Episode Details

Introduction

You’re in the wilderness of Judea, around the year 28. You’ve come down to the river Jordan to see this hellfire and brimstone preacher, the one dressed in camel’s hair who eats locusts and honey. He’s calling the religious leaders vipers (a sentiment you happen to agree with), and saying that even Jews need to repent of their sinful filthiness - almost like they were the same as Gentiles. You’re not so sure about that part. You’re intrigued by his boldness. His message of One who is going to come, who even this wilderness holy man won’t be worthy to stand before, touches on a nerve: you know your nation needs - you know you need - a powerful and majestic Savior like that. 

But imagine your surprise when, one day, John seems to think this guy has come: John turns in the water, looks up on the bank, and exclaims: “behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me’” (John 1:29-30). But there on the bank stands not a mighty general, or a stately prince, but a Galilean. A carpenter, by the looks of him. And he’s coming to get baptized; which, if he’s taking away sin, doesn’t make sense. 

John, it seems, agrees with you. As the Galilean comes down to the water, John protests, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” (Mathew 3:15). The Galilean answers him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” You wonder: what are these guys talking about?

And then your confusion is transformed into shock and perhaps even mild panic when, just moment later, as John lowers this man into the water and then brings him back up, the heavens open up, a form like a dove descends upon the now baptized Galilean, and a loud voice thunders “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). What on earth is happening?

I imagine this whole scene would have been disorienting for anyone present there when Jesus came to John for baptism. I obviously wasn’t there, and there are still elements of it which have perplexed me my entire Christian life. Mark’s narrative of the events at the baptism, and the following wilderness temptation, though uncharacteristically sparse, reveal some connections which help make sense of the scene in the history of Israel, and have eternal impact for us today.

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” 

12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. 

Though we were told in Mark 1:1 that this gospel is about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, his actual presence was only hinted at as we looked primarily at the person of John the baptist in verses 2-8. But in verse nine we meet Jesus himself. We meet him, as we discussed last week, as an adult. No birth narrative, no discussion of eternity past - here Jesus is introduced to us, coming from his hometown of Nazareth down to see his cousin John at the Jordan river. 

Mark records this event in extremely matter of fact terms that can be almost deceiving in their simplicity. Matthew records John’s objections and Jesus’ response, in Matthew 3:15, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” What does that mean? Why did Jesus need to be baptized? We discussed last week how John’s baptism was one of repentance, that it was meant to indicate an agreement with God that the individual in question was a sinner in need of cleansing and forgiveness. Jesus didn’t