My Favorite Verses - Vol V (Feb 17 to Jun 17)

Mark 1:13 … Waited upon by Angels
(04/28/2017)
“He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan … And he was
with the wild beasts – and the angels waited upon him.” ~ unknown (Mark 1:13)
First & foremost, note that it was “the Spirit” that drove Jesus into the
wilderness after his baptism (Mark 1:12) – the Spirit that resided within him at the
time; the same Spirit that resides within every sentient being (John 14:20-26); the
same Spirit that repeatedly encourages us to go to “the wilderness” as well – to
divest from our attachments to possessions & relationships; to release our
dependence upon preparation & savings; to confront all personal fears while
dismissing all perceived needs (a.k.a. “Satan‟s temptations” – see Matthew 4:1-11) ;
to be “born anew” once again (John 3:3-8); to allow our True Selves to burgeon
forth into our conscious awareness; to become as a “very young child” once more
(Matthew 18:3-4) … Second, note that “forty days” probably did not mean
literally forty days in most biblical texts, but rather was a commonly used phrase
that meant “a very long time” … Third, note that the “wild beasts” referenced
here included Jesus‟ own ego (the co-source of his visions of Satan and the
temptations that followed). I have literally tested this verse by heading myself into
a literal wilderness on more than one occasion, and can attest to the fact that the
human ego does indeed respond insidiously (indeed, very much like a "wild beast")
when it is exposed to such a high degree of perceived danger to self … Fourth,
note that the 3 Great Temptations of both Matthew 4:1-11 & Luke 4:1-13
(temptations which most definitely count as fear-filled & fully self-centered “wild
beasts” in any “wilderness”) were not present in Mark‟s original relaying thereof.
That having been said, it was Truth-full for Matthew & Luke to include them in
their versions of the story, as any exposure to the elements & the primal fear that
accompanies the same will indeed lead the human ego to long for bodily
sustenance, to crave power over the elements & to desire immortality (or at the
very least an avoidance of imminent death) …
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