My Notes on Mark 1:12-15

1:12  And immediately the Spirit drove him out into the desert.
1:13  And he was in the desert forty days and forty nights, and was tempted by Satan. And he was with beasts: and the angels ministered to him.

Immediately gives the narrative a faster pace and conveys a sense of urgency (see the last paragraph of this post).

The Spirit drove him. The word used here to describe the Spirit’s action in relation to our Lord will also be used to describe Jesus “driving” out demons. Jesus is here being identified as a man of the Spirit; the Spirit by which he will drive out demons. Jesus is the Mightier One (ο ισχυροτερος, Mk 1:7) predicted by the Baptist because he has the Spirit remaining on him (Mk 1:10) and can thus bind “the strong man” Satan (Mark 3:23-27).

Into the desert. John is in the desert eating traditional, humble desert fare (Mk 1:6), but Jesus is in the desert fasting (vs 13). John is in the desert preaching a baptism of penance unto the remission of sins (Mk 1:4), but Jesus is in the desert confronting the very reason why such a mission was necessary. Unlike Adam, who, being pampered in a beautiful garden found it impossible to fast from a certain delicacy (“thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat”-Gen 3:11), Jesus is fasting in the desert and confronting the one by whom Adam was ruined (vs 13).

1:14 Now after (meta de) John had been handed over (paradidomi), Jesus came (erchomai) to Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, 1:15 and saying, fulfilled is the time, at hand is the Kingdom; repent and believe the Gospel.

Now after (meta de). De is a conjunctive which can be either continuative (e.g., “and”, “moreover”) or adversative (e.g., “but”); used in tandem with meta the meaning is adversative. Mark wishes to emphasize the fact that Jesus’ ministry of preaching in Galilee began only after the arrest of the Baptist. In itself this does not preclude a previous ministry in Judea (see Jn 3:23).

Handed over (paradidomi). This will become a key word in Mark and is variously translated as arrested, handed over, betrayed, delivered, ect. It is used primarily in reference to Jesus Passion (9:31; 14:10-11, 18; 15:1, ect.), but it is also used in reference to the handing over of Jesus followers to rulers during persecution (13:9, 11). Jesus knew full well that John was his precursor and, as such, prefigured his own death (9:9-13). Faithful Christians also must realize that the fate of the Baptist and the Christ awaits them.

John had prophesied that “after me comes (erchomai) one mightier than I,” and, in fact, “Jesus came from Nazareth to Galilee and was baptized by John” (vs 9), after which he was confronted by Satan. Now, as we learn that the Baptist is being persecuted, we see Jesus coming to Galilee where he will soon enter into conflict with a demon (1:21-28), and then heated controversy with Scribes and Pharisees, which will end in the plotting of His death (2:1-3:6).

Fulfilled is the time, at hand is the Kingdom. The word order here represents the position of the verbs in the Greek text. There is an urgency in Jesus’ message which makes the need to repent and believe the Gospel without hesitancy a dire obligation upon those who hear the message.