The Wild Beasts of the Wilderness

In Mark’s account of the temptations of Jesus he wrote, “And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him” (Mark 1:13).  One commentary on this verse highlighted the interesting fact that only Mark among the gospel writers mentioned the Savior being with wild beasts: “Mark provides a unique insight, not found in Matthew or Luke, that Jesus ‘was with the wild beasts’ (Mark 1:13) during the forty-day period in the wilderness….  The beasts represent the physical dangers of the wilderness, and the devil represents the spiritual dangers of the wilderness…  In the first century, the wilderness was the abode of an abundance of wild animals, including carnivores such as lions, bears, cheetahs, jackals, leopards, and wolves.  Mark’s mention of wild animals, therefore, most likely highlights the danger of the experience that will end only when the devil leaves Jesus (Holzapfel, “Jesus in the Wilderness,” 183).  So not only was the Savior tempted by the devil during these forty days of fasting, he was in a position of significant danger from the wild animals around Him.  But, like Daniel of old (who was protected in the lion’s den) and David (who said that God “delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear”) and the Nephite disciples (who were cast “into dens of wild beasts” and yet were preserved), Jesus was protected physically in the midst of these beasts (1 Samuel 17:37, 4 Nephi 1:33). 

            This fact that Jesus spent time in the wilderness with wild beasts surely was also symbolic.  Just as he was able to overcome the physical dangers around him in the form of dangerous animals, so too did He overcome all temptations the evil one tried to ensnare Him with there.  Christ was able to be in the midst of the them and experience danger while still miraculously staying unmarred by them.  That He could do so is perhaps symbolic of the fact that He succumbed to no temptation in His life, He overcame all the wiles of the devil, and He did not falter in the midst of sin among men.  He was not spared the mortal dangers or temptations common to man, but He was able to overcome them all.  It is also interesting that in the Book of Mormon the famous place of baptism, the waters of Mormon, also had wild beasts: “A place which was called Mormon, having received its name from the king, being in the borders of the land having been infested, by times or at seasons, by wild beasts” (Mosiah 18:4).  There, at the waters of Mormon, Alma and those who believed his words were able to receive baptism and overcome the natural man.  We too can overcome the dangerous “wild beasts” that surround us—we can put off the natural man—as we seek to emulate the life of the Savior and stay true to the “knowledge of [our] Redeemer”  (Mosiah 18:30).