“And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.”
He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him — Mark's account of the testing is the briefest of the three Synoptics, containing no dialogue and no specific temptations listed. The forty days echo Israel's forty years, Moses's forty days on the mountain, and Elijah's forty-day journey to Horeb. The wild animals may represent the hostility of the wilderness, or may suggest the Edenic restoration of Isaiah 11:6–9, where the wolf lies with the lamb in the coming kingdom. The angels attending him (diakoneō, to serve) recalls Elijah's angel provision in the wilderness (1 Kings 19:5–8) and anticipates the angelic service that follows every moment of testing.
Church Fathers on Mark 1:13
And that no one might doubt, by what spirit he said that Christ was driven into the wilderness, Luke has on purpose premised, that 'Jesus being full of the Spirit returned from Jordan, ' and then has added, 'and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness;' lest the evil spirit should be thought to have any power over Him, who, being full of the Holy Spirit, departed whither He was willing to go, and did what He was willing to do.
Or then the beasts dwell with us in peace, as in the ark clean animals with the unclean, when the flesh lusts not against the spirit. After this, ministering Angels are sent to us, that they may give answers and comforts to hearts that watch.
Read all 4 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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