumstantial).
hupo (preposition with the ablative of agent).
tou (abl.sing.masc.of the article in agreement with Satana).
Satana (abl.sing.masc.of Satana, agent).
kai (continuative conjunction).
en (3d.per.sing.imp.ind.of eimi, progressive description).
meta (preposition with the genitive of accompaniment).
ton (gen.pl.neut.of the article in agreement with therion).
therion (gen.pl.neut.of therion, accompaniment).
kai (continuative conjunction).
hoi (nom.pl.masc.of the article in agreement with aggeloi).
aggeloi(nom.pl.masc.of aggelos, subject of diekonoun).
diekonoun (3d.per.pl.imp.act.ind.of diakoneo, progressive
duration).
auto (dat.sing.masc.of autos, personal advantage).

Translation - "And he remained in the desert during which
time He was tested by Satan, and He was with the wild beasts, and
the angels were ministering to His needs."

COMMENT: The imperfect periphrastic en...peirazomenos and
the imperfect tense in diekonoun indicate continuous action in the
past. He remained in the desert, being constantly placed under
pressure by Satan to sin. But the angels were also there constantly
waiting on His every need. Always tempted by Satan, He was always
ministered unto by the angels. Meyer imagines a contradiction
between Matthew and Mark, in that Matthew says that He was tempted
specifically on three counts after the forty day period had passed,
while Mark says He was tempted during the forty days. The combined
testimony of Matthew and Mark thertefore is that for forty days in
the desert He was constantly under attack, after which Satan
approaced Him for the last time with three specific temptations.
Mark does not deny the three specific items that Matthew mentions.
Matthew does not deny that Jesus was also tempted during the forty
days. Mark is, in part, parallel to Matthew. Cf. Mt.4:1 -
peirasthenai hupo tou diabolou and Mk.4:11 - kai idou...auto. The
bulk of the temptation detail is given by Mt.4:1-11 and Lk.4:1-13.
Mark alone mentions the beasts that were Jesus' companions during
the testing time. Mark says that the angels ministered to Him
during the entire period. Matthew suggests that the angels came
after the temptation to minister to Him. These accounts are not
contradictory; they are mutually supplementary. 
J&D36 - "...forty days tempted of Satan;" Mark says nothing of
the fasting mentioned by the other writers. Mark is the only one to
indicate the temptation extended over the whole forty day period
"Satan alone caused this continuous temptation. None of it arose
from the thoughts and desires in Jesus heart about either his
Sonship or his Messiahship." (Lenski)
"He was with wild beasts;" Mentioned only in this gospel.
This seems to suggest the desolation and danger of the temptation
period. The very thought of suggesting that the beasts were
friendly to Jesus and here we have Paradise reproduced is so out of
context with the temptation scene as to scarcely be worthy of
mention.
"The angels ministered unto him." Matthew 4:11 also
mentions this blessed aid of these ministering spirits. Of just
what this ministering consisted we are not told--it must have
indeed been a source of comfort and strength to our Lord in his
need. Every Christian is promised such comfort and help; and from
the same source. Cf. Heb. 1:14.
BW18 - Genitive of Association. The instrumental is the usual
case for expressing the idea of association. Association is
expressed in the genitive case only by the substantive with the
preposition meta. It is difficult to see any difference in this use
of meta with the genitive and the use of sun with the instrumental.
"...with the wild beasts." (DM108).
Wuest25,26 - "Tempted of Satan." A present tense participle
speaking of continuous action. Satan tempted Messiah constantly
during the forty days. The three temptations which Matthew records
at the end of the forty day period of temptation, merely indicate
the additional intensity of the temptations as the period of
temptation closes. Satan was attempting his worst, seeing that he
had but a short time left. "Of" is the translation of hupo, the
Greek preposition speaking of personal agency, showing the
personality of Satan. The designation "Satan" is from a Hebrew word
meaning "an adversary." It answers to the other name this fallen
angel has, the Devil, in Greek, diabolos, a noun form coming from
the verb diaballo "to traduce, calumniate, slander, accuse,
defame." The verb describes not only those who bring a false charge
against one, but also those who disseminate the truth concerning a
man, but do so maliciously, insidiously, with hostility. "Tempted"
is peirazomai which meant originally "to make an experience of, to
pierce or search into." It came next to mean "to try intentionally,
and with the purpose of discovering what good or evil, power or
weakness, was in a person." It means therefore in its basic usage
"to put to the test to see what good or evil there is in a person."
Then, since men so often break down under such a test and display
the evil there is in them, the word came to mean "to tempt" in the
sense of soliciting a person to do evil. The word is seen in its
two uses here. The Last Adam was being put to the test to show that
He was equipped and ready for His ministry as prophet, priest, and
king. The universe was looking on, God the Father and the holy
angels, the fallen angels, and the demons. What a battle royal was
waged there. What tremendous things were at issue. But not only was
He put to the test. He was solicited to do evil by Satan.
"Was with the wild beasts." The region abounded with
boars, jackals, wolves, foxes, leopards, and hyenas. Expositors
suggests that this description is "not merely pictorial or intended
to hint danger; rather to indicate the uninhabited nature of the
place; no supplies obtainable there, hunger therefore a part of the
experience." Alford commenting on this says, "Perhaps the being
with the beasts may point to one form of temptation, that of
terror, which was practiced on Him." The first Adam fell into sin
in an environment that was perfect and harmonious. The Last Adam
maintained His sinlessness in an environment that was hostile. 
"The angels ministered unto Him." "Ministered" is
diakoneo "to minister to or serve one," used especially of those
who execute the commands of others. The definite article is used,
not merely "angels ministered," but "the angels ministered." No
human beings were near, only the angels. They were detailed to this
work by God the Father, executing His commands to care for the Son.
The verb is in the imperfect tense, indicating continuous action.
All during the forty days of the temptation, the angels were
continually ministering to the Messiah. Matthew says that after
Satan left Him, angels came and went to ministering to Him. Both
statements are true. They are not contradictory, but complementary.
Since the ministry of the angels could not have included food for
the body, it must have had to do with spiritual ministrations to
the soul. Expositors says: "These few touches of Mark suggest a
vivid picture of a spiritual crisis: intense preoccupation,
instinctive retreat into uncongenial, grim solitudes, temptation,
struggle, fierce and protracted, issuing in weakness, calling for
preternatural aid."
Translation. "And He was in the uninhabited region forty
days, being constantly tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild
beasts; and the angels were constantly ministering to Him."
McGarvey266,7 - "forty days tempted."--While Mark states that
Jesus was tempted forty days, Matthew represents that at the end of
the forty days "the tempter came to him." Luke's statement is like
Mark's. (Luke 4:2.) I think the best explanation of this is that
Mark and Luke regarded the forty days' fast as a part of the
temptation; and rightly so, because it was a necessary preparation
for the trial in regard to bread. Had it not been for the hunger
superinduced by the fast, the suggestion, "Turn these stones into
bread," would have had no force.
"with the wild beasts."--Mark is alone in mentioning the
presence of wild beasts. Their presence added materially to the
dreariness of the forty days of fasting, and was calculated to make
Jesus impatient of the long detention.
"angels ministered."--This is the ministering mentioned
by Matthew as occuring after Satan had left Jesus. (Mt. 4:11).
Mark's account of the temptation is exceedingly brief. He
barely mentions the fact as he hurries on to the chief theme of
this part of his narrative, the ministry of Jesus in Galilee. 
ARGUMENT OF SECTION 1
In this section Mark has set forth three facts which have
an important bearing on his proposition that Jesus is the Son of
God: first, that the prophet John, with direct allusion to him,
announced the speedy appearance of one so much more exalted than
himself, that he was not worthy to stoop down and loosen his shoe;
second, that when Jesus was baptized, God himself, in an audible
voice, proclaimed him his Son; and third, that immediately after
this proclamation, Satan commenced against him such a warfare as we
would naturally expect him to wage against God's Son in human
flesh.
Barclay12,13 - "Forty days" is a phrase which is not to be
taken literally. It is the regular Hebrew phrase for a consider-
able time. So Moses was said to be on the mountain with God for
forty days (Ex. 24:18); it was for forty days that Eli- jah went in
the strength of the meal the angel gave him (I Kings 19:8). Just as
we use the phrase "ten days or so," so the Hebrews used the phrase
"forty days," not literally, but simply to mean a fair length of
time. 
It was Satan who tempted and tested Jesus. The devel-
opment of the conception of Satan is very interesting. The word
Satan in Hebrew simply means an adversary; and in the OT it is so
used of ordinary human adversaries and opponents again and again.
The angel of the Lord is the satan who stands in Balaam's way (Num.
22:22); the Philistines fear that David may turn out to be their
satan (I Sam. 29:4); David regards Abishai as his satan (II Sam.
19:22); Solomon declares that God has given him such peace and
prosperity that he has no satan left to oppose him (I Kings 5:4).
The word began by meaning an adversary in the widest sense of the
term. But the word takes another step on its downward path; it
begins to mean one who pleads a case against a person. It is in
this sense that it is used in the first chapter of Job. It is to be
noted that in that chapter Satan is no less than one of the sons of
God (Job 1:6); but the particular task of Satan was to consider men
(Job 1:7) and to search for some case that could be pleaded against
them in the presence of God. Satan was the accuser of men before
God. The word is so used in Job 2:2 and Zech. 3:2. The task of
Satan was to say everything that could be said against a man. The
other title of Satan is the Devil; the word devil comes from the
Greek diabolos, which literally means a slander. It is everything
that can be said against a man to the thought of one who
deliberately and maliciously slanders man in the presence of God.
But in the OT Satan is still an emissary of God and not yet the
malignant, supreme enemy of God. He is the adversary of man.
But now the word takes the last step on its downward
course. Through their captivity the Jews learned something of
Persian thought. Persian thought is based on the concep- tion that
in this universe there are two powers, a power of the light and a
power of the darkk, Ormuzd and Ahriman, a power of good and a power
of evil; the whole universe is a battle-ground between them and man
must choose his aide in that cosmic conflict. In point of fact that
is precisely what life looks like and feels like. To put it in a
word, in this world there is God and God's Adversary. It was almost
inevitable that Satan should come to be regarded as The Adversary
par excellence. That is what his name means; that is what he always
was to man; Satan becomes the essence of everything that is against
God.
When we turn to the NT we find that it is the Devil or
Satan who is behind human disease and suffering (Luke 13:16); it is
the Satan who seduces Judas (Luke 22:3); it is the devil whom we
must fight (I Pet. 5:8-9; James 4:7); it is the devil whose power
is being broken by the work of Christ (Luke 10:1-19); it is the
devil who is destined for final destruction (Matt. 25:41). Satan is
the power which is against God. 
Now here exactly we have the whole essence of the
Temptation story. Jesus had to decide how He was to do His work. He
was conscious of a tremendous task and He was also conscious of
tremendous powers. God was saying to Him, "Take my love to men;
love them till you die for them; conquer them by this unconquerable
love even if you finish up upon a cross." Satan was saying to
Jesus, "Use your power to blast men; obliterate your enemies; win
the world by might and power and bloodshed." God said to Jesus,
"Set up a reign of love." Satan said to Jesus, "Set up a
dictatorship of force." Jesus had to choose that day between the
way of God and the way of the Adversary of God. 
Mark's brief story of the Temptations finishes with two
vivid touches. (i) The beasts were His companions. In the desert
there roamed the leopard, the bear, the wild boar and the jackal.
This is usually taken to be a vivid detail that adds to the grim
terror of the scene. But perhaps it is not so. Perhaps this is a
lovely thing, for perhaps it means that the beasts were Jesus'
friends. Amidst the dreams of the golden age when the Messiah would
come, the Jews dreamed of a day when the enmity between man and the
beasts would no longer exist. "In that day I will make a covenant
for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of
heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground." (Hosea 1:18.)
"The wolf shall lie down with the lamb and the leopard shall lie
down with the kid....The suckling child shall play on the hole of
the asp, the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice'
den; they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain." (Is.
11:6-9). In later days St. Francis preached to the beasts; and it
may be that here we have a first foretaste of the loveliness when
man and the beasts shall be at peace. It may be that here we see a
picture in which the beasts recognized, before men did, their
friend and their king. (ii) The angels were helping Him. There are
ever the divine reinforcements in the hour of trial. When Elisha
and his servant were shut up in Dothan with their enemies pressing
in upon them and no apparent way of escape, Elisha opened the young
man's eyes and all around them were the horses and the chariots of
fire which belonged to God. (II Kings 6:17). Jesus was not left to
fight his battle alone--and neither are we.
NTChendriksen47,8 - "And he was in the wilderness forty
days.... The experience of Moses on Mount Horeb (Ex. 34:2, 28;
Deut. 9:9, 18) and that of Elijah on the same height (I Kings 19:8)
occur to the mind immediately. Not only for them but also for Jesus
the period was one of fasting. It was in the wilderness that Jesus
was "being tempted by Satan." The verb here rendered "tempted" can
have a favorable meaning: to put someone to the test in order to
strengthen him spiritually. It was in that sense that Jehovah
"tested" Abraham (Gen. 22:1-19; Heb. 11:17). See also John 6:6. But
the addition of the phrase "by Satan" makes it clear that in the
present case the sense is that the prince of evil tried hard to
entice Jesus to sin. Mark says, "tempted by Satan"; Luke, "by the
devil"; Matthew, "by the devil...the tempter." Diabolos means
devil, slanderer, accuser (Job 1:9; Zech. 3:1, 2; cf. Rev. 12:9,
10) and (through the influence of the LXX) also adversary (I Peter
5:8), which, strictly speaking, is the meaning of Satan.
It is clear that Mark believed in the existence of a
personal "prince of evil." So did all the other NT writers: Matthew
(4:1, 3, 5, 8); Luke (4:2, 3, 6, 13; 8:12); Peter (Acts 10:38; I
Peter 5:8); Paul (Rom. 16:20; Eph. 4:27; 6:11); the author of
Hebrews (2:14); James (4:7); John (gospel 13:2, 27; I John 3:8, 10,
12; 5:18-19; Rev. 12:9; 20:2, 7, 10); and Jude (see his epistle
vs.9). So did Jesus himself (Matt. 6:13; 13:39; 25:41; Mark 3:23,
26; 4:15; 8:33; Luke 4:8; 10:18; 11:18; 13:6; 22:3, 31; John 8:44).
Many other references could have been added.
It is certainly fitting that it is exactly (though not
alone) in Mark, which describes Jesus as the Conquering King, that
the tempter is called Satan, that is Adversary. The battle, then,
is going to be between the King and his Adversary.
The entire clause, "And he was in the wilderness forty
days, being tempted by Satan" is by many interpreted to mean that
throughout the entire forty days Jesus was being tempted by the
devil. It is even argued that the Greek does not allow any other
interpretation. Now when this clause is considered entirely by
itself--that is, apart from the far more detailed and chronological
account found in Matthew--it must be admitted that the language
used in the original certainly allows it to be understood in that
sense. At the same time it should also be stated that this is not
the only possible view. At times this is even recognized by those
who favor the forty days of temptation theory. The argument in
defense of a forty day temptation would be unassailable if the
clause were as follows: "Forty days he was being tempted, being in
the wilderness." As it actually stands, however, the origina can
mean: "Forty days he was in the wilderness, where he was being
tempted."
In favor of the second construction, rejecting the forty
days of temptation, it can be argued that:
a. Matt. 4:2,3, clearly teaches that the temptation by
Satan began at the close of a forty day fast.
b. The greatly condensed account in Mark should be
interpreted in the light of the full and chronological narrative
found in Matthew; not vice versa.
But even if the forty day temptation theory is adopted
one should be careful not to fill in this period with all kinds of
products of the imagination. It should be borne in mind that if
there was a lengthy series of temptations that preceded the
familiar three, Scripture has given us no details. 
As a further description of what happened while Jesus was
in the wilderness Mark (alone) continues: "He was among the wild
beasts...." The jordan valley and the adjacent wilderness have been
known as the haunt of hyenas, jackals, panthers, and even lions,
which at one time were by no means scarce in Palestine, as is
evident from the fact that lions are mentioned in two-thirds of the
books of the OT. The region where Jesus fasted and was tempted was
therefore the scene of abandonment and peril, the very opposite of
paradise, where the first Adam was tempted.
Mark concludes the description of what happened to Jesus
at this time by writing: "and the angels were rendering service to
him." Rendering service in various ways is the function of these
"ministering spirits" (Heb. 1:14). See NTC on I and II Tim. and
Titus, pp. 184,185. In connection with the story of the temptation,
just when was it that the angels rendered this service to Christ?
Here also the answer is found in the more detailed and
chronologically arranged account written by Matthew (4:11), "Then
the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were rendering
service to him." The service was evidently rendered when the devil
had been thoroughly vanquished. Just what this service implied is
not mentioned. The general statement that angels were sent by the
Father to provide for the Son's needs, whatever these may have
been, is perhaps the best. That his also included providing bodily
nourishment would seem to be a reasonable inference.
Mark does not make any statement about Christ's triumph
over Satan. For this we are again dependent on Matt. 4:1-11; cf.
Luke 4:1-13. But is not this triumph implied in the ministry of the
angels, set by the Father as a reward upon obedience?
We have noticed in these two verse: the action of the
Holy Spirit, the obedience of Christ, the presence of wild beasts,
the temptation by Satan, and at the close, the service rendered by
angels. In the background--implied rather than expressed--we have
become aware of the total absence of any human helpers and the
providential love and care of the Father, who sent his angels to
render service. The presence (and, in the case of human helpers,
the absence) of these seven shows the majesty of the central
figure, Jesus Christ, the great King who was at the same time the
Suffering Servant. 
The victory having been won, Christ's actual ministry of
preaching, teaching, healing, and (last but not lacking in
importance) casting out of demons, all this leading to the final
triumph of death followed on the third day by a glorious
resurrection, can now begin. A significant section of Mark's Gospel
closes here.
TCGTCcranfield57,8,9,60 - en...peirazomenos could be a 
periphrastic imperfect, but it is probably better to take
peirazomenos...Satana as a separate participial clause.
tesserakonta emeras. It is quite likely that Mark would
be conscious of the parallel with the forty days' and nights' fasts
of Moses, the type of Messiah (Ex. 34:28; Deut. 9:9,18), and
Elijah, the forerunner of the Messiah (I Kings 19:8); but perhpas
the differences here are more significant than the similarities.
...
peirazomenos. Mark's language suggests that Jesus was
tempted during the forty days (cf. Luke 4:2); but Mt. 4:2f seems to
imply that the temptation was subsequent to the forty days' fast.
The verb peirazo is used in the LXX to render Hebrew nissah. The
two verbs correspond closely. Both mean "to make trial of" a thing,
to "attempt" to do something, and to "test" or "prove" a person. In
the OT the words are used in this last sense of God proving men
(e.g., Gen. 22:1; Ex. 16:4; 20:20; Deut. 8:2; Ps. 26:2) and of men
putting God to the test (e.g., Ex. 17:2; Num. 14:22; Deut. 6:16).
But there is no instance in the OT of their being used in the
modern sense of "tempt", i.e. "entice to sin." On the strength of
this some would explain peirazomenos here as meaning simply
"tested" (God testing Jesus by means of Satan and also Satan
putting God to the test). But this will hardly do; for it does not
do justice to post-OT Jewish thought about Satan or to the Mt./Lk.
narrative, which depicts the devil as seeking to draw Jesus away
from the mission to which he has dedicated himself. Moreover,
peirazo is quite definitely used sometimes in the NT in the sense
of enticing to sin (e.g. James 1:13f; I Cor. 7:5; Gal. 6:1; I
Thess. 3:5; cf. I Tim. 6:9). And in the OT, though the verbs
nissah/peirazo are not used to express it, the idea of enticing to
sin is present and connected with the serpent in Gen. 3. So we take
ti that peirazomenos here means not just "being tested", but being
tempted to turn aside from his appointed path.
hupo tou Santana. The Hebrew satan means "adversary", and is used
e.g. of men whom God raised up as adversaries of Solomon (I Kings
11:14, etc.). Then it is used with the definite article of the
superhuman adversary (hassatan Job 1 and 2; Zech. 3:1f.), who is a
sort of heavenly public prosecutor, not demonic but belonging among
the "sons of prosecutor, not demonic but belonging among the "sons
of God". In I Chr. 21:1 the word is used without an article as a
proper name. Here Satan is apparently a spirit who entices to sin.
Outside the OT there was a great development of the idea of Satan
in Judaism, and he comes to be thought of as "that one who seeks to
destroy the relationship between God and men, especially between
God and Israel". But legalism prevented the full development of the
idea of Satan in Judaism, and it is not till we turn to the NT that
we find the fully developed conception of Satan as the ruler of an
organized empire of evil, the prince of this world, from whose
control men are totally unable to free themselves. 
According to the NT it was in order to overcome the
kingdom of Satan and to set men free from his thraldom that the Son
of God became man: "To this end was the Son of God manifested, that
he might destroy the works of the devil" (I Jn. 3:8). The gospel is
the record of the great encounter. Jesus' exorcisms, his healing of
the sick and raising the dead, his self-identification with
sinners, his refusal to adopt any other methods but those ordained
by his Father-- all these are the offensive of the Son of God
against the power of Satan; and the climax of the encounter is of
course the Passion. Here at the very beginning of the ministry the
devil attempts to win a decisive victory by diverting his opponent
from the path of the Servant to some less costly way. 
kai en meta ton therion. A detail peculiar to Mk.,
included most probably in order to emphasize the loneliness of the
place and the abssence of human help. ... 

diekonoun ... The verb may have its special sense, "wait
at table", and so the meaning be that the angels supplied Jesus
with food (cf. I Kings 19:5-8; Ps. 78:23-25); but it can equally
well denote any service, and even in Mt. 4:11 it is separated by
several verses from the mention of Jesus' hunger. If we insist on
taking it to refer to a ministration lasting throughout the period
of temptation, then we should probably have to understand Mark to
mean that the angels attended him in the sense that they were wit-
nesses of his encounter with Satan. But it is probably better to
think of a special assurance of the divine presence granted to
Jesus after the temptation had been overcome. 




Summary of Chapter 1:1-13
This first section of Mark's Gospel consists of three
paragraphs and deals with three topics: a. the ministry of John the
Baptist (1:1-8), b. the baptism of Jesus (1:9-11), and c. the
temptation of Jesus in the wilderness (1:12, 13).

John's ministry. Time: the first part of John's ministry, the
part here in view, stretched from about the middle to the end of
the year A.D. 26 (or a little later). Place: the wilderness of
Judea and the Jordan River. John's ministry was in fulfilment of
prophecy (Mal. 3:1 and Isa. 40:3; in Mark 1:2, 3 referred to in
that order). The Baptist urged the people to undergo a basic
spiritual change, that their sins might be forgiven. He also
baptized, for baptism was a sign and seal of this forgiveness. In
the light of vs.2-4 the meaning of vs.1 ("Beginning of the gospel
of Jesus Christ, the Son of God") would seem to be: "The good news
about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, began with John the Baptist. It
was John who, as predicted, prepared the way for Christ's coming."
His preaching consisted in proclaiming the necessity of genuine
conversion and of faith in the One "whose sandal-straps," said
John, "I, bending down, am not fit to untie." To show that he, the
Baptist himself, was unable to supply what the people needed, he
added, "I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize y o u
with the Holy Spirit," uttering words which in a sense are realized
whenever a sinner is brought from darkenss to light, but are
fulfilled especially during the dispensation beginning with the
Spirit's outpouring on Pentecost. 

The response to John's ministry was astounding: large
multitudes from Judea, including Jerusalem, were constantly going
out to hear John. Many of them confessed their sins and were being
baptized in the Jordan River. The Baptist's simple manner of
life--wearing a garment made of camel's hair, with leather belt
around his waist; eating locusts and wild honey--, as well as
favorable result, whereby the way for the entrance of Christ's
message into the hearts and lives of the people was being prepared.


Jesus' baptism. Time: probably about December of the year A.D.
26 (or shortly afterward). Place: the Jordan River, exact spot
unknown. Jesus inaugurated his ministry by requesting John to
baptize him. When he had been baptized the heavens opened and the
Spirit like a dove descended on him. A voice spoke to him: "Thou
art my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

It is true that the water of baptism indicated the necessity
of the removal of sin. It is also a fact that Jesus was and is the
Sinless One. How then could he be baptized? Answer: he did, after
all, have sin, namely ours (Isa. 53:6; II Cor. 5:21).

Jesus' temptation. Immediately after the baptism the Spirit
sent Jesus from the Jordan into the wilderness. Here he spent forty
days, and was tempted by Satan. The region where the temptation
took place was desolate and dangerous: Jesus was in the midst of
the wild beasts. Yet he triumphed and was rewarded, as is indicated
by the fact that the angels, sent by the Father, were rendering
service to him. 

By his voluntary submission to the rite of baptism and also by
his equally voluntary obedience to the Father's will and the
Spirit's direction when he was tempted by Satan, Jesus, as the last
Adam, fulfilled the law which the first Adam had transgressed. By
means of this obedience he was clearly indicating that he had taken
upon himself and was taking away "the sin of the world." Cf. John
1:29. He was therefore ready to begin his ministry of teaching,
preaching, healing, casting out demons, and overarching everything
else, suffering and dying for all those lost "sheep" who would
place their trust in him. See Isa. 53:6, 11; John 10:11, 14, 15,
27, 28.