Jesus came into our world. He lived. He died. He rose again. He ascended into heaven. He has given His followers a mission, to continue His ministry on earth, until He comes again. And He has not left His followers powerless. He has given us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells within the Christ follower, who has made Jesus their Lord and Savior.
Mark jumps right into truth as he begins the Gospel of Mark. In the first eight verses we are introduced to John the Baptist and Jesus Christ is exalted.
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'" John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." (Mark 1:1-8 ESV)
The very first verse of Mark is short, but it speaks volumes –
“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (Mark 1:1 ESV)” Throughout the entire Gospel of Mark, we are told about Jesus. It is good news to all who learn of Him, but this good news did have its beginning with Mark’s Gospel. Jesus was proclaimed throughout the Old Testament and the Prophets and Mark is implying to this with a reference to Isaiah.
Mark declares that Jesus is the Son of God and the Christ. The name “Jesus” means “Yahweh is salvation”. Matthew brings particular attention to this meaning –
“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins". ~ Matthew 1:21 ESV
Christ is a title and means “the anointed one”, or “the Messiah”. So here, at the start of the Gospel of Mark, we have the declaration that Jesus is the son of God and the Messiah who saves us from our sin and delivers us out of its captivity and bondage. I thank God that He sent Jesus into our world!
John the Baptist appears on the scene as a messenger sent by God to prepare people’s heart to receive Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah. It had been 400 years since the voice of a prophet had been heard. There had been a famine of the Word of God. People were hungry for a Word from God while at the same time worn out by the Roman oppression that they lived under. This hunger and oppression drew them from the comforts of their city dwellings to travel into the wilderness to hear John speak about the Christ to come. As they listened to John point them to the One to come, they responded by repenting of their sins. Repenting is turning from sin and going the opposite direction. Jews had practiced ritual washings since their time in the wilderness with Moses. They were familiar with the idea that washing made pure and they were baptized in water by John as a sign indicating that they truly had repented of their sin.
John the Baptist was called of God to “prepare the way” for Jesus. He was living within His calling and being totally obedient to it. Throughout the Old Testament and the prophets, God had been patiently preparing people for that which were to come. John the Baptist is part of God’s preparation for the emergence of Jesus as the savior of the world.
Through these anointed words of Mark we are told some things about John the Baptist. He lived His message. His clothing and his diet were simple. He preached God’s message. He was humble. He did not desire to be the center of attraction and attention. He desired to connect people with the one who was greater and stronger than he. People listened as he pointed them, not to himself, but to the one whom all people need; Jesus Christ, the Anointed One, the Savior, the Messiah.
John the Baptist regarded himself less than a servant whose duty it was to take off the dirty sandals of people as they entered into the house. His ministry is limited to water baptism, but he promises them that Jesus would baptize them with the Holy Spirit, pointing more to the theological baptism with the Holy Spirit than the historical baptism with the Holy Spirit that occurred on the day of Pentecost (
Acts 2).
Those who follow Christ making Him their Lord and Savior are baptized with the Holy Spirit by Jesus. Paul explains this baptism best:
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:5-11 ESV)”
Beloved, it’s all about Jesus Christ. He came to save us from our sin and he broke the power of sin that held us captive. He came into our world. He lived. He died. He rose from the dead. He ascended back to the right hand of God. And He baptizes with the Holy Spirit all who decide to follow Him and make Him their Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit dwells within the Christ follower. Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
