You will see that I have entitled this study ‘Jesus Came and Went’. The reason is because the structure of the passage hangs on two journeys made by Jesus. In verse 9, ‘Jesus came from Galilee,’ and in verse 14, ‘Jesus went into Galilee.’
In verses 9 to 13, after Jesus came from Galilee, he is baptised (v9-11) and then he is tempted (v12-13). After Jesus went back to Galileein (v 14 to 20) he proclaims the gospel through preaching (v14-15) and he calls disciples for himself (v16-20).
Mark seems to be suggesting that this movement of Jesus, coming and going, is rather important. It certainly indicates that there are two things being shown to us, namely his preparation for ministry (v9-13) and the content of his ministry (v14-20). Now we should always bear in mind that the big issue in the first half of Mark' gospel account is answering the question, 'who is Jesus?' If he is indeed the long sought Messiah then what he says must have a profound impact on peoples' lives, but otherwise, if he is an imposter, then we can ignore his words as just another human opinion.
Baptism of Jesus
When a person is baptised they are recognising that they are sinners in need of repentance. In the case of Jesus we see a sinless man who did not have any cause or need to undergo this ritual washing. That he did so should engage our curiosity. I offer three reasons why he followed many of his countrymen to the Jordan to be baptised by John.
1. An Act of Identification
The ministry of Jesus will ultimately culminate at the cross where he will take upon himself the sins of the world and break the power of sin to ensnare all mankind.
If we put the purpose of baptism (a recognition of sin) and the cross (being the sin offering) together, we see that the significance of Jesus being baptised is that he is willing to take on the sinfulness of humanity, to tread this path to the cross. He already recognises the nature of the ministry – to deal with sin. Furthermore, Jesus is fully human as well as fully God and he is identifying with us, with the horror of human sinfulness and suffering.
As Jesus is baptised so there is a response to his action from God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.
2. An Act of Empowerment
As we look at the details that Mark picks out, and he is never one for excess, we notice that all three persons of the Godhead are evident in this scene. As Jesus rises from the Jordan, the Holy Spirit descends on him and the voice of the Father is heard from heaven. The whole Trinity is here: Jesus is seen in the flesh, The Holy Spirit is seen perhaps in a vision, and the Father is heard.
The vision of the Holy Spirit and the voice of God the Father are personalised to Jesus specifically in Mark’s account (John gives it to John the Baptist). This is an anointing. Ray Stedman says this, “He is being anointed by God through the Spirit with power – power to meet the demands of the ministry upon which he is about to launch.” Jesus himself, quoting a passage from Isaiah 61:1-2, explains this:
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19)
3. A Sign of Assurance
And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
God declares that he is well pleased with Jesus, that he had lived an exemplary life in the thirty years leading up to this moment. Jesus has shown himself to be qualified for the job of public ministry he was starting. But let's look a little closer at what God the Father is saying to Jesus and why that might be important for Jesus to hear.
He calls Jesus 'my Son' and that shows aa special relationship that confers on Jesus all the Father's authority. God says he loves Jesus and this is a love of commitment and assurance. Lastly, God announces his pleasure and delight in Jesus. This is a vote of confidence from the highest authority possible. Such reassurance is vitally important to Jesus as he starts his ministry that will bring him on a collision course with the political and religious authorities.
Confirmation from Scripture
Before we leave the Baptism of Jesus I’d like to comment on the words of God the Father. The Bible always interprets the action we find in it For example in 1 Corinthians 15:3 it says, 'Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.' First we are given the fact that the Messiah died, and then we are given the reason, that it was 'for our sins', and lastly the Bible tells us that the link between Christ's death and our sins is to be found in Scriptural prophecy.
The words of God in our present passge are a rabbinical style Interpretation of the event of Jesus' baptism, both for the Jews then and for us now. Rabbinical teaching was oral and they would often string text proofs together to interpret scripture. Commonly they would string three texts together, one from the Law (Pentateuch), one from the Psalms or Proverbs and one from the Prophets. You will not be surprised to learn that this is what we are seeing here:
“You are my Son” comes from Psalm 2 verse 7 that demonstrates quite clearly that Jesus is God's Anointed One with all the authority of heaven.
“Whom I love” comes from Genesis 22:2 and the story of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac that foreshadows the sacrifice that God will make.
“With whom I am well pleased” comes from Isaiah 42:1 HS sent, and suffering servant theme.
So, we are being told that Jesus is the universal King appointed by God who will suffer and who will be sacrificed. Also the promises made to Abram in Gn. 22 are applicable to Jesus – many offspring, blessing, all nations blessed through you.
“With whom I am well pleased” comes from Isaiah 42:1 where God's chosen one and faithful servant will possess God's Spirit and be a bringer of justice to all nations.
Temptation of Jesus 12-13
Mark always likes to drum into his readers the great urgency of the gospel message. His text is littered with words such as immediately, as soon as, straight away. Here is no exception as in verse 12 as the baptism ends we read, ‘At once…’ Again in verse 18 and verse 20 we will find such phrases of urgency. Mark's concernis that the gospel message is something you sort out today if you’re a non-believer, and if you are saved, the implication is that there is no time like now to get evangelising.
God has siad he is pleased with Jesus and yet the Spirit leads him out to the desert where he is tempted by the angel of the Abyss, Satan. Whilst the Father is satisfied, Jesus may still need to prove to himselg that he is ready for what is to come. The temptations show to Jesus that he really is capable of the ministry ahead of him. Imagine a car – its design stage and track testing go very well indeed, but until it’s put into the everyday stress and strain of normal driving, who knows how good the model will really be? Ray Stedman comments, ‘It’s what God always does with his men and women – toughens them by driving them out into these kinds of experiences.
Where is verse 12 we read in the NIV the rather lame ‘sent him', the sense should more acurately be one of his being driven out into the desert. In very ancient history someone else was driven out by God from a comfortable place to a harsh place: Adam and Eve were driven out of Eden (Gn. 3). The event that precipitated their removal was their successful temptation by Satan.
As God banishes Adam and Eve he makes a promise that an offspring of Adam will crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15). From that day forward mankind looked forward to the advent of the serpent crusher, the one to defeat the evil of Satan. Looking back down history from our vantage point we know that the serpent crusher is Jesus. The first sign that he is this long-awaited saviour is that he undergoes temptation just as Adam and Eve did, but crucially he withstands it. Here is the first step of the return towards Eden. Here is the new Adam, the New Man. ( ref. Romans 5), the first of the New Creation.
It is unclear to me what we are supposed to make of the wild animals and angels of verse 13b. It is not good to skip over difficulties in the BIble but I can only offer some ideas for consideration. Before Eve (Adam’s helper) was formed by God, he too was alone with the wild animals. In neither story is the man afraid of them but there is rather an indication of a unity with nature and this wolrd of the flesh. The angels point to his sustaining himself spiritually during this time of trial and indicate by way of contrast to the animals his affinity with the spritual world, what some call 'the heavenlies'.
So Jesus comes into Galilee, and looking at v14-15 we get the first clues that the main thrust of Jesus’ ministry will proclamation, preaching and teaching. He will reveal the ultimate truth about our existence, putting our lives into a proper context by telling us about God and his great plan of salvation being worked out in history. Human thought and intelligence cannot discover the answer to the ultimate why 'question about life, the universe and everything,' if I may borrow Douglas Adam's phrase. It must be revealed to us. And it is the truth that will make the appeal to those who hear. Paul makes the point in 2 Corinthians 4:2b, “by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.”
John is imprisoned - verse 14
Preaching and living the true gospel will always be a dangerous occupation. “Haven’t you heard? It’s a battle of words,” Roger Waters declares in a lyric on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Indeed, words are powerful and the phrase 'the pen is mightier than the sword' has not become a truism for nothing.
Already, we read here that there is opposition from those with a vested interest in human power – the political and religious authorities. Jesus’ ministry will be difficult and opposed. That is still true today. The Christian who speaks out will be persecuted in the work place - I know a number of fine people who have lost jobs in the UK because of their Christian witness. They will be persecuted in school and in their homes, and most sadly of all in the church too.
If you protect and hold the biblical line, you will be deeply unpopular and resented. In 2 Timothy 4:3 Paul says, 'the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.' My wife has often commented that church people tend to opt for what is comfortable and non-threatening, and that they would prefer not to be troubled by the real revolutionary message of the gospel.
The Message
As we come to the first words of Jesus in this gospel account (v15) we read, “the time has come.” It seems to me that Jesus is referrring to the time for the serpent crusher. The long wait is over. But what is this kingdom of God that Jesus proclaims?
A kingdom has a king! It dispenses justice and the rule of law. Jesus will be revealed as king and judge with the final authority of God and God’s law. Given the significance of his baptism this king has God's Spirit, so at least in some sense we can expect a spiritual dimension to this kingdom. Not only will it satisfy our external needs, but also our internal needs.
“The kingdom is at hand.” Dick Lucas indicates an implication that, “the Old Testament is at an end”, ansd that the message of verses 1-8 is the ultimate call to repentance to the people of Israel at the advent of their Messiah.
"Repent and believe the good news!" We are told here that the coming of Jesus and his reign is both news and that it is good. We are also told how we can be part of the kingdom. Ther recipe is repent and believe, and both ingredients must be evident. First we must acknowledge our need, our hopelessness and our sinfulness. “Repentance means come back to God” says Dick Lucas. And having repented we must believe. In other words we sould trust God utterly, and that means trusting his Son, his king, Jesus
Mark now starts to recount a day in the life of Jesus. The overriding impression of the character of Jesus in these verses is his authority. His call is irresistible: this is a military-style command, impudent in the extreme. Cranfield says, “His word lays hold of men’s’ lives and asserts his right to their wholehearted and total allegiance, with priority even over the claims of kinship.”
Jesus has come into Galilee to start ministry and now he says to others ‘Come!’ He is now about the work of populating his kingdom. Looking at the way Jesus calls these first disciples we can see that Jesus calls individuals and families. He redirects their lives. In saying, “I will make you…” Jesus assumes total responsibility for them, training and equipping them for this new path. To SimonPeter and Andrew he says specifically that he make them, “…fishers of men.” After Jesus has called them they are still fishermen. Their underlying personalities and abilities are retained. It’s very easy for the non-Christian to think that somehow they are going to have to give up their personality and occupation to follow Christ. It’s not the case. Christ calls us just where he wants us.
We might note in passing that Peter and Andrew are found casting their nets whilst James and John are found mending their nets. Some see in this a distinction between evangelists and teachers. It certainly seems to fit their personalities but perhaps we should not impose such an idea on the text.
Verse 20 is rather poignant in a way. James and John leave their earthly father for their heavenly father. Their position as sons is exchanged for sonship of an altogether greater nature. All that remains for the earthly father isthe hired hands who have no special relationship. Here are the first hints of the gospel dividing people - those who are chosen and reborn, and those who are not.
Are we ready to leave and follow this king as he calls us daily to repent and believe? Will we respond to his call and find that kingdom by finding Jesus?