Mark 1:12-13, The Temptation of Jesus

12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. [Filled with the Spirit, Jesus repeats what Israel did going into the wilderness. Where Israel failed, Jesus will succeed.] 13 And he was in the wilderness forty days [as opposed to Israel’s forty years], being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals [a place of curse], and the angels were ministering to him. [Angles accompanied Israel in the wilderness. Mark’s version of Jesus’ temptation is much shorter than Matthew’s and Luke’s versions. One of Mark’s favorite words is “immediately.” He uses it 35 times to keep his narrative moving. If the theory that Matthew was written before Mark is correct, then Mark takes Matthew and condenses it for what I believe would have been a 2-hour oral presentation.]