In this section of Mark, we will look at a couple of events.\u00a0 Namely, the baptism of Jesus and the temptation in the desert.\u00a0 Jesus baptism was an important step in his ministry and this study reveals some of his thinking as he begins his public ministry.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Baptism of Jesus<\/strong> Why was Jesus baptized?<\/p>\n Let me begin by saying that there are several viewpoints regarding the why. I am just beginning to research this question and I have some understanding of some possible answers, but cannot say with the full authority of God\u2019s word that I am missing the mark. I DO believe, however, that this summary will help us in getting started in our understanding.<\/p>\n Mark, in verse 9-11, describes what happened at the baptism of Jesus, but he doesn\u2019t spend any time explaining why he was baptized in the first place. Matthew, in his gospel, does address the reason why and the answer is provided in the words of Jesus himself. See Matthew 3:15<\/strong>. So the reason he was baptized is \u201cto fulfill all righteousness\u201d. What does Jesus mean by these words? Let\u2019s look first at why Jesus was NOT being baptized.<\/p>\n Remember what John\u2019s baptism was all about. Mark 1:4<\/strong> says, \u201cAnd so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.\u201d That word \u201cfor\u201d is the Greek word \u201ceis\u201d is a preposition that can be translated as \u201cfor, unto, toward\u201d (Strong\u2019s Concordance lists several other options). The idea here is that John\u2019s baptism was \u201c…a baptism of repentance [in order to obtain] forgiveness of sins\u201d. I want to make this distinction because I feel it is important to understand that Jesus baptism was UNIQUE in what John was doing. Jesus had no need to obtain forgiveness, as he had no sin.<\/p>\n SO…let\u2019s look at some things that Jesus WAS. He became our high priest. But he was a priest after the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4;Hebrews 7:13-17<\/strong>) This means, I think, that one part of \u201cto fulfill all righteousness\u201d as because this was, in part, to fulfill the legal requirement to enter the priesthood (remember, Jesus came to fulfill the law…not abolish it). The job (or part of it) of a priest was to offer sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. Jesus became a sacrifice for our sin (1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Cor. 5:21<\/strong>) in His role as priest.<\/p>\n This ceremonial washing was the first legal requirement. The second was an anointing with oil. See Exodus 29:1-7<\/strong>. Throughout the old testament, oil is used as a \u201ctype\u201d of the Holy Spirit. Here, in Mark 1:10<\/strong>, we see the anointing of the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus as God declares for all to hear (verse 11), \u201cYou are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Some conclusions:<\/p>\n 1. Jesus was baptized in order to fulfill the legal requirements to serve as our high priest<\/p>\n 2. At his baptism, he also received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, (the oil requirement).<\/p>\n 3. God himself announced the arrival of the Messiah<\/p>\n 4. From all the gospels, we can see that there were very likely a large crowd present to hear this announcement, including some of the Jewish priesthood that later crucified Jesus.<\/p>\n 5. When we \u201cfollow Jesus in Baptism\u201d, our purpose for baptism may be different than His, however it doesn\u2019t reduce the significance of it.<\/p>\n Besides the sacrificial duties, in what other ways does Jesus act in his role as our high priest? How is it possible that (perhaps) some of the same people who heard God speak at Jesus baptism were so hardened in their hearts that they resolved to kill him?<\/p>\n The Temptation of Jesus<\/strong> \nHere, again, Mark uses the word \u201ceuthe\u00f3s\u201d, which is translated as \u201cimmediately\u201d or \u201cat once\u201d or \u201cstraightway\u201d. Mark uses this word 47 times in his gospel. I am not sure there is any specific significance to Mark\u2019s use of that word. It is just worth noting, I think.<\/p>\n Unlike the other gospel writers, Mark does not go into much detail, but one thing I did notice was this phrase: \u201che was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan\u201d<\/p>\n I have heard many explanations regarding Jesus time in the desert for these 40 days, but I have never heard anyone point this phrase out. Jesus was not simply \u201cresting\u201d in God while in the desert..he was fighting against Satan\u2019s temptation. It was necessary for him to endure these temptations (See Hebrews 4:15<\/strong>), and just as important to note that he did not succumb to any of them. The other gospel writers mention 3 specific temptations that Jesus endured. Note that Jesus method of overcoming these temptations was to quote scripture. I think that is an important way to fight satan\u2019s tricks.<\/p>\n Jesus\u2019 temptation is important because it allows US to recognize that he has been in our shoes. Did Jesus need this in order to be able to understand the trials we face? We need to understand that his understanding is not the same as him allowing us to use it as an excuse to fail.<\/p>\n Jesus announces the good news<\/strong> Here, Mark begins this statement with \u201cAfter..\u201d (rather than \u201cimmediately\u201d). Maybe this is because he is describing something that comes a bit later. (See Matthew 14:3-4<\/strong> to see what caused John to be cast into prison.) I believe that Mark is summarizing the entire preaching ministry of Jesus here. Verse 15 reads, \u201c \u201cThe time has come,\u201d he said. \u201cThe kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!\u201d<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n This is God\u2019s message to us: REPENT AND BELIEVE<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n As we read through the remainder of this gospel, we will see this message in various forms throughout the writing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In this section of Mark, we will look at a couple of events.\u00a0 Namely, the baptism of Jesus and the temptation in the desert.\u00a0 Jesus baptism was an important step in his ministry and this study reveals some of his thinking as he begins his public ministry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,33,37,7],"tags":[8,36,31,25,14,17,20,26],"class_list":["post-405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-christian-living","category-mark-bible-study","category-sundayschool","tag-beliefs","tag-bible","tag-christian-living","tag-forgiveness","tag-god","tag-grace","tag-jesus","tag-love"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Mji6-6x","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=405"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":406,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions\/406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMark 1:9-11<\/em><\/p>\n
\nMark 1:12-13<\/em><\/p>\n
\nMark 1:14-15<\/em><\/p>\n