Reading: Mark 1:1-11

Introduction
“Perfect Planet”. A wonderful TV series on Sunday evenings, with superb photography.  Last Sunday’s subject was The Sun. David Attenborough began with the words “In the beginning, there was light”. Did he know he was quoting from the first verses in the Bible? – but leaving out all references to God!
Genesis 1:1,3 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…And God said “Let there be light”, and there was light.”

Mark’s gospel starts with a bang, in a deliberate echo of Genesis 1: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.“ There is no verb; this is not a sentence. It is like a title. The Greek word translated “gospel” or “good news” is euangelion. In the secular world that word was used of very important events. For example, the birth of the first Roman emperor Augustus in 63BC was described as “gospel”, meaning a happening which would change world history.
 Mark chooses that word “gospel” deliberately. The New Testament writers, especially Paul, use it to refer to God’s saving power and life-giving reality. Mark is saying that that took historical shape in and through Jesus of Nazareth.
But the vital question, still today, is “WHO IS THIS JESUS? How can we know? What is the evidence?” We need witnesses. Mark’s gospel is full of them – people who heard Jesus speak, saw what he did. But Mark starts by quoting from Old Testament prophets, hundreds of years earlier; because the good news of Jesus is directly connected with the Old Testament scriptures. They witness to who Jesus is.
Verses 2-3 Mark here is quoting from Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3. Amazingly, in both quotes, Mark takes words that originally referred to the Lord, God himself, and applies them directly to Jesus! Wow! Who is this Jesus?

Now Mark describes the ministry of this messenger foretold in those verses: “John the Baptizer came in the desert”. We’ll call him John B.

1. John B. is the Preparer (verses 4-6)
How did he prepare the way for Jesus? Verse 4 John B was proclaiming, like a herald going ahead of a king. He was proclaiming a baptism of repentance. This was extraordinary. Jewish people didn’t get baptised: they saw baptism as needed by gentiles (non-Jews) who wanted to embrace the Jewish faith. So John B’s message is revolutionary – “You Jews need to repent – turn back to God for forgiveness, commit to serving and obeying him.”
So verse 5. Still today, repentance is the only way to prepare for Jesus. Repentance which affects every part of life.
But why the details in verse 6? Listen to this description in 2 Kings 1:8 “A man with a garment of hair and with a leather belt round his waist”. That actually is describing Elijah, the great Old testament prophet. So clearly John B is like him. In fact, Jews expected Elijah to re-appear ahead of the Messiah. In Malachi 4:5 God says “I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.”

So Mark is saying “John B is that “second Elijah””.
John B is the preparer.

2. John B. is the Pointer (verses 7-8)
Verse 7. An extraordinary statement! The lowest slave would see to his or her master’s shoes. John B says “This one coming after me is so great that I’m not good enough to be his lowliest slave.” Who is this person, so much greater than John B.?

There is a further contrast in verse 8. But how does Jesus baptise in/with/by the Holy Spirit? About 3 years after John B said this, on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, all the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit and wonderful things took place. The apostle Peter, explaining to the crowd what was happening, said that God had raised the crucified Jesus to life, and that “exalted to the right hand of God, he (Jesus) has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear” (Acts 2:33). Indeed the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, who lives in all who belong to Christ (Romans 8:9).

John B was like a signpost, drawing attention not towards himself but away from himself. He pointed his hearers then, and he points us now, to Jesus Christ.
John B is the pointer.

So now in Mark’s gospel the focus is off John B and on Jesus.

3. Jesus is the Perfect Son of God (verses 9-11)
Verse 9. An extraordinary event! Matthew’s gospel tells us that John B protested, saying to Jesus “I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied,”Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.” Then John consented. (Matthew 3:14-15)
Jesus, in his baptism, dedicates himself to God’s will, and he identifies himself with sinners; a foretaste of his death on the cross (about 3 years later), when “God made him, who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousnes of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Who is this Jesus, being baptised? Now comes a wonderful audio-visual witness. The heavens are torn apart – in the Bible that is a sign of divine revelation (e.g.Isaiah 64:1). God is revealing the truth, by vision and by voice. All 3 persons of the Trinity are here.
a) The Vision: verse 10. Just as a dove alights gently on a tree-branch, so the Holy Spirit comes down to rest on Jesus. Jesus saw this, and John’s gospel tells us that John B also saw it (John 1:32).
b) The Voice: verse 11. Clearly the voice of God the Father, drawing on two very significant Old Testament references:
i) Isaiah 42:1 God says “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.” This points to Jesus as the beloved servant, who will fulfil God’s purpose particularly by his suffering and death.
ii) Psalm 2:7-8 The Lord said to me “You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance…” This points to Jesus as the Royal Prince, who rightly reigns supreme over all the world.

The voice at Jesus’ baptism declares “the wondrous love which has existed between the Father and the Son from all eternity” (J.C.Ryle).
Jesus is revealed as the Saviour who will suffer & die to fulfil God’s plan of salvation, and as the King who has authority over the whole of creation.
Jesus is the perfect Son of God.

Conclusion
Thank God for John B who faithfully pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ.
As children, we may have been told “It’s rude to point!” But pointing others to Jesus is right, and a wonderful privilege. I’m sure that you, like me, want to point to Him.
But how can we do that? The answer lies in some other words of John B – words which could be called his “motto”. Referring to Jesus, John B says “He must become greater; I must become less”, “He must increase; I must decrease” (John 3:30).

We can be like a magnifying glass, helping others to see Jesus better. In our life as a church family, in our lives as individuals, at home, at work, with our friends, with our loved ones, even with people we don’t like.
So may I leave you with this question to think about: “How can we live, how can I live so as to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ?”

PRAYER
Loving Father, thank you for John B, your faithful messenger. Please help us, like him, to point others not to ourselves but to Jesus your Son, our Lord and Saviour. Amen.


Category: Prayers , Sermons , The Bridge

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