Mark 1:12 At once the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness, 13 and He was there for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered to Him. BSB
After such a significant event, we might expect to see angels singing and all kinds of hoop-dee-doo but instead, Jesus is immediately driven into the wilderness. Both Matthew and Luke have more detail, but Mark places more emphasis on this act of the Spirit in compelling Jesus into the wilderness.
Mark 1:13 and He was there for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered to Him. BSB
Depending upon the context, the Greek word translated here as “tempted” can also mean “to try” or “to test”. Broadly speaking, a temptation is an enticement to do something that will draw us away from God. It can be generated from within or we can be tempted externally by other people or by the devil. It most often affects an area where we are weak and more susceptible to responding to the temptation.
“No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is……A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because he was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means” C.S. Lewis
A trial is external to us and is intended, by God, to strengthen our faith. It can affect an area of strength or an area of weakness (including some that we might not be aware of).
James 1:2 My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, 3because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything. NET
James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. 15 Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. NET
In this case, the devil’s plan is to tempt Jesus to such an extent as to try Him, i.e, to test the proposition as to whether or not Jesus is God. Matthew and Luke give us three examples of these temptations. First, since Jesus hasn’t eaten for 40 days, Satan tells Him to turn rocks into bread. He then tells Jesus to jump off the pinnacle of the Temple in order to prove Himself. Finally, Satan offers Jesus the world if He will worship him. The devil fails in all of this and leaves until a more opportune time arises. The last temptation faced by Christ is that He wouldn’t have to die. No matter how you shake it, the basic premise underlying every temptation faced by Jesus is an attempt to keep Him from going to the cross.
Only Mark includes the detail about the angels and the wild beasts. Angels are ministering spirits; a tangible presence of God looking over us. As to the wild beasts, no one is afraid of them in Genesis 1 and 2 as there is shalom in the harmony of creation. We also know from Ephesians 1:10, that Christ is bringing everything together in heaven and on earth. This was likely encouraging to those being tested with the wild beasts during the persecutions of Nero. It also demonstrates the strength and power of Jesus as He is controlling both the angels and the beasts. (A point not lost on Mark’s Roman audience). The wild beasts may also point toward those frightening powers (see Ephesians 6) that are drawing us away from Christ. Mark’s point is that this is the Messiah.
Mark 1:14 Now after John was imprisoned, Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the Gospel of God. 15 He said, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the Gospel!” NET
All of the promises of the Old Testament are fulfilled. The kingdom is at the front door so our response is to repent and believe (similar to Peter’s sermon in Acts 2). The next four chapters are a rapid fire explanation of what Jesus does with verses 21-34 representing a day in the life of Christ.
Mark 1:16 As he went along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen). 17 Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people.” 18 They left their nets immediately and followed him. NET
A few more details might be helpful here such as whether or not this is the first time that Peter and Andrew encountered Jesus. Mark isn’t interested in answering these questions. His point is that Christ wants us to repent and believe and this is what that looks like in practice. (John gives us a little more background).
Mark 1:19 Going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother in their boat mending nets. 20 Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. NET
It is a little harder for John and James as they are leaving the family business and their father.
Mark 1:21 And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath day he entered into the synagogue and taught. 22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as having authority, and not as the scribes. NET
About 80% of the stories about Jesus orginate in a triangular area bounded by Korazin, Capernium and Bethesaida. Mark isn’t interested in the content of the teachings so much as the response of those hearing Him and also the fact that Jesus didn’t teach like a scribe.
Scribes were people who went to school to learn about the Old Testament texts, particularly as they have been traditionally interpreted. (You may recall that our favorite rabbi has often said that he isn’t interested in what the text says but rather, what it means. The example he has always used is to say that he isn’t interested in what the constitution says but is interested instead in how the Supreme Court has interpreted it). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus often will make the statement “I say to you” meaning that the scribes and the Pharisees have it wrong which gives us an idea of His teaching (and its impact) in Capernaum. This was likely quite startling, particularly since it was coming from someone that they knew.
Finally, the word “immediately” is one we will run across often as it is the most repeated word in Mark.