Mark 1.4-11

Mark 1.4-11

⁴John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.⁶Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷He proclaimed, ‘The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. ⁸I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’

The Baptism of Jesus

⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. ¹¹And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’

Part 1: Verses 4-8: The Baptism of John

Samuel Massey writes:

The message of Christ has raised up nations and brought them low, launched and defeated armies, started large social movements and destroyed others. Think of all that has been done in the name of Jesus Christ and how inconspicuously the Gospel begins according to Mark. Here we find none of the thunderous poetry used by John to describe the pre-existent Christ. We dream no dreams and no angels visit with us. Caesar Augustus and Herod seem pretty far away. No excuse here for Christmas trees or mob-ridden malls or long hours putting together services of lessons and carols--thank God! All Mark offers to us is John the Baptist, many people’s worst nightmare, smelling like a camel and calling people to change their ways.

The people heard the integrity of John’s announcement and his message that ‘... nothing less than a national repentance would constitute the expected Messianic preparation.’ (Nineham)

It is not impossible that John had been a member of the Dead Sea Scrolls community in Qumran; those dedicated people who spent time studying the scriptures and preparing themselves by austere and disciplined living. This community had used baptism as a rite of passage for those who wished to join the Jewish faith. Bathing or sprinkling with water was a widespread religious symbol for purification. Ezekiel had used sprinkling as a figurative expression for the moral cleaning of the nation by God.

John’s message included baptism. Mark also points out that when John explained his baptism he made it clear that it was a preparation, not to be compared with the action of the one who was coming – the ‘mightier one’. This was the one important thing that John did that was not part of Old Testament prophecy – he baptised – or so it would seem; but the way Mark presents this important historic episode, brings John’s baptism in line with the prophecies in the way he makes John baptising become part of his proclamation. The prophecies spoke of a messenger or ‘proclaimer’ – ‘the voice of one crying in the wilderness’.

John’s baptism was of significance and baptism with the Holy Spirit is of special significance. Moule explains that ‘... the Holy Spirit is God himself at work among his people, and it is possible for a person literally to have the Holy Spirit poured over him like water ... like a deluge, purifying, judging presence of God himself.’

In Acts 1.5 Jesus also refers to baptism with the Holy Spirit and in Romans 8.9 Paul claims that unless one has the Holy Spirit, they are not Christian. In Acts 2, the beginning of the Church is marked by the signs of the Holy Spirit’s presence as the fulfilment of the prophecy of Joel 2.28 ff.

John was dramatically portraying the great significance of his call to repentance. Those who responded to his call to moral reform submitted themselves to being dipped in the river as a sign of their response and commitment. But John called for much more than mere moral reform; he was preparing for something much greater.

This passage stands apart from the rest of the Gospel as a sort of curtain raiser in which the reader is introduced to the context, so that when the curtain goes up in verse 14, they will already know who the lead character is and can understand the significance of the message they are about to receive.

This makes clear that Mark wrote his Gospel from a particular standpoint, i.e. that he accepted the traditional Jewish position of a Messianic hope; so he wrote about Jesus not from biographical or psychological interest, because he believed rather, that in the life of Jesus, the Jewish hope had found fulfilment. He believed that, in Jesus, God had begun his ‘... final intervention in history, the first, but decisive stage in the overthrow of the powers of evil and the establishment of God’s Sovran rule.’ (Nineham)

And because of the fact that the central fact of this history of humankind was to be explained and it could transform people’s lives.

Part 2: Verses 9-11: The Baptism of Jesus:

Barclay points out that, to any thinking person, the Baptism of Jesus presents a problem: John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance; it was meant for those who were sorry for their sins and who wanted to stop sinning. Surely Jesus did not need this! Jesus was without sin and so surely this baptism was unnecessary. Barclay offers the following thoughts:

Firstly, for Jesus, this baptism was a moment of decision: For 30 years he had remained in Nazareth and lived an ordinary life and did an ordinary job. For some time he must have been wandering when his ministry ought to begin. He probably looked for a sign. For him, the emergence of John the Baptist could have been the sign. Barclay comments:

‘In every life there are moments of decision, which can be accepted or rejected. To accept them is to succeed in life; to reject them, or to shirk from them, is to fail. ... The wasted life, the frustrated life, the discontented life, and often the tragic life is the undecided life. The drifting life can never be the happy life.’

Secondly, it was also a moment of identification: Jesus did not need to repent, but there had been a moment of decision also for the people who responded to John’s message and Jesus wanted to identify with them, not for his own sake, but for the sake of others.

Thirdly, it was a moment of approval: It is not an easy thing to leave the security of a job and family, so when one does this, one needs to be sure that it is the right thing to do. There are rare times when God speaks directly to people, but for most of us, God’s voice is a ‘far away echo’. In his Baptism, God spoke directly to Jesus in a personal experience – not as a demonstration to the crowd. Barclay writes: ‘At his baptism Jesus submitted his decision to God and that decision was unmistakably approved.

Fourthly, it was a moment of equipment: the Holy Spirit descended upon him. There is lovely symbolism here: the Spirit descended as a dove, with a lovely image of gentleness. In contrast to John’s brash message and behaviour – which was appropriate and necessary at the time, from the beginning of the ministry of Jesus, Jesus was gentle in his manner. This is not always true of his message which struck at the core of everything. Barclay concludes: ‘He will conquer, but the conquest will be the conquest of love.’