Mark 1:9-15

Jesus, the Servant

Mark 1:9–15 (ESV)

9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

10And 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.

11And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

12The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

13And 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.

14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,

15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

I. INTRODUCTION

Now in this text it has the first appearance of Jesus since he was last mentioned in the temple at the age of twelve.

Luke 2:52 says “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”

These were the prepping years for Jesus and all that He would endure for us.

We are all on a spiritual journey. God was working things out for us before we even gave him a thought.

In his providence he aligns things in our lives at just the right time, in just the right ways.

I think about how it says in verse 8 “In those days”. Why was it then that Jesus choose to make himself known as the messiah and make his mission known to men?

It was the right time for him to do so. We have John the baptist who was the forerunner for the Lord.

Who prepared and paved the way for Him to come. He completed the his work. John the Baptist was passing the Baton to Jesus.

Now Jesus shows up. I have always seen Jesus as God’s selfie. He is the visible image of the invisible God.

Jesus gives us a clear picture of who God is.

II. Jesus, is the Perfect example of Obedience. V9-10.

“9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.”

a. Why Jesus was baptized

Now we see in our text that Jesus was Baptized by John. That might leave some to wonder and be confused. Why did Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah, our Lord and savior get baptized? We would think that he would be the only one qualified not to get baptized, right? Wasn’t he without sin and the spotless Lamb of God?

1. It was For our Identification

Yes, Jesus is sinless so he had no need of the baptism of repentance but with his baptism He became an example for us all.

In His baptism He identified with us and placed himself among the guilty for our salvation.

So why Jesus, why are you getting baptized? He answers this question in Matthew chapter 3.

Jesus gives an explanation of why he needed to be baptized. It wasn’t that he needed to repent because He didn’t have anything to repent from.

This is why John the baptist is caught off guard. Now listen to his response when Jesus asks John to baptize him.

From Matthew 3:13-15 - Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.”

Jesus was basically saying, “Bro, you need to let this happen”. He wasn’t getting baptized to repent but to fulfill all righteousness.

But what does that mean, to fulfill all righteousness? How does Jesus getting baptized do that?

Well this word fulfill is used in the same sense of when Jesus said i have come to fulfill the law and all the prophets.

To understand this better and the symbolism of baptism lets read Romans 6:3-4. It says... “3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

So we see the going under the water as the dying with Christ and then I am risen with him as we walk by the Spirit.

We think of the water and how it cleanses us. It washes us clean. But what actually makes us clean?

It’s the work of Christ. His life, death, and resurrection. That’s what we are identifying with.

It’s not just a specific moment in time where his baptism fulfills all righteousness but all righteousness is fulfilled through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Baptism didn’t give meaning to Jesus but Jesus gave meaning to baptism.

2. For His identification

Jesus identified himself as the coming messiah. The king of kings and His baptism indicated His role of the Great High Priest.

Hebrews 3:6 says “but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.”

The baptism of Jesus identified a beginning of a new life, new direction, and the launching of the mission of God to save the world.

Now let’s look at what happened when Jesus was baptized.

b. What happened when Jesus was baptized

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.

1. immediately He saw the heaven(s) torn apart.

This was a violent act. the sense of this word torn means to open, to rend, split or tear.

It’s the same word used in the original language of Matthew 27:51 where it says ‘And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.”

This verse in Matthew is referencing when the Son of God was crucified on the cross for our sin. The veil was torn from God’s side to ours.

God destroyed what seperated us from Him through the sacrifice of the lamb of God who was slain for our sin.

This wasn’t a simple parting of the clouds to open the heavens.

Due to the violent act of it we are led to believe that there was a resistance to it.

Spiritual forces of darkness and the demonic needed to be broken.

People were in spiritual blindness but Jesus came into the scene to be the Light of the world.

Another verse where we see this word torn used is in Isa 64:1 when the prophet prays that the heavens be rent and that God would come down.

He says so that the mountains might quake at the very Presence of God.

We see in Mark how Jesus is being anointed by the very presence and power of God for the ministry that is upcoming and at hand.

2. The Spirit descended on Him like a dove.

We also see that “the spirit descended on Jesus like a dove.

There is some symbolism here with the dove as it represented the Holy Spirit.

They way it came down also represents how the ministry of Jesus would be one of purity and power.

3. My own baptism.

I don’t know about you but, when I got baptized I didn’t see the heavens torn apart or see a dove come and rest on me.

But when I made that public declaration that I follow Jesus something changed in me. I became more aware of the presence of God in my life.

III. The Father’s Proclamation of His sonship. V11.

And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

1. The meaning of the beloved Son

In the Greek, the word beloved is (Agapatos)- We can see Agape in there which for those who don’t know is the word for divine Godly love.

Beloved means that something or someone is the one and only of it’s class, where it is loved and cherished. Jesus is the beloved and only son of God.

As the father proclaims that Jesus is His beloved Son in whom he is well pleased.

This word beloved is intimate, it’s a term of endearment and closeness.

We see else where in scripture the oneness between the father and the son.

It makes me think of our own relationships with our own children.

Sometimes you will have a child who dresses like you, talks like you and acts like you because of how close your bond is with each other.

Here’s the point. The fathers voice says “This is my beloved Son,”

the One who himself becomes hungry, yet feeds countless numbers.

He is my Son who himself becomes weary, yet gives rest to the weary.

The same one who has no place to lay his head, yet bears up all things.

The same one who suffers, yet has the fullness of joy.

He is beaten, but by his stripes we are healed.

He is pierced in his side,yet bounds up our wounds.

He is the alpha and omega. The beginning and the end.

2. What it means to be God’s Son

This is what it means to be God’s son. Due to the work of Jesus on the cross we can enter in by being adopted as children of the king of kings.

We enter in to a right relationship with God by believing Jesus is who he says he is. Then when God looks at us he see’s Christ. This is what it means to be “in Christ”.

Next we see...

IIII. The Holy Spirit’s Presentation of Spiritual war. V12-15.

12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13And 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.

1. Why did the Spirit drive out Jesus to the wilderness to be tempted.

Now the book of Mark doesn’t give much detail about when Jesus is tempted by the devil but the books of Matthew and Luke do.

2. The temptation of Jesus in the Wilderness

a. The temptation of desire

The book of Matthew in chapter four mentions that Jesus had fasted 40 days and forty nights. It's obvious that he was hungry, so Satan tried to tempt Jesus using His desire for food.

Satan does the same thing to us today.

He will look and wait for us at the moment of weakness and pounce on us.

He is a roaring lion who seeks to kill and destroy. He will wait until we are at our breaking point to entice us into unfaithfulness.

He will wait until loneliness and depression before he entices us with something that looks attractive to the lust of the eyes.

b. The temptation of deceiving

He all have been mislead at one point. Like the used car salesman who gives you a pitch to buy a used car and tells you the car runs great but, fails to tell you that the brakes don't work.

Even though it might sound like he was telling the truth, he was distorting the truth and that's exactly what deception is.

It was successful for Satan in the garden with Adam and Eve but, Satan soon found out it wouldn't be successful with God's Son.

We see here the second temptation. Satan tells Jesus to throw himself down from the temple surely God will send his angels to catch you.

Satan is using the temptation of deception here and is attempting to get Jesus to dare his father to rescue Him.

Do we do this sometimes? Do we put ourselves in situations where we are daring God to rescue us?

Are we giving in to the temptation of deception and deceiving ourselves or others?

That's why we must be careful who we choose as our friends and what stuff we allow ourselves to be around.

We do these foolish things and then ask "God, why did you allow this to happen to me"

God will rescue us from our failures and mistakes, but, don't allow that to be an excuse to test God!

In the first temptation we see Jesus fight back by quoting scripture and the devil flees, but, in the second temptation, Satan throws scripture at Jesus trying to deceive him into doing what he wants him to do.

Jesus didn't only know the Word but he knew what the Word meant and he discerned it.

If you only know the Word that will only help you so much, you need to know what it means and APPLY IT.!

c. The temptation to doubt

In the final temptation, Satan shows Jesus all the glory of the world , and tells him everything can be his but, only if he bows down and worships him.

Satan tempts us the same way today with materialism and power.

But we wont please God until the power of love outweighs the love of power.

We see that in politics, in families and even in churches where power is fought for in positions and titles.

but Jesus said if you want to be great in my kingdom then serve one another.

Satan was telling Jesus the king of kings that he didn't have to go to the cross, that he could take the easy way out.

I think later in the ministry of Jesus, he looks back at this temptation when he says "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

Satan will try to tempt us with the glories of the world and the pride of life.

He will try to cause doubt about who we are in Christ as he attempted to cause doubt about who Jesus was.

Once again, Jesus responds with scripture and says "you must worship the Lord your God and serve him only"

3. The aide of Angels

temptation is met by God’s help. This is seen in three experiences of Jesus.

a. He was with the wild beasts of the wilderness, yet they did not devour Him. God protected Jesus from these for forty days.

b. He was ministered to by angels. Jesus did not have to face the temptations alone. God saw to it that He had whatever provision was necessary.

From Jesus’ temptation we can learn that following our Lord could bring dangerous and intense spiritual battles.

It warns us that we won’t always feel good; there will be times of deprivation, loneliness, and hostility.

It also shows that our spiritual victories may not always be visible to the watching world.

Above all, it shows that we must use the power of God to face temptation, and not try to withstand it in our own strength.

4. The time is Fulfilled

At v. 14 we are told what Jesus decided to do once John was arrested—he went out preaching the gospel of God.

This must surely mean the good news about God, with the content of the good news spelled out in v. 15: “the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.”

The people must turn and believe in this news. Saying the time is fulfilled suggests a view of God having a plan for human history which has set times and seasons

V. APPLICATION

1. Now what if we as a church embraced these truths. Jesus was the perfect example of what it means to be obedient to God. What is the next step in your faith journey?

2. Maybe you need to begin a relationship with him today?

3. Maybe you need to take that next step and be baptized.

4. Maybe you are struggling with a certain temptation and need to give it over to God.