John was in the desert baptizing, and preaching the baptism of penance unto remission of sins. That this remission was to be received from Christ and His baptism, which was the perfection and consummation of John"s baptism. For Christ. as it were the King of Heaven, preached that the kingdom must be received by His grace, of which the first part is remission of sins, which is given by the baptism of Christ, inasmuch as it is furnished and, as it were, animated by the Spirit and grace of Christ, according to those words of John
(in Matthew 3: 11), "I indeed baptize you in water unto penance, but He that shall come after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; He shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost and fire."
And immediately the Spirit drove (Gr. ו̉ךגï¢×›×›×•×™, i.e, sends out, expels) Him out into the desert. The Spirit, i.e, the Holy Spirit, who a little while before had glided down upon Him in His baptism in the form of a dove. Drove, that Isaiah , impelled Christ with great power of spirit and ardour, that He should, of His own accord, go into the desert, and there, as in a palæstra, match Himself in single combat with the devil.
And He was in the desert forty days and forty nights, and was tempted (Gr. × ×•×™×¡×‘×–ï¢•×œ×•×ןע, i.e, suffering temptation). Whence many think that Christ during the forty days was frequently tempted by Satan, by means of various spectres and horrible monsters, such as the demon presented to S. Anthony, to terrify him and distract his mind from prayer. So Franc. Lucas. But it seems better to take Mark as speaking only of the three well-known temptations (see what has been said in Matthew 4:2).
And He was with beasts (Gr. טחזש×, wild beasts). This is an intimation of the excessive solitude of the place, as well as of Christ"s innocency. Although He was in such a desert place, with lions, wolves, leopards, serpents, yet He did not fear them, nor was He injured by them. Just as Adam, so long as he was innocent, lived with such creatures without harm in Paradise. For they all looked up to him, and reverenced him as their lord.
And the angels ministered to Him. Not before His temptation and victory, as Bede supposes. For if Song of Solomon , Jesus would have been recognised by the devil as the Son of God; nor would the devil have dared to approach Him. But it was after the temptation and the victory, as is plain from Matt. iv11. And for this reason, that Jesus might show in His own person that consolation and comfort and the ministry of angels has been prepared by God for those who overcome temptations.
