Margaret Barker explains how this is Jesus’ heavenly ascent - the same type of ascent Ezekiel’s and other holy prophets.
She also explains that the “begetting” of Jesus has ancient roots in temple tradition:These few lines in Mark’s Gospel indicate that Jesus claimed a throne vision at his baptism. Being with wild beasts may imply no more than the presence of desert animals during the forty days, but the reference to wild beasts and serving angels together with open heavens and a heavenly voice suggests rather more. In the Greek, the word for ‘beasts’ in Mark 1 and ‘living creatures’ in Revelation 4.6 are different; but the Hebrew word hayyah would have been used for both a wild animal (Gen 8.1) and one of the throne creatures (Ezekiel 10.15).
The other Gospels add significant details: during his time in the desert, Jesus looked down from a mountain top and saw ‘all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time’ (Luke 4.5); he also felt himself on a pinnacle of the temple (Luke 4.9). Both these are holy of holies experiences, mentioned by other mystics: Habakkuk was set on a watch-tower in the temple to see his vision (Hab. 2.1); the angel Metatron, the transformed Enoch, showed Rabbi Ishmael all history depicted on the curtain of the heavenly holy of holies (3 En 45)
The recent coronation of Charles was very interesting, with the anointing taking place within a make-shift holy of holies with a screen embroidered with what looks very much like a Tree of Life, under a what could be a “morning star” (associated with divine rebirth - “sons of the dawn” etc).A variant reading in some ancient versions of Luke’s Gospel provides another link to the throne vision of Revelation 4. In Matthew and Mark, the voice from heaven speaks words from a coronation psalm, ‘You are my Son’ (Ps 2.7), and from a Servant Song, ‘with whom I am well pleased’ (Isa. 42.1), thus linking the traditions of king and servant. The text of Luke 3.22 in the Codex Bezae, however, has only Psalm 2.7: ‘You are my son, today I have begotten you’, linking the experience unambiguously to the coronation ritual, the moment when the king entered the holy of holies, i.e. ascended to heaven, and was enthroned as Son of God.
