Mark
1:1-15
Key
Verse – Mark 1:1, 15
Introduction:
Mark’s main focus in writing this book was to disclose Jesus’ identity as the
Savior (Messiah) and the Son of God, so that many may believe in him and escape
God’s judgment. At the outset of his writing (1:1-15), he wrote how the good
news about Jesus, the Savior, began. These events were mainly preparatory work
for the salvation of God’s people. God had set the time prepared His people,
and sent the Messiah’s forerunner, John the Baptist. Then through John’s
baptism, Jesus was introduced to the Israelite nation as God’s Son, the Messiah,
who was to accomplish the salvation of mankind.
In
addition to this, through the events, recorded at the beginning of his book, Mark
described things that were impregnated with one common theme, that Jesus is the
Savior (Messiah) and Son of God sent for man’s salvation.
Most
often, the message’s focus was on what we, men, have to do in order to receive
the gospel, i.e., repent and believe. Even though it is only one of the themes
of this passage, at this time, I will focus on God’s will and how He planned,
promised, and worked to fulfill His promise. His will was centered around two aspects,
His character as the holy and righteous One, and His promise to save the
unrighteous and unholy. In between these two, there was great stress that
must be worked out so that the unholy and unrighteous might be brought in to
the One who is holy and righteous.
A.
Jesus comes as the Savior and Son of God (1:1)
B.
Jesus begins working out God’s plan to reach His
people (1:2-8)
C.
Jesus was proven to be the Son of God and the
Savior (1:9-13)
D.
Jesus proclaims the good news (1:14-15)
A. Jesus
comes as the Savior and Son of God (1:1)
“The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the
Son of God” (Mark 1:1).
Here, ‘good news’ is a generic phrase,
sometimes used in reference to news of
victory delivered during or after a war. Although it is used for other
occasions as well, the Lord’s good news connoted the idea of victory in the
battle against Satan’s evil forces. In other words, Jesus’ good news, as the
Savior and Son of God, was in regard to his victory against the enemy, Satan, his
evil forces, and his forceful grip on our sinful nature.
Jesus was born to Mary and Joseph
and grew up as a carpenter in the town of Nazareth in Galilee. In his
appearance and life, no one could discern any difference between him and any
other ordinary man in the town, since they all shared many common predicaments,
sorrows, pains, and joys in life. Unless proven otherwise, Jesus was like any
other ordinary man of flesh.
This was the starting point or basic
premise of Mark’s gospel account, on which he built his assertion that Jesus was
the Messiah and Son of God. He did not make his own assertions through editorial
comments but exposed the spirit, power, and authority of the Messiah and Son
of God by recording the things that Jesus did. This is also meant to invite all
of us to think and be able to see that Jesus is truly the Messiah and the Son
of God (one good example is the centurion’s confession in Mark 15).
First, this ordinary-looking man was
the Messiah. ‘Messiah’ comes from a Hebrew word, meaning “to anoint”.
Three offices were to be anointed by the Lord: priests, kings, and prophets. In
other words, no one could serve in any of these capacities, unless he was
anointed by the D. During the period of the exile, through the revelation found
in prophetic words concerning the eschatological figure required for Israel’s
salvation and restoration, this word ‘Messiah’ came to represent the one who
would come in the future to save God’s people (Daniel 9:25-26).
Messianic prophecies were noted
long before Israel’s exile. Isaiah, the first one who prophesied both Samaria’s
(the northern kingdom of Israel) and
Judah’s fall was given the prophecy about the Messiah’s coming, after Israel’s
fall.
“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the
poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for
the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners” (Isaiah 61:1 NIV).
The Messiah must be anointed by
the Lord’s Spirit. What is that Spirit? We can just say that it was God’s
Spirit. However, if we stop there, then the Spirit could be anything within our
wild imaginations. What does His Spirit do? The second portion of this verse
helps us discover that the Spirit, which was given to the anointed, empowers the
believer to proclaim the good news. The nature of this good news has three aspects,
as seen in this passage - binding up the broken hearted, freedom for the
captives, releasing prisoners from darkness. These three properties are
descriptive of men’s situation in sin. This portrayal is true and reflects humanity’s
true reality under God’s judgment, even though many might not be willing to
accept it. This is the Spirit that works out men’s salvation. As recorded in Isaiah’s
prophecy, Jesus was anointed with that Spirit and called Messiah.
Second, he is the Son of God.
First, this means that Jesus is the Son of God, which subsequently indicates
that, in the essence of his being, he was one with the triune God. Far more
importantly, the truth is that, even though he appeared as an ordinary human
being, he was the Son of God. Why is it so important that he be
identified as the Son of God? The significance of this was given through the
second Davidic psalm:
“I will proclaim the LORD’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I
have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your
inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.” (Psalm 2:7-8).
Thus, having introduced Jesus as
both the Messiah and the Son of God, Mark filled his entire book, with accounts
of Jesus’ spirit as given by his Father and of his authority as the Son of God.
As we go through the rest of the book, we must pay attention to two things - the
spirit displayed in Jesus’ work, which was of the Father, and the authority which
he exercised as the Son of Almighty God.
B.
Prepare His people (1:2-8)
Having introduced Jesus, and the
good news of his coming, Mark now moved on to the beginning of the story.
1.
Mark points to the prophecy of two prophets.
God gave Isaiah a prophecy about
the coming of the good news:
“as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send
my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way"-- "a voice of
one calling in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight
paths for him.'”" (Mark 1:2-3 NIV).
Actually, v2 is quoted from Malachi
3:1 and v3 is from Isaiah 40:3. Therefore, it seems that Mark considered Malachi’s
prophecy to be a reinforcement of or equivalent to Isaiah’s. This is why v 2-3 are
often considered together to be Isaiah’s prophecy. Each of these two prophecies
were given at different times and under unique circumstances, and, although they
were of the same vein regarding God’s purpose to send someone to prepare the
way for the Lord, the emphasis of each is a little different.
First, v3 (ref. Isaiah 40:1) emphasized
the necessity God’s people to prepare themselves before the Messiah’s coming.
The prophet, Isaiah,
lived from 745-680 BC, and served four kings: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and
Hezekiah. During this time, the northern kingdom of Israel was defeated by
Assyria (722 BC). The southern kingdom of Judah was also invaded by the
Assyrian king, Sennacherib, but was saved by divine intervention -- 185,000
Assyrians died in one night (2 Kings 18:13-19:37). Even though she survived this
Assyrian attack, God declared that Judah would soon be defeated and sent into
exile as well, because of their sins (Isaiah 1-40). What would Israel’s
fate be after their exile? This was prophesied in Ch. 40-66. At the beginning of
the chapter of hope (Isaiah 40:1-11), God gave this message to His people:
““Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly
to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD's hand
double for all her sins. A voice of one calling: "In the wilderness
prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough
ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD
will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the
LORD has spoken.”" (Isaiah 40:1-5 NIV).
Through these five verses, the Lord
presented one simple message: since Israel had received a double portion of
God’s punishment for her sins, He would send a prophet as a voice calling in
the wilderness to prepare the way for His coming, for His glory would be
revealed to all of the people together. If we rephrase this, since Israel had
paid for their sin, God would send someone to prepare her, for He was ready to
come and rescue His people.
In this situation, three things
are assumed: 1) Israel had suffered and paid for her sins, 2) the Israelites
needed to be prepared, and 3) the Lord’s glory would be revealed to all of the people
(flesh-NAS) at once.
It is remarkable that all people
will see His glory, for God said, "you cannot see My face, for no one may
see Me and live" (Exodus 33:20 NIV). Actually, this does not mean to see
the Lord’s glory as Moses saw. Rather, it means that all flesh will actually
view the majestic glory of God Himself with their physical eyes (Isaiah 40:5;
60:1–3). The implication of this is that all flesh must be prepared so as to be
able to see God’s glory with their own eyes. This is what the apostle John
meant when he said that the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us
(John 1:14). We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and
only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (see also 1 John
4:14). We have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the
Savior of the world.
In Mark 1:10, Jesus himself saw the
heavens being opened, and the Spirit descended on him. However, here in John
1:14 and 1 John 4:14, the word ‘see’ is a different word, which means to perceive,
sense or know. This tells us that, although everyone may see the Lord’s glory with
their eyes, not all of them would be able to perceive that glory, unless their
heart is prepared and set straight before almighty God. One must truly see the Lord’s
glory in Jesus, in order to be saved.
How would this messenger prepare
the way for the Lord’s coming? Or how could Israel be prepared to see His
glory? The next verse explains:
“Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill
made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.” (Isaiah
40:4 NIV).
This was a figurative description
of the state of the Israelites’ minds at that time. Their heart was like a deep,
depressed valley, a high and prideful mountain,
, or rough, rebellious ground. As they were, even though they could see, they
could not perceive the Lord’s glory, even though they had heard the word of
truth, they could not clearly hear the message behind the truth. What does this
tell us? God felt that Israel’s heart must first be prepared before the Messiah’s
(Savior) arrival. Here, the importance is placed, not on the person, but on the
message which would be carried by someone acting as a voice calling in the
desert. Everyone must pay attention to the message, which we now
know to be the message was regarding the baptism of repentance.
God reaffirmed His message again
through the prophet Malachi (515-458 BC). By this time, following
Isaiah’s prophecy, Judah had experienced quite a few things, i.e. exile to
Babylon, the temple’s destruction and reconstruction, return from exile, and the
reestablishment of the sacrificial system with God-centric worship. However, as
time passed, the people’s mind fell deeper and deeper into despair, because 1)
the prophetic vision of a renewed Davidic state under Zerubbabel had never
materialized (Haggai 2:20–23), 2) Haggai’s prediction of material prosperity (2:6–9) had never come to
pass, 3) the streaming migration of former Jewish captives, as foreseen by
Zechariah (8:1–8), had yet to occur, 4) the second Temple’s completion ushered
in no Messianic Age (Malachi 3:6–12; cf. Zechariah 8:9–23), and 5) the ideal of
Ezekiel’s temple state quickly faded amid the stark reality of the Persian
domination and the problems of mere survival in a city surrounded by hostile foreigners
(NAC).
Malachi was the last Old
Testament prophet. It is estimated that he prophesied sometime during Ezra’s
ministry and the second temple’s declination. About two hundred years later, Isaiah’s
prophecy concerning Judah’s fate and Jerusalem’s fall was fulfilled, and people
were living in darkness. In skepticism and doubt, the Israelite people questioned
God’s faithfulness and asked,
“"All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and
he is pleased with them"…"Where is the God of justice?"” (Malachi
2:17; 3:13–15 NIV).
In doubt, they lived an ungodly
life, consisting of intermarriage with foreign women (2:10–12), attendant
idolatry (2:11), scandalous divorce (2:13–16), as well as sorcery, adultery,
perjury, and social injustice (3:5). They either sank deeper into despair and
hopelessness or sought to pursue many other pagan beliefs to acquire good
lives. This is the exact description of the people’s mind to whom Isaiah
prophesied (Isaiah 40:3). To the people under such a mindset, God reminded them
again of Isaiah’s words, through the prophet Malachi:
“I will send my messenger, who will prepare
the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will
come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says
the LORD Almighty.” (Malachi 3:1).
This part of Malachi’s prophecy
was given in response to the complaint against the Levites (“By saying, "All
who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them"
or "Where is the God of justice?" Malachi 2:17b). The first reference
to ‘my messenger’ is the same word used as the voice calling in the desert (Isaiah
40:1). The second use is different, since it denotes the messenger of
the Covenant and of the Lord whom they were seeking. Since the messenger is
equated with the Lord, he is most likely an angel who speaks on the Lord’s behalf.
Thus, he is the figure pointing to the Messiah, Jesus.
According to the Covenant, the
Messiah will come as a judge. The messenger is necessary in order for mankind to
escape the Messiah’s punishment, which will come all of the sudden. Therefore,
this prophecy is about those who take things easy and enrich themselves through
all kinds of sinfulness, believing God is not active or overseeing their
actions, at least for the present time. As a whole, Isaiah’s prophecy was for
the Israelite people who were living in suffering; Malachi’s prophecy was to
communicate the necessity of the messenger for the Israelite leaders, because
they were wealthy by their own means, having neglected God’s law and enriched
themselves with ungodly gains. Both prophecies emphasized the fact that the
people of Israel and their leader needed a messenger, because they all must be
prepared for the Lord’s coming.
2.
John the Baptist came to fulfill the
prophecy
“And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness,
preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean
countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their
sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.” (Mark 1:4-5).
In this calling, John the Baptist demanded
that those who had gathered do three things - come out to the wilderness, confess
their sins, and be baptized by him.
First, John called people to
come to the wilderness, most likely meaning the Judean wilderness near the Jordan
River. It was not in or around the city of Jerusalem or near a town like
Capernaum. When one goes out to the wilderness, one encounters a wild,
unhabitable, and unhospitable place, with wild beasts, where life is unsafe and
threatened every hour, with nothing available to sustain life. No food, no
house, no means to make life better, constantly facing danger and stress in order
to survive; at the time when this took place, there was also no hope to be found
in the Temple, from priests, the Roman government, or material wealth.
As God promised, John, the promised
messenger and the voice of one calling in the desert, went out into the
wilderness. Why did God plan for this to take place in the wilderness? The
importance of ‘the wilderness’ was already cited in Isaiah’s prophecy, ‘the
voice of one calling in the wilderness’. Here, the voice itself was
more important than its identity. The voice’s importance is further recognized
as significant by the fact that it would come from the wilderness. What then was
the significance of the voice in the wilderness?
In Genesis, the land outside of Eden
is described as cursed (Genesis 3:17). After the fall of man, Adam was thrown
out of the Garden of Eden and forced to work the ground. Soon after this, Cain
killed his brother, Abel, shedding his blood on the ground. As a result, God
punished him:
“When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its
crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."(Genesis
4:12).
Cain came to realize that the land
on which he shed his brother’s blood had rejected him, and he would have no
place to settle on the earth. He stated his predicament as follows:
“Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than
I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from
your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me
will kill me." (Genesis 4:13-14 NIV).
In an attempt to find a solution, the
first thing Cain did was to build a city and named it after his son, Enoch
(4:17). A city is a secure place, whereby all of life’s amenities are set up
and everyone is well provided for and well protected. Cain established this
city for his own protection and provision in life. Likewise, we secure ourselves
in cities which we have built as our safe haven, with all the amenities and
provisions we need. At least for the time being, we can thrive and prosper,
without our Creator’s help. However, the wilderness stands in opposition to
what the city stands for. We are laid bare before the world and before the Lord
who created it. There is nothing but the Lord of creation, His created world,
and me, a helpless and ungodly being. Just as Cain recognized his true identity
as a restless wanderer in the wilderness, having been rejected even by the
ground, we discover our true identity before our Creator while we pass through
the wilderness. The truth is seen more clearly and starkly in this wilderness.
God forced His people to see
and meet Him in the wilderness. God visited Jacob in the wilderness as he
was on the way to Haran (Genesis 28:10). He visited Moses in the wilderness
(Exodus 3:1). Moses told Pharaoh that Israel was to offer sacrifices to their
God in the wilderness (Exodus 5:3). For forty years Israel wandered in the
wilderness, with God in their midst, and learned who He truly was. The wilderness
is the place where God’s utmost power and authority as Creator of all becomes more
obviously, and where man finds the true reality of his identity, in respect to
God Almighty.
The wilderness is also the place
where Jesus was tempted by Satan. It is where Satan’s evil forces are seen and
recognized more clearly than in cities.
Going out into the wilderness
means leaving the city, where men have built everything in order to secure
life, prosper, and enjoy all that they want to have. Leaving the city means
recognizing that everything that men have provided for themselves in the city
is temporal, ungodly, and bears no lasting hope for life. This goes back to the
hope that God promised to give:
(“For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are
looking for the city that is to come.” (Hebrews 13:14)).
It is a soul-searching effort to
connect oneself to what God created in the beginning, at creation.
It is hard for us to meet the Lord
in our everyday life, where we are pressed to do many things to make a living,
and our hearts are so engrossed in meeting our immediate needs. When we are so overwhelmed
with life’s current needs and demands, God seems so distant, His word mundane
and stale, having no meaning or power over our hearts. This is similar to the peoples’
mindset during Malachi’s time.
How can we move on from city life
to the wilderness? Should we visit a monastery or climb a mountain? We can do this
by seeking a place where we can come to the Lord, one-on-one; this could be a
place of prayer, like a closet.
The wilderness is the best place to
do soul-searching and to meet with the Lord! There, in the wilderness, the Lord’s
messenger preached a baptism of repentance.
Second, John preached
repentance in the wilderness. God delineated the conditions of his offer for
salvation through the Law of Moses (Leviticus 26:40-42; Deuteronomy 30:1-6). Both
of these passages clearly indicate that Israel would violate the Law and God
would send them into exile, where they would suffer greatly under His
punishment. After receiving His punishment, if they turned their hearts to the
Lord, He promised to give them a new heart and offered salvation to them. Joshua
answered why they had to suffer the covenant curses.
“Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to
serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He
will not forgive your rebellion and your sins.” (Joshua 24:19).
In their sinfulness, the
Israelites were unable to keep the Law, even with the best of their intentions
and will. Their history demonstrated this very well: they made a golden calf at
the foot of Mount Horeb while Moses was retrieving the Law from the Lord, resulting
in the entire first generation dying in the wilderness. The most obvious example,
however, is the history of Israel’s two kingdoms; both the northern kingdom of Israel
and the southern kingdom of Judah went into exile, because they could not keep
the Law. Why couldn’t they do this, especially if they were willing? God
pointed out their stubbornness (Exodus 32:9; 33:5; Deuteronomy 9:13; 31:27; Nehemiah
9:29). The key features of stubbornness is ‘having an uncircumcised heart’
(Deuteronomy 10:16) or their unwillingness to listen to God’s word or respond
to His discipline (Jeremiah 17:23).
This was incorrigible and a state
of total depravation, yet they were unwilling to accept that they were totally
helpless on their own; they believed in their own will and their own good deeds.
Furthermore, they thought that they could please the Lord of holiness by
keeping the Law and that the Lord must bless them, according to the Covenant. Because
of this, God brought the full force of the Law of the Covenant upon them by
sending them into exile and causing them to suffer greatly under the covenant curses.
God was looking for one thing - the total surrender of their righteousness and humility
to come before Him with faith in the Lord’s grace.
God sent John the Baptist into the
wilderness, where he preached the baptism of repentance. This message was given
to summon everyone who was willing to come to the Lord in full surrender,
believing in God’s mercy as provided through the covenant. Also, the baptism of
repentance was to ensure that their hearts were fully surrendered to the Lord. Therefore,
repentance is turning from one’s own righteousness to God’s.
In Greek, the word for repentance is
μετάνοια (metanoia: “to change one’s mind”). This is the translation of the Hebrew
word “ שוב, (šûb)”, which Moses used in his sermon to Israel concerning the
Law.
“When all these blessings and curses I have set before you
come on you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you
among the nations, and when you and your children return (שוב) to the
LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul
according to everything I command you today.” (Deuteronomy 30:1-2).
This tells us that God was looking
for Israel’s repentance from the beginning of their life as His chosen people.
All men are sinners before the Lord of holiness. Through what He did in and
with His chosen nation, Israel, over a period of one thousand five hundred years
(from Moses’ life to Jesus’ coming), God worked to prove one single message
concerning mankind - they are all sinners before the Lord and must repent of their
sinful ways. Otherwise, men will suffer the covenant curses under the Law. If
we return to the Lord in repentance, He will give us a new heart in and through
Jesus Christ. Thus, repentance is returning to the Lord with a whole-hearted
mind, regardless of what our past life has been like. This may include
denouncing the wrongs of our past life, confessing our past sins, or eliminating
all wrongful relationships. However, the most important thing is for us to turn
to the Lord and decide to serve Him only. This repentance must be genuine and
sincere, but how can it be proven to be so?
Third, they were to be
baptized.
Repentance is changing the
direction of one’s life from self-centered to God-centered. Can we change our
heart by our own will? How can one turn his heart from one direction to the other?
Can we turn our minds like we turn our car with the steering wheel? Many times,
this is what we are encouraged to do, but practically, it is difficult, if not
impossible. However, there is only one way; that is, to be baptized under water
and come back up, symbolizing the death of the old life and the beginning of a
new one. Paul called this, ”the renewing of one’s mind” (Romans 12:2). Only the
death of our old life can remove our old nature, freeing one’s mind to welcome
a new one in Christ. This is featured in a baptism ceremony.
Before the high priest entered the
tabernacle, he was to wash his entire body, dress in priestly clothes, be anointed,
and offer sin offerings (Leviticus 8:1-14). Here, washing was the first
thing they had to do, as they prepared to be presented to the
Lord. Though this was for ceremonial purposes, it implied that the priest’s
relationship with the physical world must be cleaned off in order for him to
present himself before the Lord. One’s willingness to submit oneself to baptism
is the beginning of them conforming their heart to God’s will. It also means
recognizing one’s stubbornness in sin and putting it to death in submission to
the Lord’s authority.
The next thing is to confess
one’s sin. This is a verbal expression of one’s rejection of the Lord in his
heart.
These two are actions that reveal the
intentions of one’s heart.
John the Baptist
“John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather
belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.” (Mark 1:6).
He was clearly identified as a
prophet by his clothing and lifestyle
“They replied, “He had a garment of hair and had a leather
belt around his waist.” The king said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite.”” (2
Kings 1:8).
John, the prophet, introduced
Jesus
As a large crowd came to him, he
introduced Jesus to them
“And this was his message: “After me comes the one more
powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and
untie.” (Mark 1:7).
John introduced Jesus as the one who
was greater than himself. He viewed Jesus as so great that he was not even
worthy to untie the straps of his sandals. Prophets were anointed by the Lord
and often carried more authority and power than kings. If Jesus was so great
that John was not even worthy to be his slave, then who might Jesus be? If
John’s authority and power was on par with that of Elijah, then how great would
Jesus be? John further explained about Jesus’ power.
“I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the
Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:8).
Who could baptize people with the
Holy Spirit? When Israel did not have meat to eat, they gathered at the
entrance to Moses’ tent and wailed. His heart was so heavily burdened that he
complained to the Lord, saying:
“I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is
too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death
right now—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own
ruin.” (Numbers 11:14-15).
His heart was so weighted down by the peoples’
needs, which he could not meet, that he wanted to die. The Lord heard Moses’
complaint and decided to remove part of his burden.
“I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take
of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you
carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone.” (Numbers
11:17).
God imparted the same spirit, which
He had placed on Moses, to the seventy elders and they prophesied throughout
the Israelite camp (11:27), just as the Lord had said. It was not Moses, but rather the Lord who
imparted His Spirit to these seventy men. If Jesus could baptize people with
the Spirit, then he was surely greater than Moses. Who then could he be, other than the Messiah? We certainly know that,
on Pentecost, Jesus had sent his Spirit upon his disciples.
C. Jesus
was proven to be the Son of God and became the Savior (9-15).
Mark
did not record anything about Jesus’ birth, childhood, or even his family. It
is possible that, for him, all of that information was unnecessary in order to prove
who Jesus was, or because what he wrote was good enough to establish that Jesus
of Nazareth was also both the Son of God and the Messiah. In other words, Jesus
was known to be an ordinary man, living in Nazareth of Galilee. When he heard that
John was preaching the baptism of repentance, Jesus went to him in the
wilderness, near the Jordan River.
“At that time Jesus
came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.” (Mark
1:9).
Jesus
went out into the wilderness where John was baptizing. There he, like anyone else
who had come from Judea, was baptized by John. However, something different was
noted after his baptism.
“Just as Jesus was
coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit
descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son,
whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:10-11).
The
baptism ceremony consists of immersing the whole body under the water. Therefore,
when John baptized Jesus, he immersed his whole body under the water, including
his head. As he came up from under the water, something remarkable happened.
The heavens were opened, and the Spirit descended upon Jesus’ head, like a dove
sitting gently on tree branch. Then a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son,
whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:11b).
Mark
wrote that Jesus knew this was happening to him. Also, the apostle John wrote
that John the Baptist saw this happening and proclaimed that Jesus was the
Messiah, because he was informed of this in advance by the One who commissioned
him to baptize with water (John 1:15).
God’s
Spirit came down on Jesus; in this way, the Father confirmed that Jesus was His
Son, and that He was well pleased with him. Even though he looked like and was
understood to be just an ordinary man, the Spirit coming down on him verified
that he was God’s Son.
In
these two ways, Jesus was confirmed as Messiah/Christ/ Savior; however, these
two events do more to confirm his identity
First,
the Spirit came down on him:
“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is
on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the
poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the
captives and release from darkness for the prisoners” (Isaiah 61:1 NIV).
Second,
Jesus is the Son, who would inherit all of the Father’s possessions:
“I will proclaim the
LORD’s decree: He said to me, “You
are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make
the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.” (Psalm
2:7-8).
He was tried and tempted by the devil:
“At once the Spirit
sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days,
being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.”
(Mark 1:12-13).
Immediately
after his baptism, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. ‘Wilderness’
is where we are laid bare to the condition of our cursed nature. It is where we
are confronted with our shortcomings and wrongdoings. It is where our lives
become vulnerable to death’s power. It is the ultimate testing ground where
Satan urges us to deny the Lord and save our frail bodies. It was there that Jesus,
having the same flesh that we do, was tempted by Satan for forty days. Matthew
recorded that Jesus did not eat anything during the forty days of testing. The
human body can survive for about three days without water, and more than three
weeks without food. Forty days is beyond the amount of time that the body can
endure without any sort of sustenance. Death’s power would have approached, and
he would have had to listen to either his body’s needs or his Father’s will. The
purpose of such testing was revealed in this passage:
“He humbled you, causing
you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your
ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on
every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” (Deuteronomy 8:3 NIV).
Satan,
along with wild beasts, prey on the body of sin and death. By his death threat,
he forces man to reject the Lord and accept his offer instead. Whether or not one’s
faith in the Lord is genuine will be proven when his life is on the brink of
death. When he believes that the Lord has life and is giving life to him, then he
will choose Him over the needs of their vulnerable body. If not, then he surrenders
himself to Satan’s lures for all the richness of this earth.
God tested
Israel while He was with them in the wilderness for forty years. They
complained again and again about the lack of water and food. They thoroughly failed
this test, because they could not rely on the Lord as the Lord of life, who alone
could sustain their lives. The Sprit’s will was clear; Jesus must be tested on
the same ground as Israel was, and must win this battle in order to give them
life. How did Jesus do this? Angels attended Jesus and he survived by faith. He
did not yield to temptation or sway in his faith. Instead, he stood firm in the
Lord. In this way, Jesus proved that his trust in the Lord was genuine and that
faith in the Lord is the way of life. This was a victory over Satan and over
the body of sin and death.
By
faith in the Lord of life, Jesus triumphed over Satan’s temptation and won the battle
for life. It was the first time since Adam’s fall that a man had won the battle
against Satan and his temptations. With the power of this triumph, Jesus began
his ministry.
D. Jesus
proclaims the good news of God’s kingdom
“After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee,
proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of
God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”” (Mark 1:14-15).
Since he had triumphed over Satan’s
power, Jesus had the power to act in the Lord’s spirit; now though, Jesus is
endowed with full authority and power as the Son of God. In this power and authority,
he is ready to inherit all of God’s domain as his own kingdom. Here, he called
out
““The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the
good news!”” (Mark 1:15b).
Jesus triumphed; this was His
triumph. Out of this victory, his life was headed toward the ultimate triumph
over the cross on behalf of us sinners. Therefore, he called out in a loud
voice, so that we may follow his calling for all to follow him and experience triumph
over the power of sin and death, as symbolized by the cross.
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in
Christ's triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge
of him everywhere.” (2 Corinthians 2:14).
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