My Beloved Son
TRANSLATION
(1) The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (2) As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I will send my messenger before you to make ready your way, (3) the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight paths for him!’” (4) John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (5) And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan river, confessing their sins.
(6) John wore clothing made of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. (7) And he preached this message: “After me comes one more powerful than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. (8) I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
(9) In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. (10) And when he rose up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opening and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. (11) And a voice from heaven said, “You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased.” (12) And immediately the Spirit led him into the wilderness, (13) and he remained in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered to him.
OBSERVATIONS
Mark opened his Gospel with an emphasis on the role of John the Baptist in helping to launch Jesus’ earthly ministry, a role that fulfilled Old Testament prophecy. He was the forerunner who would prepare the way of the Lord by preaching and baptizing, the one who would baptize Jesus himself. Repetitions included six occurrences of the word for “baptize/baptism” (vss. 4, 5, 8, & 9) and three uses of the name for “John” (vss. 4, 6, & 9). The climax of the passage came with Jesus’ baptism, a trinitarian event in which the Father (the “voice” in vs. 11), the Son, and the Holy Spirit (the descending dove in vs. 10) together gave testimony to Jesus’ identity as “God’s beloved Son.”
OUTLINE
I. The ministry of John the Baptist had been foretold in Old Testament prophecy. (1-5)
II. The ministry of John the Baptist was specifically related to the coming of Israel’s Messiah. (6-13)
IDEA STATEMENT
At the launching of his earthly ministry, Jesus’ identity as God’s beloved Son was clearly established during his baptism by God’s prophetic messenger, John the Baptist.
APPLICATION
Over the centuries of church history, the topic of baptism has become one of the greatest sources of confusion and division among Christians of all persuasions. The following questions highlight the key issues. What is the significance of baptism? How should it be administered? Should it include infants or should it be reserved only for adults? Should it be by immersion, by sprinkling, or by affusion or pouring? Does it remove original sin, personal sin, or does it have little to do with sin? What was the nature of John’s baptism and how did it relate to the baptism which Jesus commanded his disciples to practice as part of the Great Commission (Mt. 28:19)?
Mark 1:8 helps clear up some of the confusion by distinguishing between the baptism John administered (“I have baptized you with water”) and the one Jesus would later establish for the church (“but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit”). Mark called John’s baptism “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” In other words, John was preparing the way of the Lord by calling the people of Israel to acknowledge their estrangement from God and their need to be restored to a renewed relationship with him. Those who received John’s baptism were essentially seeking reconciliation with God and preparing themselves for the coming of Messiah. When Jesus was baptized by John, he personally had no need to repent nor to seek forgiveness from God but was rather identifying himself with John’s message and endorsing his ministry of preparing the way for God’s Messiah.
Many students of Scripture believe that baptism is essentially the outward sign of a spiritual transformation which believers experience the moment they place their faith in Christ as Savior. To quote Paul, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and all were made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13). Water baptism, which Jesus commanded his church to practice as an essential part of discipling the nations (Mt. 28:16-20), was intended as an outward, physical portrayal of what had already taken place spiritually and internally.
Three words summarize the meaning of believers’ baptism as practiced among the faithful today: obedience, identification, and testimony. In baptism, we obey Christ’s command to be baptized (Mt. 28:19). We also identify ourselves with the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). The Greek word, “bapto,” means “to dip” and was originally used to describe how untreated fabric was dipped in a vat of dye to give it a specific color. In similar fashion, when believers are baptized, we identify ourselves with Christ, declaring that we are his disciples and that we are seeking more and more to become Christlike. In baptism, we also provide a public testimony to our faith in Christ, making known to all who witness our immersion our commitment to becoming Jesus-followers.