Saint Athanasius Lutheran Church

If Mark was writing his Gospel today, he would have put it this way: The Spirit immediately threw Jesus to the wolves. Or, to use an even more modern saying: The Spirit immediately threw Jesus under the bus. The giant bus, that is, driven by satan, seeking to run us over and take away our spiritual lives. Mark doesn't even tell us how it ended. He must have won, though. Because next Mark tells us that Jesus shows up in Galilee, preaching. Proclaiming that the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel. At the beginning of this Lenten season, we focus on the beginning of the battle. Not so much that Jesus is tempted as we are. But that Jesus is victorious.