Jesus: Beloved

I’m standing up here because my life has been dramatically changed by Jesus Christ. There are, in fact, over one hundred others here who have had their lives transformed by Jesus Christ. The transformation has been so thorough and deep that we now believe our entire lives ought to be oriented around Jesus Christ. To live and die for Jesus is our hope and joy. To gain the world without Christ would be utter tragedy.

None of us here in this room are people of reputed, well-known people of fame. But through the ages hundreds, thousands, no millions of people who testify to the reality that Jesus saves.

I’ve seen it up close. I’ve seen people enslaved to sin set free and forgiven. I’ve seen confused and desperate people found and given purpose. I’ve seen guilty people, carrying a burden, relieved. I’ve seen sluggish people turn into rigorous servants.

And I’m sure we could find more stories to tell. I’ve talked to former drug addicts who now find their highest joy in serving the church. I’ve listen to those who were on the verge of suicide before Jesus saved them and turned them around. I remember sitting in the living room speaking with a couple whose marriage was falling apart, only to see it, over time, by the power of God, get healed and restored. I’ve watched doubters turn into believers; I’ve seen skeptics become adopters, I’ve seen outsiders become integral members. It’s a thrilling reality -- frankly it’s something that brings so much joy.

Now, I understand that there are people in this room who do not share such experiences with Jesus Christ. Perhaps you’re skeptical, you’re curious, or your downright antagonistic. Perhaps the Christians you’ve known have been hypocritical and hurtful. Or, for all this talk about life transformation, the Christians you’ve known have seemed rather ordinary. And if that’s been your experience, I can understand your skepticism.

But the reality is despite the failures of Christians, the church of Jesus Christ has been going strong for 2,000 years. Now if you want to understand something, typically, you have to start with origins. We all love origins. In our comic book world, we all love hearing the origins of our superheroes. Where’d they come from? Why are they the way they are?

In the gospel of Mark we encounter, very briefly, some important parts of Jesus Christ’s origin story. If you’re not sure about Jesus, I’m glad you’re here -- I hope you can hear about Jesus with an open mind.

This morning we’re going to look at the next event in the life of Christ, which is Jesus’ baptism. This is a monumental event. Mark, who leaves out so many details, will not leave this out. It’s the part where Jesus, after roughly 30 years of obscurity, steps into center stage and begins his ministry. Our text this morning -- verses 9-11, are about the baptism of Jesus -- a monumental event in redemptive history.

Now, let’s rewind and get the context. Last week we looked at John the Baptist’s ministry. John was a prophet appointed by to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. Isaiah and Malachi are both quoted in verses 2-3, showing that John’s ministry was predicted hundreds of years before his coming. His whole ministry could be likened to a bulldozer -- he was preparing the way for the Lord. He was ploughing through -- making way for the Son of God.

His ministry was popular, as strange a man as he was. He dressed like a prophet (vs 6), preached like a prophet. And the message was all about Jesus Christ -- it was about his might, his majesty, and his ministry. His whole life was given to preaching Christ.

Let’s do a little geography just to get our bearings here. John is baptizing. He’s doing so in the river Jordan. We’ve all heard about the Jordan river because it appears so often in the Bible. Israel had to pass through the Jordan to get into the Promised Land, Namaan’s leprosy was healed in the Jordan River, Elijah was taken up to heaven near the Jordan river, Elisha’s miracle with the floating axe-head happened in the Jordan.

The water of the Jordan flowed out of the Sea of Galilee down to the Dead Sea. If you could fly the distance like a bird it’s about 65 miles, if you followed its snaking zig-zag route it’s about 200 miles long. Sea of Galiliee in the north, Dead Sea in the south, and Jordan in between.

Now, close to the Dead Sea -- west of it, there’s Jerusalem and Judea. So when it’s saying John was preaching in the wilderness and baptizing people in the Jordan, it’s likely that most of his adult life he traversed up and down the Jordan River, uptoward Galilee sometimes, down toward Jerusalem sometimes, preaching his message. And thousands of people went out to see him.

Now, let’s read our text.

3 verses. 3 divine persons -- Son in 9, Spirit, in 10, Father in 11. This demonstrates the Christian doctrine of the trinity. 1) God is three persons 2) Each person is truly God, 3) There is One God.This is all over Scripture and is central to understanding the gospel. And since we’re going with the number 3, we’re going to have 3 points: The Obedience of the Son, the Descent of the Spirit, and the Delight of the Father.

# 1: The Obedience of the Son -- My Righteousness.

“In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.” No story of Mary and Joseph, no mention of Bethlehem, no mention of the inn, or the shepherd, or the wise men. Here’s Jesus’ introduction. He came from Nazareth. At the height of Jesus’ ministry, Jesus comes from Nazareth.

The geography comes into play here. Where did Mark say all the people were coming from? Judea, Jerusalem. What about Jesus? Nazareth of Galilee. He has to say “of Galilee” because Nazareth was a nothing town. Nazareth? Oh, of Galilee. I know Galilee.

Jesus doesn’t come from the sophisticated urban center of Jerusalem. He comes from Nazareth. This is where he was raised. We’re told that after all the events surrounding Jesus’ birth took place, they went back home to Nazareth. It was probably a small, simple place. It wasn’t off any major trade routes. It was distant from mainstream Jewish life. There’s nothing very special about it at all. We know there was a synagogue there because it’s mentioned in Mark 6, so Jesus probably was raised attending the synagogue, learning the Hebrew Scriptures from his faithful parents Mary and Joseph.

It’s not mentioned anywhere. It’s not mentioned in the Old Testament, it’s not mentioned in the Talmud, it’s not mentioned in the apocrypha, it’s not mentioned in Josephus the historian. In fact, one of the few times it’s mentioned in the New Testament, Nathaniel says, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (Jn. 1:46).

It’s about 70 miles north of Jerusalem. That’s the distance from here to Simi Valley, or here to Palm Springs. Jerusalem was the religious center, and Jesus will end up spending a lot of time there later on. He visited there as a boy, we know from Luke, but he was raised in the outskirts of mainline Jewish society.

For the vast majority of his incarnate life, the Son of God lived in obscurity. Most of his days were spent with hammers and nails in the woodshop, living under the roof of his carpenter father. We don’t have any of this stuff recorded in Scripture, but it’s fascinating to think that only a small portion of Jesus’ life we know about. The rest of it is simply unknown.

I find it fascinating that God does mighty things in obscurity. It seems to be a principle in Scripture. Mighty things happening not in palaces, not in government, not by kings. In tiny villages, in little homes, by unknown people.

Sinclair Ferguson, in his book on church history, is describing the beginning of the church in Scotland and he says we don’t know how the church began there. Essentially, at some time or another, a bunch of no name Christians spread the gospel up there, and by the 6th century you had a thriving church there. Reflecting on this me makes the point: “God loves to do things in obscurity. The incarnation and early years of our Lord’s life underscore that principle. The One who created the heavens and the earth out of nothing has no need of publicity.”

Be encouraged by that. Some of us long for more significance -- we long to be used in the world -- but there’s another load of laundry to be done. We want to be busy being useful, but the baby just made another stinky diaper, the bills need to be paid. Don’t despise the day of small things. The years know what the days never do. Be faithful in the mundane, be present there.

I love the title of a book some of our women have been reading: Glory in the Ordinary. Friends, Jesus lived 30 years in Nazareth. But it was God’s plan for him. Embrace the ordinary, be faithful in obscurity, serve him well in the little things, and God will do great things.

Jesus is about 30 years old here, as the gospel of Luke tells us, and now he’s left his little town of Nazareth. He’ll only go back once, and when he does, the people are offended by him and they reject him. Mark 6:6 says he “marveled because of their unbelief.”

So this event is the official, “I’m leaving home, I’m heading out into the world to start the mission God has sent me to do.” For thirty years Jesus had been a carpenter, and now he sets out. He came from Nazareth of Galilee “and was baptized by John in the Jordan River.”

He was baptized by John. The word baptized means to immerse, to dunk. By the way, this is one of the reasons why we don’t slash, sprinkle, or practice affusion. To baptize means to immerse, that’s the meaning of the word, and it’s obvious here by the words “he came up out of the water.” He was immersed in the water, and then he came out of the water. Jesus was baptized by John.

Turn real quick to Matthew 3:13 -- a parallel account. Matthew includes a bit more detail: “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.” It’s clear -- Jesus has a purpose in this. He wasn’t just hanging around, saw a big crowd, got caught up in the excitement, and then said, “Hey, I’ll get baptized too!” He came to be baptized. Verse 14: “John would have prevented him, saying’ I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

Now we have no record of John and Jesus’ interaction, though they were relatives. All we have is the story of what they did when they encountered each other in the womb -- John leaped. After that, we don’t know much.

So this encounter is fascinating. Somehow, John knows it’s him. And you have John, the mightiest of all prophets, saying, “No, I’m not baptizing you!” And of course, you know why he wouldn’t. Look back at verse 4: it’s a “baptism of repentance.” John’s logic makes sense. Repentance is for sinners. Jesus didn’t need to repent. Jesus didn’t need sins forgiven. Jesus didn’t need to be converted. John knew that. John’s absolutely befuddled. And we have these two towering figures colliding -- John’s saying, “I’m not doing it.” But the indomitable will of Jesus overcomes him. Jesus responds by saying, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15).

Why did Jesus need to be baptized? He needed to do it to accomplish all righteousness. If he didn’t do it, we would have deviated from the father’s plan.

What was the father’s plan? Where Adam failed, Jesus was sent to succeed. Adam is fallen humanity’s representative. Christ came to represent his people, and as their representative he needed to live their life perfectly, on their behalf. This is the active obedience of Christ.

Jesus himself taught people needed to have an exceeding righteousness, he taught that people “must be perfect, like God is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). For you to be able to stand before God without being condemned, you need a perfect righteousness. Now the Bible is also clear that you don’t have it. No one does. You need someone else to represent you. You need a mediator. You need the righteousness of someone else credited to your account.

That’s what Jesus is doing. Jesus is doing perfectly everything God requires of humanity. Why? So that his perfect record can be credited to those who believe.

There have been times in my life that I’ve wondered about the realness of my repentance. And there have been even more times that I’ve counseled people who are uncertain whether they’ve truly repented. And rather than living in the joy of salvation, they live in the fear of whether they’re actually reconciled to God.

You can think of it this way. All of our actions -- even our best ones -- are tainted with sin. As some have said, “Even our tears of repentance need to be washed in the blood of the Lamb.” Our repentance is imperfect, our commitment is imperfect, our obedience is imperfect. But Jesus lived and obeyed perfectly -- as our representative -- his offers you his perfect life.

Did you know that when you trust Jesus, his righteousness is your own? And your judgment is gone? Your security before God does not rest on your obedience or the quality of your faith or the quality of your repentance. It rests on the fact that Christ accomplished for you what you could never accomplish for yourself. He obeyed perfectly -- trust him, and his righteousness is yours. He died the death your sins deserve -- trust him, and you’re forgiven.

Maybe you feel it’s too good to be true. I do nothing, I simply trust this Jesus? Yes. And I get all his perfect righteous life? Yes. And he pays for all my sins? Yes. And I am completely forgiven? Yes. But what if my faith is weak? Or by repentance is frail?

Luther said it like this: “Two people have 100 gold coins. One carries them in a paper bag, the other in an iron chest, but both possess the entire treasure. Thus the Christ whom you and I own is one and the same, regardless of the strength or weakness of your faith or mine.”

True faith gets the whole Christ. And so we can look at his baptism and say, “His perfect obedience is mine; his complete righteousness is mine.” My faith is weak, but my Christ is strong; my hope is flimsy, but my Christ is not.

Can you look at the obedience of the Son of God and say in faith -- “That’s mine!” His righteousness is my own.

So, they would have gone down to the Jordan, which only got to be about 10 feet deep. Probably would have gone around waist high.

Verse 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.”

#2: The Descent of the Spirit -- My Power

He comes up, and there’s an immediate sign of the significance of his baptism. Use your imagination. His eyes are still blurry from the water dripping off his face. He looks up and sees something unnatural. The heavens -- indicating the space above the earth -- the blue sky rips open. The ESV captures it better NASB or the KJV -- because the verb is a violent, active verb: tearing, ripping, splitting. It’s the same word used to describe the veil in the temple that was torn at Christ’s death. Heaven tears open.

Now, let’s be clear about something: this is not an internal vision Jesus himself is having. In John 1:32 John the Baptist says, “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.” So Jesus sees it, John sees it, and certainly the surrounding crowds all see it. It’s a visible event. The Spirit comes down.

For the Jews there, it must have been an thrilling experience. In fact, Isaiah cried out in Isaiah 64:1, “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down!” That’s what’s happening; the barrier between heaven and earth is ripped open, God is on the loose in the world he created.

Mark describes the Spirit’s descent like a dove -- this doesn’t mean the 3rd member of the trinity is a bird, shaped like a bird, an incarnate bird. Probably the description hails back to creation itself. In Genesis 1:2 it says, “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” That word “hovering” could be translated “fluttering,” and since then, ancient Rabbis used bird imagery to describe the movement of the Spirit. So when Mark describes the descent of the Spirit like a dove -- fluttering down from the torn open sky and settling on Jesus -- he’s alluding back to the creation account itself. Why? Because here we have Christ -- who will inaugurate a New Creation. This is the one who has come to fix the broken world. This is the one who has come to put an end to the curse. This is the one who has come to usher in a New Creation.

The Trinity is at work here. The Father has sent the Son. The Son is on the mission of the Father, to become incarnate so as to redeem his elect. The Spirit empowers the son in his human nature to represent redeemed humanity. All are present at the launch of Jesus’ public ministry. It’s a big deal. Operation Rescue and Redeem is initiated.

Listen -- what did John say about Jesus ministry? “I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” It’s not that Jesus didn’t have the Holy Spirit, and then here he did. This was a confirming sign, and it was symbolic of the inauguration of his ministry. From this point forward, Christ, in the power of the Spirit, is going to give the Holy Spirit to his people.

What that means for us is this: we have the Holy Spirit indwelling in us. Now it’s an entirely different sermon series that unpacks all that the Spirit does. Let me simply say this: Jesus has given the Holy Spirit to his church, and as we walk by faith, in obedience, the Holy Spirit works through us to accomplish his purposes.

Many Christians never move forward to help others because they’re concerned that they don’t have what it takes. That’s not humility, it’s unbelief. It’s unbelief in the power of the Holy Spirit. Immerse yourself in the Word of God, and move toward other, depenpent on the Spirit, and aim to love them. Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit -- he’s the one who saves and sanctifies. We are mere vessels! Be humble, be dependent, be bold, be confident, be faithful!

# 3The Delight of the Father -- Your Joy

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

The voice, like the visual of the Spirit, is another testimony to who Jesus is. This no name from Nazareth appears. He probably looks like any other Jew of the day. Dark skinned, dark hair, most likely under 6 feet tall. His appearance would not have dazzled anyone; he didn’t walk around with a halo or a glow. Isaiah 52:2 says “he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.”

This is probably why God gave such dramatic signs: heaven ripping open, Spirit of God descending, voice declaring. Because he just seemed so ordinary. So normal. No one would have believed he was a king, that he was the Messiah, that he was the Son of God -- that he had existed in eternity past, that he was there at the creation of the world, that he had enjoy infinite ages upon infinite ages of joyful delight with the father. He’s getting baptized like an ordinary guy, and the voice says, “You are my beloved Son; with You I am well-pleased.”

Here is something worth chewing on. The Father loves the Son. The Son loves the Father and obeys him. The Father is well-pleased, delighted, satisfied in his Son. The Son delights in pleasing his Father.

There are faint echoes of this glorious joy with parents and their children. I now have a son. I delight immensely in my son. He doesn’t have to do much to fill me with joy. And my daughters -- it is a tremendous pleasure for me when I see them work hard, honor others.

The Father loves the Son with eternal love. Jesus describes the Father having “loved me before the foundation of the world.” God has always and eternally been infinitely enthusiastic about the love he has for his Son.

Parents typically express their love for their children by providing for their children -- we provide safety and security and other comforts of life. God the Father wanted something greater -- he saw the supremacy of his Son and wanted GLORY for him.

God wants every knee to bow down and every tongue to confess. God wants Jesus Christ to receive the worship of the entire creation. God wants the whole universe to recognize the majesty, the wisdom, the beauty of the eternal Son of God. He says to the world, and he says to us this morning: “This is my beloved son! He is my delight! Love him, worship him, cherish him.”

So what does he do? He makes Jesus the redeemer of the elect, the Savior of God’s people. Jesus leaves heaven, lives the life we could never have lived, dies the death we deserved, rises from the dead in victory, and offers to forgive the sins of everyone who trusts him. And those who trust him share in the love the Father has for the Son: we say, “Yes, he is our beloved Savior, in him, we are well-pleased!”

You and I exist to worship Jesus Christ. We were made by him, and we were made for him.

What are you living for?

I mentioned at the beginning of this morning that my life has been changed by Jesus Christ. Me, and millions before me, have come to see that Jesus is in fact the beloved Savior who can be our delight.

Some of us are living in dysfunction because our lives don’t revolve around Jesus Christ. We’ve tried to make our selfish ambitions the center.

Parents, have you made your children the center? Have you made your career the center? Have you made a certain lifestyle the center?

The delight of the father is in his Son. WHere is your delight?

If you do not delight in Christ, come to him, confess your inability to see him as he is, ask for mercy and grace, and rearrange your life to worship Jesus Christ.