Wild Animals and Angels

Pause:

Before you start reading this devotional, take a moment to stop what you’re doing, slow down and focus on Jesus. 

Pray and ask him to open your eyes to see as you read the scriptures, and to open your ears to hear as you wait on the leading of the Spirit.

Read:

Mark 1v9-13 (ESV): “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.¹¹ And a voice came from heaven,“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” ¹² The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.¹³ And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.”

Going Deeper:

Mark’s Gospel is fast-paced and action-packed, quickly moving through the story of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ascension in just 16 chapters.

And here in Mark 1, in just 5 verses, Mark condenses both Jesus’ Baptism and His Temptation, in a punchy 99 words. Two of the most significant moments in his life, and two of the most often preached passages of scripture, summarized without losing a single significant detail.

But if we move past the many powerful truths contained in these verses, there is a strange detail found in v13, that Mark includes, even though it adds 14 words to his word count: “And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.”

Wild Animals and Angels.

Jesus has been lead by the Spirit into the desert for 40 days, into a lonely place where He is tempted by Satan and overcomes his temptation with the truths of scripture as a new kind of Moses-figure. But in the shadows, behind these significant, powerful, symbolic events taking place, there are these background ‘extras’ surrounding Jesus.

Now, these can’t be unintentional, haphazard or unimportant details, because Mark is so ruthless in the detail that he includes. So, the wild animals and ministering angels must be important additions.

Now pause for a second and picture Jesus in the desert. Alone, tired, hungry, tempted, and weak. And he sees the exaggerated shadows of wild animals circling around him, or out there in the distance, or he hears their sounds at night, bringing a sense of uncertainty, danger, fear, unease and the unknown.

But at the same time, Angels are coming and ministering to Him as He endures his temptation. We don’t know if these Angels were visible or invisible to Jesus, or what their ministry to Him looked like, but we know that they were coming and providing necessary service to Him during this time.

One physical, unknown, natural, visible, fear-building foe.
Another spiritual, friendly, supernatural, possibly invisible, faith-building helper.

At this time, and throughout much of life, we are also surrounded by different types of “wild animals” and, at the same time, ministering angels. We should be aware of both, like Jesus was.

But how often do we just focus on the natural dangers that we can see around us? Rather than also focusing on the supernatural assistance God has sent us, and drawing strength and courage from them?

At this time, God sees you, knows what you are going through, and He is aware of the wild animals that you are facing. But He also rules and reigns over them. And He wants us to lift our eyes to be reminded of His invisible presence with us each day, and His care and provision for us, as we walk with Him through the trials of life.

Pray:

Respond to God in prayer by speaking to Him about what stood out to you from this passage this morning.

Listen:

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you this morning?

Apply:

What are you going to do in response to what God is saying to you from the text and by the Spirit?