Following the tradition of the Church, this week we celebrate the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ. Three of the gospel writers (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) recorded Jesus’ baptism, but John did not. This post focuses on the baptism as recorded by Mark.
Tonight I’m drinking water bought from a store. This is not normal for me. I usually fill my Nalgene bottle from the tap and that’s good enough. I can’t bring myself to buy bottled water. Tonight, however, I’m drinking bottled water because I have no other choice. One of the main pipes under the house busted and the water had to be shut off. A crew worked on it all day today, but they scattered like cockroaches when the clock struck five. Who knows when we’ll have water again – hopefully soon. But, as for now, I’ll have to go to someone’s house for a shower tomorrow, like I did today (Thanks, Toby!). I really want to use my own shower. It’s so much more convenient. I miss having running water.
It’s fitting that the same day our well runs dry, I’m writing about Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River. Mark wrote, “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan” (Mark 1:9). I have images of the Jordan in my mind from slides shown by some of my seminary professors. Their pictures captured the sparkle of the river and the green shrubbery that covered it banks. John baptized Jesus in this running water. He dunked him under the water and when Jesus came up, “He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending on Him…” (1:10). The Spirit in the form of a dove (an animal used for sacrificial worship) descended on Jesus (who would become the ultimate sacrifice) anointing Him specifically as Messiah. He was empowered by the Spirit and authorized by the Father whose “voice came out of the heavens: ‘You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased’” (1:11). The words of this voice, of the Father, teach us so much about Jesus. One of my profs at seminary wrote in his online commentary that because of this verse, “…the reader of Mark’s Gospel knows God’s authoritative evaluation of Jesus. This evaluation becomes the norm by which we judge the correctness or incorrectness of every other character’s understanding of Him” (Thomas Constable, www.soniclight.com). In other words, this phrase is God the Father’s confirmation that Jesus is His Son. God doesn’t say this about too many other people. In fact, no other person on this planet has received the title Son of God. As far as other people in the Bible, we know they are Christ-followers if they recognize Him as the Son of God, and they are probably not His followers if they call Him otherwise. This man Jesus who was baptized in the running waters of the Jordan River is the Son of God.
Jesus’ baptism, and this verse in particular, impacts us in three ways. Initially, it calls us out on how we perceive Jesus. In many religions, and even in some Christian denominations, Jesus is known as a prophet or just a very good man. These religions over-emphasize His humanity and forsake Him deity. A.W. Tozer wrote, “What comes to mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” I’d like to change the wording here a little and say, what comes to mind when we think about Jesus is the most important thing about us. Jesus is fully man, but He is also fully God – we cannot forget or abandon that fact. What is your understanding of Jesus? Jump in the running waters of the Jordan and meet Him.
Tonight I’m drinking water bought from a store. This is not normal for me. I usually fill my Nalgene bottle from the tap and that’s good enough. I can’t bring myself to buy bottled water. Tonight, however, I’m drinking bottled water because I have no other choice. One of the main pipes under the house busted and the water had to be shut off. A crew worked on it all day today, but they scattered like cockroaches when the clock struck five. Who knows when we’ll have water again – hopefully soon. But, as for now, I’ll have to go to someone’s house for a shower tomorrow, like I did today (Thanks, Toby!). I really want to use my own shower. It’s so much more convenient. I miss having running water.
It’s fitting that the same day our well runs dry, I’m writing about Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River. Mark wrote, “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan” (Mark 1:9). I have images of the Jordan in my mind from slides shown by some of my seminary professors. Their pictures captured the sparkle of the river and the green shrubbery that covered it banks. John baptized Jesus in this running water. He dunked him under the water and when Jesus came up, “He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending on Him…” (1:10). The Spirit in the form of a dove (an animal used for sacrificial worship) descended on Jesus (who would become the ultimate sacrifice) anointing Him specifically as Messiah. He was empowered by the Spirit and authorized by the Father whose “voice came out of the heavens: ‘You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased’” (1:11). The words of this voice, of the Father, teach us so much about Jesus. One of my profs at seminary wrote in his online commentary that because of this verse, “…the reader of Mark’s Gospel knows God’s authoritative evaluation of Jesus. This evaluation becomes the norm by which we judge the correctness or incorrectness of every other character’s understanding of Him” (Thomas Constable, www.soniclight.com). In other words, this phrase is God the Father’s confirmation that Jesus is His Son. God doesn’t say this about too many other people. In fact, no other person on this planet has received the title Son of God. As far as other people in the Bible, we know they are Christ-followers if they recognize Him as the Son of God, and they are probably not His followers if they call Him otherwise. This man Jesus who was baptized in the running waters of the Jordan River is the Son of God.
Jesus’ baptism, and this verse in particular, impacts us in three ways. Initially, it calls us out on how we perceive Jesus. In many religions, and even in some Christian denominations, Jesus is known as a prophet or just a very good man. These religions over-emphasize His humanity and forsake Him deity. A.W. Tozer wrote, “What comes to mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” I’d like to change the wording here a little and say, what comes to mind when we think about Jesus is the most important thing about us. Jesus is fully man, but He is also fully God – we cannot forget or abandon that fact. What is your understanding of Jesus? Jump in the running waters of the Jordan and meet Him.
The next way this verse impacts us is that it gives us hope for eternal life. God the Father said, “You are My beloved Son…” John wrote about this beloved Son, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Belief in God’s beloved Son is the only way for us to experience eternal life. We can’t just know, we must believe that it is true. What is your understanding of Jesus? Splash in the running waters of the Jordan and believe in Him.
Lastly, this verse speaks of the price that was paid on our behalf. The Father said, “…in You I am well-pleased.” This passage doesn’t say it explicitly here, but if we understand the dove as a sacrifice in the old system, then we understand Jesus as the well-pleasing sacrifice in the new system. It seems to me that this verse is pointing us to Jesus’ death on the cross. God the Father was well-pleased through Jesus’ death on the cross on our behalf. This means we don’t have to make dove sacrifices to God for our sins. Jesus’ death well-pleased the Father for all who believe in Him. What is your understanding of Jesus? Dive into the running waters of the Jordan and experience Him.
Get in the Jordan and understand who Jesus is today. He is the only Son of God, which makes Him our hope for eternal life as He well-pleases the Father on our behalf.
The water is back on in my house. When I first turned the faucet on, it spit at me as if it was angry. The water wasn’t running like it was supposed to. It burped and gurgled for a few minutes, but eventually it smoothed out. Our lives are like that – we burp and gurgle our way through the day, but we begin to smooth out when we join Jesus in the Jordan.
Lastly, this verse speaks of the price that was paid on our behalf. The Father said, “…in You I am well-pleased.” This passage doesn’t say it explicitly here, but if we understand the dove as a sacrifice in the old system, then we understand Jesus as the well-pleasing sacrifice in the new system. It seems to me that this verse is pointing us to Jesus’ death on the cross. God the Father was well-pleased through Jesus’ death on the cross on our behalf. This means we don’t have to make dove sacrifices to God for our sins. Jesus’ death well-pleased the Father for all who believe in Him. What is your understanding of Jesus? Dive into the running waters of the Jordan and experience Him.
Get in the Jordan and understand who Jesus is today. He is the only Son of God, which makes Him our hope for eternal life as He well-pleases the Father on our behalf.
The water is back on in my house. When I first turned the faucet on, it spit at me as if it was angry. The water wasn’t running like it was supposed to. It burped and gurgled for a few minutes, but eventually it smoothed out. Our lives are like that – we burp and gurgle our way through the day, but we begin to smooth out when we join Jesus in the Jordan.
3 comments:
Dear Jeremiah,
Thanks for this entry. It's a neat one. I never put the dove/sacrifice imagery together before in this scene.
It seems like my life has been burping and gurgling for quite a while now. I'm looking forward to smoothing out!
God bless you, my friend ... JimP.
Are you saying you believe in running water babtism? The DOVE was killed over running water, then the burnt scrifice was dipped in the blood of the killed sacrifice.
I'm not claiming any particular belief regarding baptism in this post. The idea of "running water" was simply used for imagery purposes. The focus of this passage is so much more than just baptism. It points to the Trinity and calls people to acknowledge what they believe about him. Thanks for your question, "Jim," it was a good one.
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