Sometimes reading the Gospel of Mark
is like reading only the headlines from a newspaper — you can get the main idea
of the story but maybe not all of the details you might be looking for. You
might get the big news, but after that, you really have to think about what you
just read and what it means. We can read Mark’s version about Jesus in the
wilderness in less than a minute — it is like the Cliffs Notes version of the First Sunday of Lent. But it would be a
mistake to hurry through these verses. Those very few words are an invitation
for us to sit with the story and then imagine the scene that Mark is
describing.
Mark tells the story of Jesus’
temptation in the wilderness in one sentence: “He was in the wilderness forty
days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited
on him.” That is the story, but there are no details there.
It would be like if you went to
visit New York City and decided to send your friend a postcard to describe your
trip. “Arrived in city, saw many tall buildings.” Well, that’s true and
accurate — but what else? Where are all the details? Where did you eat? Who did
you see? What did you feel?
In the desert
We hear this story of Jesus going
into the wilderness every year at the beginning of Lent. When we think about
how Matthew and Luke tell the story, Mark’s version is even more striking.
There seems to be a lot missing. When Mark tells this story, there is:
