Mark: The baptism and temptation of Jesus [Mark 1:9-13]

Mark: The Baptism and Temptation of Jesus []

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God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, God’s ways are not our ways, tell us this. God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts, His ways surprise us, His plans seem mysterious to us, and sometimes just strange. The beginning of Jesus public ministry is a perfect example of this. The beginning of Jesus public ministry doesn’t begin in a thriving city, but in a rugged wasteland near the Dead Sea. The beginning of Jesus public ministry doesn’t begin with a parade and a great feast, it begins with 40 days of solitude and fasting as well as being tempted by the enemy of God. For certain the baptism and temptation of Jesus reveals to us that God’s ways are not our ways and God’s plans are not our plans. But what do we learn from these two events? While there are many points of emphasis we take away from these two events the main focus is that the baptism of Jesus declared His Sonship [Son of God and Son of Man]…and the temptation of Jesus was a declaration of war on the enemy.

A Declaration of Sonship []

In the first 8 verses, Mark records that John the Baptist had been preparing the people for the coming servant-king [Mark’s emphasis was on the servant-king] John declared that the coming Messiah would be mightier than himself…one whose sandals he was not worthy to untie. Yet with such a grand declaration give by John, Jesus showed up in public life a servant..without great fanfare??? Why??? Because God’s ways are not our ways, God’s thoughts are not are thoughts. Look at verse 9

V.9: Mark says Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee. Most of the people being baptized were from Jerusalem, the center of religious life in Israel. One would think that Messiah would come from there. But Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee. Nazareth was a small town in the middle of nowhere, the region of Galilee was despised by Jews because it was quite a distance from Jerusalem and infested with Gentiles. And Nazareth??? It’s not even mentioned in the OT…it’s an unknown unmentioned place…Jesus was a nobody from nowhere! Jesus is coming from nowhere and going out to the wilderness to John to be baptized, but why the wilderness? God often met with His people there. Remember when God delivered Israel from Egypt He brought them out into the wilderness to give them His law, to feed them, and to lead them by a cloud and fire. The inauguration of Jesus public ministry instantly begins to paint the picture for us of who Jesus is…He is God in the flesh and He is dealing with His people in a familiar way.

Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan…now Mark doesn’t give us much info does he but the baptism of Jesus is recorded in ALL four gospels [that means it’s important]. A couple of things about the baptism of Jesus.

Mark doesn’t record this but in Matthew, it’s recorded that John tried to refuse to baptise Jesus, he wasn’t being difficult, John said, “I need to be baptized by you!” Remember John was baptizing and preaching a message of repentance. In Matthew, John refused to baptism some other people as well, the Pharisees and Sadducees came out to the wilderness to see what the fuss was about and John said, “you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruit worthy of repentance.” These self-righteous leaders were not righteous at all, they were not godly, but full of themselves, and John called them to repent! But why did Jesus need to be baptized? He had no sin, he had no need to repent, so why? Jesus told John, to fulfill all righteousness.

In His baptism, Jesus identifies Himself with sinful humanity. Jesus joins with those who are seeking a baptism of repentance and who are confessing their sins. Jesus doesn’t repent or confess sin because He has no sin []. But He still aligns Himself with those who He came to save. Just like Moses in the first exodus didn’t remove himself from the people…Jesus doesn’t remove Himself from the people but identifies with sinful humanity. That’s amazing to me. Jesus baptism also associated him with John’s ministry as well. Jesus doesn’t hesitate to connect Himself to John the Baptist…this was fulfillment of prophecy of the OT. That the Messiah would be connected to the one who would prepare the way for the Savior.

V.10-11: Jesus baptism also demonstrated His approval by the Father. Immediately! This is an important word in Mark’s gospel, we’ll see it over and over again, here it’s translated “as soon as.” Mark’s recording, as soon as Jesus was baptized, coming up from the water, indicating immersion [baptizo, means dip or immerse under water.] three major events happen in quick succession. The heavens parted, the Spirit descended, and the Father spoke.

The Holy Spirit descends on Jesus through an opening in the sky. Jesus saw the heavens parting the word is actually “torn open.” That word only appears in one other place…when Jesus died on the cross and the Father tore open the curtain in the temple from top to bottom. At Jesus baptism and at the crucifixion the Father intervenes supernaturally, eschatologically, and declares Jesus is the Son of God! The tearing apart of the heavens is significant in the history and life of the servant king…it demonstrates the approval of the Father.

The baptism of Jesus revealed the triune God. Adrian Rodgers said, “The doctrine of the Trinity is not beyond logic and reason-it’s just above it.” God’s ways are not our ways, His thoughts above our thoughts. Look as difficult as it is to wrap your mind around the doctrine of a triune God, we can clearly see all three persons of the Godhead at Jesus baptism. The Son is baptized, the Father speaks, and the Holy Spirit descends into (eis) Jesus like a dove. Like the end of Matthew’s gospel we get a glimpse of the Trinity at the beginning of Mark’s gospel we get a glimpse of the great Three in One. Which confirms all the more the identity of Jesus.

The presence of the Holy Spirit on the Messiah was promised by Isaiah the prophet. , “This is my servant, I strengthen him, this is my chosen one; I delight in Him. I have put my spirit on Him; He will bring justice to the nations.” This theme is constant in Isaiah about the Messiah, , “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him-a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” Jesus fulfilled all these promises!

The phrase ‘like a dove” is not literally a dove. The Holy Spirit is not a literal dove, even though He has been depicted that way throughout history, the point is the Spirit descended in gentleness and purity, the Spirit came into Jesus, equipping Him for ministry. Even though the Spirit came into Jesus this is not some adoptionistic Christology, i.e. Jesus didn’t become the Son of God at the moment of baptism. No, He was declared to be what He already was and empowered as the Son of God for the suffering servant ministry. John Piper illustrated it well in His book, “Christ in Combat”.

“When Jesus was baptized along with all the repenting people who wanted to be on God’s side, it was a though the commander-in-chief had come to the front lines, fastened his bayonet, strapped on his helmet, and jumped into the trench along with the rest of us. And when he did that, his Father in heaven, who had sent him for this very combat, signified with the appearance of a dove that the Holy Spirit would be with him in the battles to come.”

The baptism of Jesus declared what type of Messiah He would be. The beloved Son, the one in whom the Father is well pleased. This phrase my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” is a combination of 3 very significant OT texts. “You are my Son” comes from the Father is announcing Jesus as the Messiah-king, the greater son of David who will rule the nations. “Beloved” draws our attention to Abraham and who he saw Isaac his son God called him to sacrifice in . We know Christ is the One and Only beloved Son who would be the sacrifice for sin. “in whom I am well pleased” comes from , which is the first of Isaiah’s songs about the suffering servant. And those songs conclude in and the servant is crushed for our sins.

Though Mark briefly gives us a glimpse into the baptism of Jesus we see the great significance and the important theological implications. The gospel of Mark opens with a statement that Jesus is the Son of God. At the baptism the Father affirms that Jesus is his beloved Son. The purpose of these passages are just as relevant for us today as they were when they were penned. Those who hear this gospel are called and inspired to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, the savior of the world…and are called to love and take pleasure in him as well. That’s a significant point I don’t want us to miss…

have we acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God [God in flesh], as Savior [through repentance and faith] as Lord [boss, give Him control, submit to Christ]…if not do so…if we have…do we delight in Him? Let’s not miss this very important part…do we delight in Jesus? I often see people come to the Lord by faith, become Christians and then over time forget to delight in Him. I love going to church camp…it’s a time to delight in Jesus…I saw many young men and women doing that this past week. Sometimes I think we forget to delight in Jesus as the church. Do we serve Christ in the church with willing and delightful hearts or are we bitter and annoyed because we feel someone else should be doing this or that??? Don’t worry about what someone else is doing or not doing…you delight in Jesus…if you do that…it becomes contagious…the same can be said of bitterness and resentment…it’s infectious. Delight in Jesus!

The Temptation of Jesus []

A commissioning of God is often followed by a time of testing…there was no exception made for Jesus. In this time of testing Jesus continued to trust and obey the will of the Father, even thought the course of His earthly life was clear. Mark once again gives a very brief look into the wilderness testing. The war begins here…the temptation of Jesus is a declaration of war on the enemy of our souls, but it would not end here even though Satan left…the war would wage on all the way to the cross, where Christ gave His life for our souls.

V.12: Jesus acted ‘immediately’ there it is again. this time Jesus went farther into the wilderness to be tempted. But He didn’t decide to go- ‘the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.” The Greek is translated “impelled” or “cast out” Mark actually uses the same word to describe Jesus casting out demons. Jesus’ temptation was not some accidental encounter, or some chance meeting. It was a divine appointment scheduled by the Father and implemented by the Spirit [See the Trinity again]. It’s in keeping with the theme of God’s ways are not our ways, God thoughts are not our thoughts. This is not what you would expect after Jesus baptism and the heavens being torn open, the Spirit descending, and the Father speaking. There should have been a potluck dinner to follow or something, there should have been a celebration, but instead of celebrating, we see the same Spirit that descending now casting Him into the wilderness. The servant King has a job to do and instead of shrinking back and not facing hard challenges, which we are tempted to do, Jesus engages the enemy even more, to provide hope for us and a pattern or example for us to follow.

How often do we shy away from spiritual challenges? Difficult situations? Uncomfortable conversations? Jesus gives us an example, follow the Spirit’s leading and face the enemy head on!

V.13: Mark gives us a snapshot of what the battle looks like in verse 13. Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days, being tempted by Satan. This is deep wilderness, not some secluded vacation spot. The conditions were grueling, Jesus was tired and week. It would have been easy to grumble, complain, and give in. It reminds us of Israel’s 40 years of wandering the wilderness, where they grumbled, complained, and failed to trust God. Jesus however would not fail, grumble, or complain. This not some walk in the park.

Satan met Jesus and tempted him in the wilderness. Mark uses the phrase “test by Satan” Satan means “adversary” Mark’s painting the picture of the difficulty of this, Jesus is alone in the wilderness, tired, hungry, week, and tempted by Satan. Mark also mentions the “wild beasts” immediately following Satan, suggesting they are in partnership with him. This also, remember the target audience of this gospel is to the Romans during Nero’s persecutions 64-68 AD. The Roman historian Tacitus recorded in his writings that Christians were covered with the hides of wild beasts and torn to pieces by dogs during the Neronian persecution. The people of that day associated wild animals with adversity and persecution, so including this detail would heighten the horror and danger our Lord’s 40 days in the untamed Judean wilderness was. The picture being painted is, Jesus does battle with Satan on Satan’s home field. It is a divine invasion of enemy territory.

We should be encouraged by this…Jesus our Lord, willingly embraced humiliation and suffering for you and me. We should be encouraged to know that Christ knows what you are going through. He knows what it’s like to suffer, He knows what it is like to be tempted, He knows what it’s like to have sore feet, and to be hungry, Jesus knows what it’s like to lose a loved one, He knows what it’s like to be hurt and betrayed…Jesus knows all about your troubles. Christ suffered for you and me, even though He didn’t deserve to suffer.

I love what John MacAurthur said, “When Jesus died on the cross, God treated Him as if He had lived your life, and punished Him as if your sins where His sins. Now because of that God looks at the believer as if the believer lived Christ’s life.”

God’s ways are not our ways, God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, God’s ways are often filled with unexpected twists and turns that we don’t see coming…but aren’t you glad His ways are good, acceptable, and perfect? God’s will is not always safe…but it is always the best. I invite you to embrace God’s best, no matter what.