Confronting the Dark
Immediately the Spirit *impelled Him to go out into the wilderness. Mark 1:12 NASB
Impelled – Why was Yeshua “impelled” to go into the wilderness? The Greek term is quite strong. ekbállō isn’t just personal compulsion. It is literally, “throw out.” Yeshua was thrown out into the wilderness, the sort of thing that happens without choice. Mark writes this in the present tense (the asterisk, remember?) in order to emphasize it. Yeshua didn’t decide to take a spiritual pilgrimage. He was kicked out, pushed into the wasteland of confrontation. Why?
The quick theological answer is: “To confront the Devil, of course.” The answer is naïve. Yeshua confronts Satan after forty days in the wasteland. Why did he need forty grueling days of isolation before Satan arrived? The imagery deliberately reflects Moses’ forty days on the mountain. But I think there is more. Perhaps the real answer is about being fully human.
In order to understand these forty days, we need to know another Greek word. The gospels use a particularly pungent word to describe Yeshua. The word is splanchnízomai. It is literally about the intestines, the “inner parts,” considered the seat of emotion in the ancient world.
- The verb occurs in the NT only in the Synoptics. In three parables it denotes human attitudes. Thus in Mt. 18:27 the lord has pity on the servant, in Lk. 15:20 the father has compassion on the prodigal, and in Lk. 10:33 the Samaritan has compassion on the man who has fallen among thieves. In all these instances the term reflects the totality of the divine mercy to which human compassion is a proper response.
- Elsewhere in the Synoptics the verb has messianic significance, for it is only Jesus who shows compassion[1]
What is the connection between ekbállō and splanchnízomai? “Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.”[2] Yeshua is the prime example of human compassion. In fact, he singularly represents the full human potential for divine compassion. But to do so, he must also know his own depth, his own darkness. If he is going to connect with us, he has to know what it’s like to be us, and that means looking where we are afraid to look.
Forty days might be a theological prop to position Yeshua as the new Moses, but even if it is, the connection to Moses also reveals the need for confronting the dark. He was thrown into the place no one wants to go in order to be there when we arrive.
Topical Index: ekbállō, throw out, splanchnízomai, compassion, Mark 1:12
[1] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (p. 1068). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.
[2] Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times (Shambhala Publications, 2001), cited in Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection, p. 16.
