He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  As it is written in the Prophets:  

"Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
Who will prepare Your way before You."
"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make His paths straight.'"

John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.  Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.  I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.  Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.  And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.

- Mark 1:1-13

Saturday's reading was the end of Jesus' prayer from the Last Supper in John's Gospel.  For the earlier parts of this prayer, see This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent and I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.  Jesus continued, "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which you gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You, and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.   Today we begin readings in Mark's Gospel.  Here, we note that gospel doesn't refer to the text of Mark per se, but rather to the story of Jesus; as my study bible puts it, "the sacred story of the life, death and Resurrection of Christ, the Good News of salvation in the Kingdom of God."  The beginning is the opening story of Jesus' ministry.  That is, the activity of John the Baptist, and the temptation of Jesus, the Christ, Son of God.

As it is written in the Prophets:  "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You."  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.'"  This is the prophecy of Isaiah, given again through John the Baptist. John is understood by the Church to be the last of the Old Testament prophets; Jesus will call him Elijah returned in spirit.  My study bible says that John "fulfills prophecy and prepares the people of God for the Messiah's coming.  Hearts are softened to receive the Light."

John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.  Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.  I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."  We note what the baptism is for here:  repentance and remission, or letting go, of sins.  My study bible points out that Christian baptism will later not only be for "letting go" and forgiveness of sins, but to bring us into union with Christ.  John was a tremendous and popular figure, and we get a sense of all the preparation of the people, looking toward a Messiah.  John's clothing and manner are similar to that of Elijah -- an important understanding here is that Elijah was expected to return before the coming of the Messiah.  My study bible also notes that John's statement about baptism with the Holy Spirit means that only Christ, the Son of God, fully possesses and gives the Spirit.  Through such baptism in Christ the Holy Spirit is given; adoption is made as children of God, and those baptized become "anointed ones."    John is a herald, preparing the way for the One who is the Way.

It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.  My study bible says that "coming up from the water" suggests that Jesus was immersed in the water:  "Christ's rising from the water is symbolic of His Ascension, since the same Greek verb (anabaino) is also used to refer to that event. . . . The Church Fathers taught that in coming up, He lifts the whole world with Him.  The Spirit descending upon Him foreshadows the Spirit's descent upon the first Christians at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).  Like a dove does not mean the Holy Spirit is incarnated as a dove.  Rather this is a special sign indicating the presence of the Spirit.  A dove symbolizes purity, peace and wisdom."

Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."   My study bible tells us, "The voice of God the Father from heaven makes Jesus' baptism a manifestation or epiphany of the Holy Trinity.  The Father is not adopting Jesus as His Son, but proclaiming that He is and always has been His Son.  This divine proclamation, combining a messianic psalm (Ps. 2:7) with the first song of the Suffering Servant of the Lord (Is. 42:1), reveals who Jesus is.  Thus Jesus' baptism anticipates His Transfiguration and Resurrection, the dawning of the new creation."

Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.  And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.  A lengthy note here is worth quoting:  "As Jesus' baptism is the first revelation of His divinity, so His temptation inaugurates His role as the 'Lamb of God' (John 1:29, 36), the suffering and obedient Son of God whose destiny is the Cross by God's will.  Forty days echoes the forty years of Israel's temptations in the Old Testament and becomes the basis for the forty-day period of Great Lent in later Christian tradition.  Being with the beasts and served by the angels suggests a relationship between Christ and Adam, Christ being the New Adam.  Even if we are subjected to evil, (the demons, the beasts,) God will never desert us as we struggle toward Him.  The Church Fathers believed meditative seclusion is (1) conducive to freer communion with God and (2) effective preparation for great tasks ahead."

 The beginning of the gospel is quite a bit to think about!  Jesus' baptism by John reveals Him as Son of God, gives us the Trinity -- Father, Son and Spirit -- and introduces the reality of the presence of the Messiah and the prophet who will end the lineage of Old Testament prophets, who prepares the people for His coming.  But the first act of the Spirit is to "throw" Jesus out into the wilderness (this is how the word literally reads in the Greek) -- and in this sense driving Him out of the society and into this empty and desolate place of the wild beasts and Satan and the angels for forty days.  Declared and revealed as Son, member of the Trinity, Jesus is then immediately impelled into a place where His humanity and thus His vulnerability will be put to the test:  this is indeed a powerful "beginning."  Mark's Gospel is a briefly written text in style; Matthew's Gospel gives us the depth of Jesus' experience in the wilderness.  Lent, then, becomes the time in which we are "inspired" to take time apart and do as the Spirit compelled Jesus to do.  I think it's a good time to consider my study bible's characterization of such a period, that "meditative seclusion" is conducive to freer communion with God and effective preparation for great tasks ahead.   This is a time to shore up our faith and to prepare for the life God wishes for us.  We note the drama of this beginning:  from revelation as Son and of the entire Trinity to this difficult period of testing in the wilderness.  Right away, the story of Jesus and His ministry lets us know that life isn't about all our roads being paved with gold, so to speak.  A life in Christ will ask us to take a good look at ourselves.  It will test us, and ask us to know and be aware of our own vulnerabilities.  And we can't predict the future based on our assumptions of how life goes.  The revelation itself here, as prepared as the entirety of Jewish spiritual history and the ministry of John the Baptist could make the people, is something entirely startling.  The Good News, this Gospel, isn't just about a story.  It's about the things we cannot expect, life that will "throw us out" of our complacency with what we think we already know.  Christ's way isn't just about being in control, or going along, or planning what we think every step of our life is going to be about.  This Way involves a struggle, a kind of depth of knowledge of ourselves and at the same time a communion with Creator, one that leads us not only to a better self-knowledge, but also to a kind of revelation of what is possible to one who is also anointed, adopted, set apart with faith.  That's who we are called to be.  As we pass through Lent this year, let us remember He went there before us, setting the example.  He is the glorious God, and the Suffering Servant.  Let us be called into communion with Him, and most of all, remember that this is a communion of love, as we reread His final words in prayer from John's Gospel, at the Last Supper.  If you have gone through times in your life with "wild beasts," in a desolate or abandoned place, even where you have felt the presence of Satan -- know that the angels are there for ministry, too.  In this case, it is the Spirit who put Him there.   Let us be aware that God's love holds something, even in that place, for us as well.