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Gospel of Mark

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Opening Thoughts


Why do we get baptized?  What's happening when we are baptized?  Read our passage for this week (Mark 1:9 - 13) and consider some of your first impressions.  Among other things, you might notice that Mark does not take time to explain why Jesus needed to be baptized.  You aren't the only one to notice.  David E. Garland writes, "Mark also does not tell us why Jesus went to be baptized. There is no protest on John’s part that he is unworthy to baptize him (see Matt. 3:14). Mark apparently is untroubled by the theological problem of why Jesus would submit to a baptism of repentance. He is only interested in telling what occurs at that baptism."

 

The Baptism

 

When we arrive at the Jordan River in Mark's Gospel, first time Jewish readers might have expected the river to split!  To find out why, read Joshua 3:7 - 17, and 2 Kings 2:8, 14.  It's not the river which splits, though—it's heaven itself.  The word Mark is the same word found in Isaiah 64:1—"Oh, that You would burst from the heavens [or more literally, "tear the heavens"] and come down! How the mountains would quake in Your presence." [NLT]  The Israelites here are in exile, and are longing for the day—pleading for the day—when God will come down from heaven and rescue them.  V. 5 of Isaiah 64 asks, "How can people like us be saved?"  Mark’s Gospel is the answer to this question!  In verse 9 they plead, "Don’t be so angry with us, Lord. Please don’t remember our sins forever. Look at us, we pray, and see that we are all Your people."  With the coming of Jesus, Mark’s Gospel tells us God is now saying “yes” to that request.  In one way it could be a tender "yes," but there is also a powerful, triumphant answer as well.  As you thinking about this tearing of the heavens during Jesus' baptism, consider as well these two quotes:

“When Jesus comes out of the water, Mark tells us, all heaven breaks loose.” (David E. Garland)

“Viewed from another perspective, the image may suggest that the protecting barriers are gone and that God, unwilling to be confined to sacred spaces, is on the loose in our own realm.” (Donald Juel)

With Jesus' baptism, there is a subtle presence of the Trinity.  Like other New Testament writers, Mark doesn’t say “Look, the Trinity!” He simply gives it to us.  The Son is baptized, the Spirit descends, the Father speaks.  The spirit is seen as a dove, and this imagery carries through all four Gospels. This is significant:  different Gospel writers often liked to tell different stories; when the same story appears in each Gospel, you know it was crucial in the minds of the earliest Christians.

The spoken pronouncement at Jesus' baptism is similar to Isaiah 42:1, which is a Messianic prophecy.  It is also found in Psalm 2:6 - 7, which was a Royal Psalm read at the coronation of Kings.


The Wilderness


If you have a proper translation, notice that Jesus "immediately" (Mark's word) goes into the wilderness following his baptism.  That word "immediately" provides us a connection between the baptism, and the wilderness experience.  In Matthew & Luke’s Gospel, the baptism and temptation are two distinct stories. Luke even separates it with the genealogy.  In Mark’s Gospel, though, the wilderness is part of the baptism.  This is often part of the Christian walk:  baptism is a symbol of our salvation through Jesus Christ, the greatest moment of our lives—and then suddenly we’re hit by Satan.

Next week, Jesus' ministry begins.  Here's a question to ponder in the meantime:  what is the Kingdom of Heaven?  See you next week!
 

In Christ,

 

--Pastor Dan

 
 

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