The Battle With Satan

Morna Hooker:

There is nothing here to suggest that Mark thought of this as a period when Jesus deliberated about what kind of messiah he was to be. Neither is there any sign – whatever later interpreters and preachers may have done with his account—that Mark’s purpose is to portray Jesus’ spiritual pilgrimage, passing through a psychological trough after the peak of his experience at the baptism.

This is perhaps our trap as well as we come down the mountain from last week’s transfiguration story into the wilderness.

One remarkable feature of Mark’s account of the temptation is that it ends without any indication as to the outcome. It is possible that he regarded this as so obvious that it was unnecessary to spell it out, but his failure to do so has left commentators arguing about how he understood the relationship between this scene and the rest of Jesus’ ministry. Some have understood the temptation as initiating Jesus’ struggle with evil, and have seen the later exorcisms, Jesus’ struggle with obtuse and antagonistic men, and the passion itself, as part of a continuous conflict between Jesus and others…. The picture of the Son of Man doing battle with Satan in the wilderness is the key which will enable us to understand Jesus’ authority over unclean spirits: the stronger one has confronted the prince of demons, and is plundering his house (Mark 3.22-7)