"And He Was With The Wild Beasts"

     Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are often incorrectly called "gospels." They
are actually  biographies   of   the   life   and   times   of   Jesus   the  Messiah.
The temptation of the Lord is not found in John's record of Jesus' life. His focus
is on the Lord's miracles. (John 20:30-31) The testing of Jesus by Satan is
recorded in Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13. Mark's account of
the temptation of Jesus contains an interesting fact that is not found in Matthew
and Luke.

     Mark says, "and he was with the wild beasts." (ASV-1901) The Greek phrase
reads, "kai en meta ton therion." The preposition meta is found 54 times in Mark.
The count is 57 times if one includes the "disputed" text of Mark 16:10,12, and 19.
Elsewhere in Mark meta is used to suggest close and intimate communion.
(cf. 3:14; 5:18; 14:67)

     The fact that Mark tells us Jesus  was "with  the  wild  beasts" serves to
intensify the narrative as it shows the character of the wilderness. Wild animals
frequently appear in league with the evil forces; even in the passage where it is
written (and quoted by the devil), "For he will command his angels concerning
you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you
will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent." (Psalm 91:11-13, NIV-2011)
See also Ezekiel 34:5, 8, 25. 

     The  statement  that  Jesus  was  "with  the  wild  beasts"  indicates the 
loneliness of  the wilderness and  the  dangers  that  accompanied the testing.
There  was no human assistance that attended the Lord's testing by Satan.
                                                                                                   
                                                                                               R. Daly
Copyright, 2014