Mark 1:13, "...and He was with the wild beasts..."

[Herald]

Mark 1:13, \"...and He was with the wild beasts...\"

Mark 1:13 "And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him."

During my personal study in Mark 1, I did not deal with this passage adequately. I received a few critiques on the meaning behind Jesus being with the wild beasts. I am drawing up blanks trying to get to the root of this reference. I did find and O.T. equivalent (of sorts). 1 Kings 19 deals with Elijah in the wilderness after the pronouncement by Jezebel that his life was forfeit. This was a hard time for Elijah. He was in a deep depression and was physically spent. The Lord ministered to Elijah through an angel who provided for his physical needs. In the same way the angels ministered to Jesus' physical needs while He was in the wilderness after His temptation by Satan. Am I on to something here, or am I missing the boat?

[Edited on 8-30-2005 by BaptistInCrisis]

 

[RamistThomist]

If we see a parallel between the garden and the wilderness--the Second Adam triumphing where the First Adam failed--and First Adam had to name the beasts (ministry to beasts) the Second Adam could have some workings with the beasts (ministry to beasts).

A. First Adam in the Garden
B. First Adam Names the Beasts.
C. First Adam falls in the Garden
C' Second Adam triumphs in the Wilderness
B' Second Adam is with the Beasts
A' Second Adam in the Wilderness

 

[crhoades]

I'll post a link tomorrow but I remember listening to William Lane teach through Mark and he gave this explanation...

Mark's Gospel is the only one that brought out that fact. It was commonly believed that Mark had spent time with Peter and the gospel itself was for large part a retelling of Peter. It is also thought that this gospel might have been written while Peter was in Rome and there were persecutions. Christians were being fed to wild beasts and had much to fear. Knowing that Christ was also in the desert with wild beasts would be noticed and bring comfort to the persecuted church. Also see Peter's epistles... This is from memory and I'll try to look it up in a bit...

This might be in his commentary in the NICNT Commentary Series as well. His .mp3's are online somewhere.

 

[Herald]

Originally posted by crhoades
I'll post a link tomorrow but I remember listening to William Lane teach through Mark and he gave this explanation...

Mark's Gospel is the only one that brought out that fact. It was commonly believed that Mark had spent time with Peter and the gospel itself was for large part a retelling of Peter. It is also thought that this gospel might have been written while Peter was in Rome and there were persecutions. Christians were being fed to wild beasts and had much to fear. Knowing that Christ was also in the desert with wild beasts would be noticed and bring comfort to the persecuted church. Also see Peter's epistles... This is from memory and I'll try to look it up in a bit...

This might be in his commentary in the NICNT Commentary Series as well. His .mp3's are online somewhere.

Not familar with William Lane. If you have a URL on him I would be grateful.

 

[Puritan Sailor]

Perhaps this psalm was in mind for fulfillment, inparticular verse 13? A few wild animals listed there

Psalm 91
9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
10 No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

14 "œBecause he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation."

 

[crhoades]

http://www.wtsbooks.com/commentarie...entary-on-the-new-testament--nicnt--mark.html

Excerpts:
pg. 21
3. The Life Situation That Occasioned the Gospel

The clear tradition of the Church both in the west and the east toward the end of the second century and the beginning of the third is that Mark prepared his Gospel primarily for the Christians in Rome and Italy. If it appeared in the second half of the decade A.D. 60-70 it was called forth by a crisis confronting the Christian community. An appreciation of the life situation will indicate how the Christians in Rome could be informed by the tract read in their meetings.

The emporeror at this time was Nero. After five years of responsible rule (A.D. 54-59) he had shown himself recklessly despotic in his relations with the aristocracy of Rome. (He goes on to show how and why...........)

He then talks of the burning of Rome and Nero's role....

Tacitus, writing a generation removed from these events, expressed himself with strong feeling:

Neither human resources, nor imperial munifcence, nor appeasement of the gods, eliminated sinister suspicions that the fire had been instigated. To suppress this rumor, Nero fabricated scapegoats - and punished with every refinement the notoriously depraved Christians (as they were popularly called)...First, Nero had self-acknowledged Christians arrested. Then, on their information, large numbers of others were condemned - not so much for incediarism as for their anti-social tendencies. Their deaths were made farcical. Dressed in wild animals' skins, they were torn to pieces by dogs, or crucified, or made into torches to be ignited after dark as substitutes for daylight. Nero provided his Gardens for the spectacle, and exhibited displays in the Circus, at which he mingled in the crowd - or stood in a chariot, dressed as a charioteer. Despite their guilt as Christians, and the ruthless punishment it deserved, the victims were pitied. For it was felt that they were being sacrificed to one man's brutality rather than to the national interest.

Such erratic behavior by the central government meant that life became precarious for the Christians in Rome and Italy. While mass arrests and capital punishment upon admission to membership in a Christian group were presumably short-lived and localized excesses, they introduced the Chruch to martyrdom. The self-awareness of Christian community in this critical situation is reflected in 1 Peter with its message of trial by fire addressed to the Asian churches. In 1 Peter 5:13 "Babylon" is a cryptogram for Rome, the city where the new Israel now found itself exiled and captive.

On this understanding, Mark's task was the projection of Christian faith in a context of suffering and martyrdom. If Christians were to be strengthened and the gospel effectively proclaimed it would be necessary to exhibit the similarity of situation faced by Jesus and the Christians of Rome. The Gospel of Mark is a pastoral response to this critical demand.

When Roman believers received the Gospel of Mark they found that it spoke to the situation of the Christian community in Nero's Rome. Reduced to a catacomb existence, they read of the Lord who was driven deep into the wilderness (Ch.1:12f). The detail, recorded only by Mark, that in the wilderness Jesus was with the wild beasts (Ch. 1:13) was filled with special significance for those called to enter the arena where they stood helpless in the presence of wild beasts. In mark's Gospel they found that nothing they could suffer from Nero was alien to the experience of Jesus. Like them, he had been misprepresented to the people and falsely labelled (Ch.3:21f.,30) And if they knew the experience of betrayal from within the circle of intimate friends it was sobering to recollect that one of the Twelve had been "Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him" (Ch. 3:19)....
cont...

pg. 17 Date of the Gospel.

The Gospel of Mark is generally dated within the decade A.D. 60-70. According to the early tradition preserved in the Anti-Marcionite Prologue to the Gospel and in Irenaeus, Mark wrote to the subsequent to the death of Peter, who was martyred in Rome during this period. Another early strand of tradition, found in Clement of Alexandria, asserts that Mark produced his Gospel while Peter was yet alive.

pg. 61 Commentary on vs. 12-13
A detail recorded only by Mark is that Jesus was with the wild beasts in the wilderness. Since Ch. 1:12-13 is usually understood as a report of Jesus' triumph over Satan the reference to the wild beasts has been interpreted as an element in the paradise motif. Jesus in the midst of the wild beasts signifies the victory of the New Adam over Satan and temptation so that paradise is restored in which man is at peace with the animals. But as soon as it is recognized that the dominant motif of the prologue is the wilderness, Mark's distinctive reference to the wild beasts becomes intelligible. In the OT blessing is associated with inhabited and cultivated land; the wilderness is the place of the curse. In the wilderness there is neither seed nor fruit, water nor growth. man cannot live there. Significantly, when the wilderness is transformed into a paradise no ravenous beast will be in it (Isa. 35:9, Ezek.34:23-28). Mark's reference to the wild beasts in Ch.1:13 serves to stress the character of the wilderness. Jesus confronts the horror, the loneliness and the danger with which the wilderness is fraught when he meets the wild beasts. Their affinity in this context is not with paradise, but with the realm of Satan.

Phew! that's all for now...

William Lane was mentored by Ned B. Stonehouse and actually taught at my alma mater, Western Ky. Univ. for a long time. He has authored a 2 vol. commentary on Hebrews in the Word Biblical Commentary and ended his life living in Franklin, TN. I actually got to attend a service held for him when he passed a few years ago. He loved to teach the Bible and was a devoted churchman in the PCA. The audio lectures that I hope to post tomorrow were his last works for this life. I definitely encourage you to pick up his Mark commentary.

 

[Herald]

Originally posted by puritansailor
Perhaps this psalm was in mind for fulfillment, inparticular verse 13? A few wild animals listed there

Psalm 91
9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
10 No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

14 "œBecause he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation."

Interesting. Satan used part of this Psalm when he brought Jesus to the top of the temple. Good observation.

 

[crhoades]

Found the lectures:
http://www.somasolutions.net/

Looks like the first couple of lectures are the intro matter. I would highly encourage anyone on the board to download and listen to these.

 

[Herald]

Originally posted by crhoades
http://www.wtsbooks.com/commentarie...entary-on-the-new-testament--nicnt--mark.html

Excerpts:
pg. 21
3. The Life Situation That Occasioned the Gospel

The clear tradition of the Church both in the west and the east toward the end of the second century and the beginning of the third is that Mark prepared his Gospel primarily for the Christians in Rome and Italy. If it appeared in the second half of the decade A.D. 60-70 it was called forth by a crisis confronting the Christian community. An appreciation of the life situation will indicate how the Christians in Rome could be informed by the tract read in their meetings.

The emporeror at this time was Nero. After five years of responsible rule (A.D. 54-59) he had shown himself recklessly despotic in his relations with the aristocracy of Rome. (He goes on to show how and why...........)

He then talks of the burning of Rome and Nero's role....

Tacitus, writing a generation removed from these events, expressed himself with strong feeling:

Neither human resources, nor imperial munifcence, nor appeasement of the gods, eliminated sinister suspicions that the fire had been instigated. To suppress this rumor, Nero fabricated scapegoats - and punished with every refinement the notoriously depraved Christians (as they were popularly called)...First, Nero had self-acknowledged Christians arrested. Then, on their information, large numbers of others were condemned - not so much for incediarism as for their anti-social tendencies. Their deaths were made farcical. Dressed in wild animals' skins, they were torn to pieces by dogs, or crucified, or made into torches to be ignited after dark as substitutes for daylight. Nero provided his Gardens for the spectacle, and exhibited displays in the Circus, at which he mingled in the crowd - or stood in a chariot, dressed as a charioteer. Despite their guilt as Christians, and the ruthless punishment it deserved, the victims were pitied. For it was felt that they were being sacrificed to one man's brutality rather than to the national interest.

Such erratic behavior by the central government meant that life became precarious for the Christians in Rome and Italy. While mass arrests and capital punishment upon admission to membership in a Christian group were presumably short-lived and localized excesses, they introduced the Chruch to martyrdom. The self-awareness of Christian community in this critical situation is reflected in 1 Peter with its message of trial by fire addressed to the Asian churches. In 1 Peter 5:13 "Babylon" is a cryptogram for Rome, the city where the new Israel now found itself exiled and captive.

On this understanding, Mark's task was the projection of Christian faith in a context of suffering and martyrdom. If Christians were to be strengthened and the gospel effectively proclaimed it would be necessary to exhibit the similarity of situation faced by Jesus and the Christians of Rome. The Gospel of Mark is a pastoral response to this critical demand.

When Roman believers received the Gospel of Mark they found that it spoke to the situation of the Christian community in Nero's Rome. Reduced to a catacomb existence, they read of the Lord who was driven deep into the wilderness (Ch.1:12f). The detail, recorded only by Mark, that in the wilderness Jesus was with the wild beasts (Ch. 1:13) was filled with special significance for those called to enter the arena where they stood helpless in the presence of wild beasts. In mark's Gospel they found that nothing they could suffer from Nero was alien to the experience of Jesus. Like them, he had been misprepresented to the people and falsely labelled (Ch.3:21f.,30) And if they knew the experience of betrayal from within the circle of intimate friends it was sobering to recollect that one of the Twelve had been "Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him" (Ch. 3:19)....
cont...

pg. 17 Date of the Gospel.

The Gospel of Mark is generally dated within the decade A.D. 60-70. According to the early tradition preserved in the Anti-Marcionite Prologue to the Gospel and in Irenaeus, Mark wrote to the subsequent to the death of Peter, who was martyred in Rome during this period. Another early strand of tradition, found in Clement of Alexandria, asserts that Mark produced his Gospel while Peter was yet alive.

pg. 61 Commentary on vs. 12-13
A detail recorded only by Mark is that Jesus was with the wild beasts in the wilderness. Since Ch. 1:12-13 is usually understood as a report of Jesus' triumph over Satan the reference to the wild beasts has been interpreted as an element in the paradise motif. Jesus in the midst of the wild beasts signifies the victory of the New Adam over Satan and temptation so that paradise is restored in which man is at peace with the animals. But as soon as it is recognized that the dominant motif of the prologue is the wilderness, Mark's distinctive reference to the wild beasts becomes intelligible. In the OT blessing is associated with inhabited and cultivated land; the wilderness is the place of the curse. In the wilderness there is neither seed nor fruit, water nor growth. man cannot live there. Significantly, when the wilderness is transformed into a paradise no ravenous beast will be in it (Isa. 35:9, Ezek.34:23-28). Mark's reference to the wild beasts in Ch.1:13 serves to stress the character of the wilderness. Jesus confronts the horror, the loneliness and the danger with which the wilderness is fraught when he meets the wild beasts. Their affinity in this context is not with paradise, but with the realm of Satan.

Phew! that's all for now...

William Lane was mentored by Ned B. Stonehouse and actually taught at my alma mater, Western Ky. Univ. for a long time. He has authored a 2 vol. commentary on Hebrews in the Word Biblical Commentary and ended his life living in Franklin, TN. I actually got to attend a service held for him when he passed a few years ago. He loved to teach the Bible and was a devoted churchman in the PCA. The audio lectures that I hope to post tomorrow were his last works for this life. I definitely encourage you to pick up his Mark commentary.

Wow! Talk about a well thought out response! Thanks

But just to put my initial post to rest....do you see any relevance to 1 Kings 19? Especially that part where Elijiah was ministered to by angels (as was Jesus in Mark 1)? Could this be in keeping with a "messenger" motif that a prof family member of mine holds to? John Oliff, Instuctor at Philadelphia Biblical University, holds to Jesus being the messenger in Mark 1, not John the Baptist. I know...whole new can of worms...but would not the Elijah motif be in keeping with that?

Thanks.

 

[crhoades]

Also from Lane's commentary...
pg. 61-62
Mark also refers to the ministering angels. The motif of the angel who guides and helps Israel through the wilderness is prominent in many of the narratives of the first exodus. The closes parallel to the Marcan account, however, is provided by I Kings 19:5-7 where an angel supplies nourishment for Elijah in the barren wilderness. Mark's reference to a plurality of angels indicates that Jesus is sustained by the servants of God. There is no indication in Mark that the service of the angels is withdrawn nor that it serves to mark the termination of the temptation. As Mauser remarks, "Mark thinks of the temptation, the being with the animals and the service of the angels as continuous events in the course of which all the forces of God and Satan are simultaneously present." This is an appropriate description, for the Marcan account of the ministry of Jesus is dominated by his confrontation with demonic forces and the sustaining of temptation. Jesus' obedience to God is affirmed and sustained in the wilderness, the precise place where Israel's rebellion had brought death and alienation, in order that the new Israel of God may be constituted.

__________

So if agreeing with one of the most able NT scholars of our day on the Elijah motif is any indication, then yes, you are on to something...

[Edited on 8-30-2005 by crhoades]

 

[Herald]

So if agreeing with one of the most able NT scholars of our day on the Elijah motif is any indication, then yes, you are on to something...

Please! Let us not insult poor Dr. Lane by insinuating that some guy like me in agreement with him!