THE BAPTISM OF JESUS (Mark 1:9-11)
INTRODUCTION:
Two weeks ago, we began the Gospel of Mark and from the very first verse Mark declares it to be the good news, or the glad tidings of the divine King; Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The word gospel in Greek, in the time when Mark was writing, often was used to signal the rise in power of a king, a king ascending his throne to reign over his kingdom. Mark in his proclamation of joy is writing about God’s great King, the One whose coming meant the beginning of a new age for the world. Remember that Mark’s audience is Roman Gentiles and because of this Mark deliberately gives us details that he knew would demonstrate Christ’s royal sovereignty in the hearts and minds of his Gentile readers. Two weeks ago, we saw as he began with the King’s forerunner, John the Baptist. The Messiah, the coming divine King, like any legitimate king in the ancient world, was preceded by a royal messenger, a herald who proclaimed the coming of the king and prepared the way for his arrival and prepared the people to receive him. John the Baptist as the forerunner prophesied by the Old Testament prophets, appeared in the wilderness and his ministry of preparing the people was conducted by preaching repentance and directing his hearers to the coming King, their Messiah, the Son of God.
Two weeks ago, was all about the anticipation of the arrival of the King, this morning we shift from the anticipation to that actual arrival. Jesus Christ appears on the scene to begin His public ministry. Mark sticking to his theme presents Jesus’ baptism as a royal coronation ceremony, in which the authority of the messianic King is affirmed through two divine actions by God Himself. Let’s pray and then get into the Scriptures.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Mark 1:9-11. Mike read the parallel passage to these verses in Matthew this morning. This scene of Jesus baptism is recorded in each of the gospels, and we will be looking at what Matthew says as he fills in some blanks not given to us by Mark. Please stand, if you are able, in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Mark 1:9-11,
“In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; and a voice came out of the heavens: ‘You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.’ ” (Mark 1:9–11, NASB95)[1]
THE SETTING FOR THE KING’S ARRIVAL (Mark 1:9)
John had been preaching repentance and baptizing for some time before Jesus made His first public appearance. John may have been surprised to see Him among the crowds that had come out to the wilderness to see and hear John and be baptized by him. Mark states it quite simply, “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.” (Mark 1:9)[2] The phrase “In those days…” refers to some unspecified point during John’s ministry. We do not know how long John had been preaching and baptizing before Jesus arrived at the Jordan, it could have been six weeks, six months, or even longer.
Jesus’ baptism as I said earlier is recorded in all four gospels and this is the only meeting between Jesus and John the Baptist recorded in the New Testament. Though they were related and later contacted each other through their disciples, there is no indication in Scripture that they met either before or after this occasion. Jesus is the one who initiated this meeting, and He came when the time was right for Him to begin His public ministry. Luke records for us in Luke 3:23 that Jesus was about 30 years old when He came from Nazareth in Galilee to be baptized by John.
Mark explains to his Gentile readers that Nazareth is in in the region of Galilee in northern Israel. This area was largely populated by Gentiles. Nazareth was an obscure village located in south central Galilee. It was such a small unimportant town that it is not even mentioned in the Old Testament or any other ancient literature. The area of Galilee had been conquered by Israel during the time of Joshua and was part of the northern kingdom of Israel when the nation was divided after the death of Solomon. The northern kingdom fell to Assyria in 722 B.C. and the Assyrians deported the Israelites to Assyria and moved Gentiles into the area. Because of this the Jews in Judea, the southern part of the nation of Israel, and the southern kingdom when the nation was divided, viewed Galilee and the Jews that lived there with a certain level of scorn, thinking of them as not as well-bred as themselves. Many found it unthinkable that the Messiah would come out of Galilee, much less the obscure village of Nazareth. John records the people talking about this in John 7:40-41, “Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, ‘This certainly is the Prophet.’ Others were saying, ‘This is the Christ.’ Still others were saying, ‘Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He?’ (John 7:40–41, NASB95)[3] This type of talk just showed that the people did not have an understanding of Old Testament prophecy. The prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 9:1-2, “But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.” (Isaiah 9:1–2, NASB95)[4] From this prophecy we can see that this was God’s plan all along, that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem of Judea but would grow up in Galilee.
Just as John the Baptist had appeared out of the wilderness away from society, the fact that the Messiah came from an insignificant village in a humble region on the fringes of Jewish society was a rebuke to the corruption of the religious system that dominated Judaism in the first century. The Jews of Jesus day expected the Messiah to come from Jerusalem—the very center of Jewish religious life. Instead, He came from the outskirts of society, far removed from the corrupt religious establishment. Now the time had arrived for Him to reveal Himself and to make His first public appearance. So, He left Nazareth and made His way to the wilderness in order to be baptized by John in the Jordan river.
The Jordan river was and is the primary river in Israel, it flows out of the north from the Sea of Galilee and dumps into the Dead Sea in the south. The exact spot where John was baptizing at that time is unknown, John the apostle reports that it was near Bethany beyond the Jordan, but where that town was exactly is unknown. It is believed that he was near the southern end of the Jordan, across from Jericho near the Dead Sea.
TO FULFILL ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS (Mark 1:9)
We have already met John the Baptist whose name tells us what he does, he was actually doing something brand new, something that was radical for his day, he was baptizing Jews. Something unheard of before John started doing it, his was a baptism of repentance to prepare the Jews for the coming King. As I said two weeks ago the closest parallel to what John was doing was the baptism of Gentiles when they converted to Judaism, their baptism signified the putting away of their pagan lifestyle as they embraced their new life of Judaism. For John to call Jews to be baptized, in a way designed for Gentiles, was for the Jew both shocking and unique. To confess they were no better than Gentiles was for many Jews humiliating and offensive. If this was distasteful for the self-righteous Jew in the crowds who came out to hear and see John, why would the Messiah seek out John to be baptized by him. John’s baptism was a sign of repentance, it was designed for sinners to declare that they were forsaking their wicked ways and seeking God for forgiveness. But Jesus was the sinless Son of God. Why would He need to be baptized?
John had learned when he was still young all about the Messiah, his parents Zacharias and Elizabeth understood the promises made concerning the Messiah and they taught these to John and would have taught him that he was to be the forerunner for the coming Messiah. They would have taught him that Mary’s son, was the Son of God, the promised Savior of Israel. Yet we have nothing to indicate that John ever met Jesus before He came to the Jordan. John’s parents who were elderly when he was born, likely died when he was still young, and he grew up in the Judean wilderness far from Galilee and the village of Nazareth where Jesus grew up. So, when Jesus showed up wanting to be baptized by John and John realized who this Man was that stood before him, everything he knew about the Messiah filled his mind. This was the sinless Lamb of God. His life required no confession or repentance. He needed no conversion or transformation. So why was He coming to be baptized?
With all this flooding his mind, John responded to Jesus in the way we might expect. In our Scripture reading this morning in Matthew 3:14 we read, “But John tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?’ ” (Matthew 3:14, NASB95)[5] This phrase “tried to prevent” in Greek is in the imperfect tense which means that John was continually trying to prevent Jesus from being baptized. This verse indicates that John thought how inappropriate it seemed for the Lord to receive a baptism designed for sinners. John wanted Jesus to baptize him, rather than he baptize Jesus. To John this seemed more proper, that Jesus, the sinless messianic King baptize John who was just His humble, sinful servant.
John’s unwillingness to baptize Jesus highlights for us a foundational theological truth about the character of Jesus Christ. The truth is that He is sinless, and this is one of the greatest affirmations of the sinlessness of Christ found in the Gospels. John knew that Jesus was holy, spotless, undefiled, and without sin. That is why he hesitated to baptize Him. John’s baptism was a baptism for sinners, and Jesus did not fit into that category. So, we see, even in John’s reluctance to baptize Jesus, John fulfilled his role of the herald by bearing testimony to the perfection of the divine messianic King. So, if John felt this way, for what purpose did Jesus come to be baptized? If we compare the four gospel accounts, we find that Jesus came to be baptized for two reasons: first, to fulfill all righteousness, and second, to divinely authenticate His ministry.
Jesus responded to John’s reluctance in Matthew 3:15 with these words, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15b, NASB95)[6] Notice that in His response Jesus did not deny John’s assessment of His sinless perfection. Instead, Jesus explained that what might seem inappropriate “at this time,” was in fact necessary “at this time.” Jesus understood that John’s reluctance to baptize Him was driven by John’s humble reverence and profound loyalty toward Jesus. He did not rebuke John for his reluctance, but appealed to John to yield to Him, trusting that what Jesus was asking him to do was according to God’s perfect plan.
Jesus sought to show John that His baptism was necessary and proper, it was in this way that He would fulfill all the righteous requirements of God. God was the one who had given John this ministry and his baptizing was in line with God’s will. Because Jesus perfectly submitted to God’s will it was proper for Him to be baptized by John. Jesus knew exactly what He was doing and His obedience to God the Father was comprehensive and complete—in other words, He lived in perfect alignment to the will of God. Jesus never failed to fulfill God’s will perfectly in every respect, and for this reason because God had authorized John’s baptism, Jesus submitted to it.
Not only was Jesus doing this in obedience to the Father, but through His baptism by John Jesus identified Himself with the sinners He had come to save. Not only did He fulfill all righteousness through His life of perfect obedience but also through His substitutionary death on the cross whereas Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians 5:21, “He[God] made Him [Jesus Christ] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NASB95)[7] God’s righteous law requires death as the payment for sin. Christ’s death paid that debt in full. In this first act of His public ministry, the One who had no sin publicly identified Himself with those who had no righteousness. The sinless Lamb of God submitted to a baptism designed for sinners—a foreshadowing of the not-so-distant future when He would submit Himself to a death deserved by sinners.
The baptism of Jesus looked forward to the cross just as a Christian’s baptism looks back to the cross. Jesus even referred to His death as a baptism that He must undergo. In Luke 12:50 Jesus was speaking to His disciples and said, “But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!” (Luke 12:50, NASB95)[8] Later on in Mark, Jesus will say to James and John in Mark 10:38, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” (Mark 10:38, NASB95)[9] When John lowered Jesus into the water and then lifted Him out again it pictured for us His death and resurrection. He was immersed in the river of death to symbolize that He would bear the sins of those who would believe in Him. For this reason, it was proper for Jesus to be baptized in order that He might fulfill all righteousness. This baptism was both an act of obedience to the will of His Father and a way to identify with sinners for whom He would die as a perfect, sinless substitute.
THE CORONATION OF THE MESSIAH (Mark 1:10-11)
Mark does not give us the conversation that took place between Jesus and John before John baptized Jesus. Mark’s focus in these verses is on what took place immediately as Jesus came up out of the water, the divine coronation of the Messianic King. This is the first of many times that Mark will use this term translated “immediately” to mark the fast-paced style of his gospel.
As Jesus Christ was coming up out of the water a supernatural event began to immediately unfold. In this scene we see the Trinity. The fact that God is one God in three persons. What unfolded before John and the people lining the banks of the Jordan might best be described as the Messiah’s royal commissioning, this event included both Jesus’ official coronation and the divine inauguration of His public ministry. Two events happened, visibly the Son was anointed by the Holy Spirit and audibly, He was affirmed by His heavenly Father. We clearly see the Trinity in this event described to us by Mark, but those who were there were eyewitnesses to this supernatural event. First, Mark says that Jesus saw the heavens opening as He came up out of the water. The term that Mark uses that is translated “opening” is a word that means “to tear” or “to rip.” Mark will later use this same verb to describe the tearing of the veil in the temple at Jesus’ death. Jesus saw the heavens torn open, and if He saw it, John and those there must have seen it as well. Using this vivid terminology, one might expect something to fall or be hurled out of the heavens, crashing down through the clouds to the earth. But that is not the case, instead with beauty and gentleness, the Spirit like a dove was descending on Jesus. The third member of the Trinity gracefully descended and landed on the second person of the Trinity, the Son. This provided a visible symbol of divine blessing, authentication, and empowerment at the outset of public ministry of Jesus. It is important to understand that Mark does not say that the Spirit is a dove, but the Spirit like a dove, we need to be careful with what is written for us so that we do not begin to picture the third person of the Trinity existing eternally in the form of a bird. Mark’s point is that the Spirit in some visible form descended upon Christ with the same gracefulness and gentleness of a dove landing softly on its perch. The name “Messiah” (Hebrew) and “Christ” (Greek) was a royal title, and it means “Anointed One.” At Jesus’ baptism the Holy Spirit visibly anointed Him as a public declaration that He was the messianic King. Just as the Holy Spirit is fully God, so Jesus is fully God. Even in His incarnation He did not forfeit His divinity. As God, He needed nothing. But in His humanity the Son of God was empowered by the Holy Spirit. When the Son of God took on human flesh, He humbly submitted Himself to the Father’s will and the Holy Spirit’s power. In every way and at every point Jesus Christ was perfectly filled with the Holy Spirit. He never resisted, never grieved, and never quenched the Spirit but always operated under the Spirit’s full control, walking in perfect obedience to the will of the Father. The Holy Spirit’s descent onto Jesus empowered Him for ministry but was also a visible sign to John the Baptist and everyone else in the watching crowd that Jesus truly was the Messiah, the Anointed One, the One to whom John’s ministry pointed.
This visible descent of the Holy Spirit was accompanied with the audible affirmation of the Father, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.” (Mark 1:11b, NASB95)[10] With this audible voice we have each member of the Trinity present at Jesus baptism. Jesus, God the Son, in His humanity standing in the river, God the Holy Spirit visibly descending upon Him, and God the Father in heaven audibly voicing His approval. God the Father’s commendation of His Son highlighted the glorious truth about the Son’s absolute perfection. God the Father’s witness is the most important of all those who were witnesses to the ministry of Christ, because God’s witness was that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, God’s beloved Son. To be declared God’s Son was to declare that He is one in essence with God, possessing the same nature as the Father. He is both God and with God. The author of Hebrews writes, “And He is the radiance of His [God’s] glory and the exact representation of His [God’s] nature” (Hebrews 1:3, NASB95)[11] The apostle Paul tells us that in Christ all the fullness of deity dwells. (Colossians 2:9) Because He is God, He is superior to the angels who worship Him. The fact that God’s title is Father is a reference to His essential relationship to Jesus Christ, the Son.
God called Jesus His beloved Son which speaks of the deep love that Father has for the Son and describes for us the infinitely deep and eternally profound relationship enjoyed by the Father with the Son. Not only is the Son beloved, but the Father is eternally and completely well-pleased with Him. There was nothing in the Son that displeased the Father, He was well-pleasing in every way and in everything He did. In His incarnation, the Son perfectly submitted to the Father’s will. In His death, the Son fully satisfied the Father’s wrath. Because of this the Father was well pleased with the Son in both His life and His death.
No higher testimony to the sinless perfection of Jesus Christ could ever be given. The ultimate authentication of the Son came from the audible affirmation of the Father and the visible manifestation of the Spirit. This was the commissioning and inauguration of the divine King—God’s sinless, beloved Son was anointed and empowered by the Spirit to save sinners and establish His kingdom. This was the Messiah’s coronation, a ceremony that involved the entire Trinity.
CONCLUSION:
The baptism of Jesus Christ was to fulfill all righteousness as Jesus in perfect obedience submitted to the will of the Father and identified with sinners who He would later save through His death and resurrection which His baptism foreshadowed for us. His baptism was also His divine inauguration and affirmation that He was the messianic King, the beloved Son of God. This coronation was seen in His anointing and empowering by the Holy Spirit and was heard through the voice of God the Father announcing that Jesus Christ was His beloved Son, in whom He was well-pleased.
What does this mean for us? This means that Jesus Christ was exactly who John the Baptist said He was, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Maybe you are here this morning and you just learned that Jesus Christ came to earth in human flesh to die for sinners and save them from God’s wrath against sin. The offer of God’s forgiveness is still available, He still wants to save sinners. You can come to God in repentance, acknowledging that you are a sinner, and you need His forgiveness. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you, paid the penalty for your sin, and that He rose from the dead three days later triumphing over sin and death forever. If you believe this with a heart of repentance, then you will be forgiven.
What about those of us who have already put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Our Lord left us with a job to do, we are supposed to be making disciples, witnessing to those that the Lord puts in our life and then teaching them to observe all that Jesus commanded us so they in turn can go and make disciples.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. (Brackets Mine)
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.