Jesus Hanging Out with Wild Animals

Last updated on: June 3, 2016 at 3:36 pm by Brandon D. Smith

Jesus Hanging Out with Wild Animals 2016-06-03T15:36:07-05:00 Brandon D. Smith

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Follow @BrandonSmith85

The Temptations of Christ, 12th century mosaic at St Mark’s Basilica, Venice.

On a recent episode of Word Matters, Trevin Wax and I discussed Mark’s rendering of Jesus’s temptation in the wilderness, particularly the unique insertion of the phrase, “He was with the wild animals” (Mark 1:13, HCSB).

After discussing the prominent views of this passage throughout church history, Trevin and I both landed at the same conclusion: Mark is recapitulating the temptation scene of Genesis 3. He shows Jesus as the Second Adam who stands among the wild animals (including the serpent, Satan) and fulfills mankind’s true purpose of choosing God over Satan’s temptations. And as Matthew’s more detailed account shows, Jesus the God-man reclaims humanity’s authority over creation and inaugurates the coming of God’s kingdom back to earth. When Jesus stands victorious over Satan and is not attacked by the wild animals, we see a picture of what Eden was supposed to be and what New Creation will be:

“The wolf will live with the lamb,
and the leopard will lie down with the goat.
The calf, the young lion, and the fatling will be together,
and a child will lead them.” (Isa. 11:6, HCSB)

“Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity,
and He will live with them.
They will be His people,
and God Himself will be with them
and be their God.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Death will no longer exist;
grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer,
because the previous things have passed away.” (Rev. 21:3-4, HCSB)

Since the podcast episode is only about 15 minutes long, we weren’t able to go fully in depth about why we preferred this interpretation, but thankfully Jason Kees wrote a fantastic response piece giving more light to this idea. Here’s a snippet:

“Jesus is in the wilderness forty days (τεσσεράκοντα), and there is great warrant to see him fulfill what Israel failed to do after the exodus from Egypt. Simply put, where Israel failed and were forced to wander for forty years in the wilderness, Christ, the new and better Israel, succeeded. Could this, then, be a clue as to why Mark included the wild animals, that his point is this is the one who will prepare our way (1:2) by making all things new, such as God did in the very beginning? I believe so.”

Read Jason’s response here and listen to the podcast here.

Biblical Interpretation

Eschatology

New Creation

Theology

Biblical Interpretation

eschatology

Jesus

New Creation

Previous Post

May 31, 2016

Church Grammar: Theology as the Language of Christianity

Next Post

June 11, 2016 What Happens to Us When We Read the Bible?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Academics Apologetics Baptists Biblical Interpretation Biblical Studies Blog News Books Christian Life Church History Culture Ecclesiology Eschatology Gospel Interviews New Creation News Politics Science Scripture Sexual Sin Social Media Spiritual Discipline The Smorgasbord Theology Trinity Word Matters Podcast

Select a Month September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does Paul say in Colossians has been nailed to the cross?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The old covenant Our sins The written code with its regulations Satan's authority

Books by This Author Books by Brandon D. Smith

See All Titles »