The Gospel of Mark 1:9-11 - Baptism of Jesus
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Jesus traveled to the wilderness to be baptized by the priest John, who was His cousin. Even though this event in Mark takes up only 3 verses, there is a lot of meaning and symbolism in this action. We will dig into His baptism and what it means.
Text
“In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 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. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Mark 1:9-11 (ESV)
Discussion
Mark 1:5 tells us that all of the region of Judea and the city of Jerusalem were coming out to be baptized by John. Then in verse 9 we see that Jesus, of the city of Nazareth of Galilee came out to be baptized. Jesus, after leaving Egypt as a small child, grew up in Nazareth. What was Nazareth like? Paul H. Wright explains that Nazareth was a poor small town that was out of the way and most often ignored and looked down on (Wright 2016, 31, 33-34, 35).
“Nazareth—the modern city and the site of the ancient town—is located high on a ridge that marks the line between Galilee and the Jezreel Valley. The Jezreel Valley is the largest of the agricultural valleys of modern (and ancient) Israel. It is also the only level connector between the Mediterranean Sea and Transjordan, and as such served as Rome’s primary gateway into the southern Levant, connecting the natural port of Ptolemais (Akko) with Gilead… First, an important detail regarding the specific geographical setting of Nazareth within Lower Galilee. The ancient village of Nazareth sat within a broad, shallow basin atop the ridge that separates Lower Galilee from the Jezreel Valley. This ridge, today called the Nazareth Ridge, is a tipped block of limestone that rises sharply out of the Jezreel Valley along an earthquake fault line. The rise, 800 feet (244 m) in elevation, is too steep to be used for agricultural terraces and virtually impassable to traffic other than via narrow, tortuously slow switchbacks. This geographical reality tended to isolate historic Nazareth from the Jezreel Valley, although the view down into the valley from atop the ridge is nothing short of magnificent… The fields encircling Nazareth, though, are rocky and not very large. This made them adequate for small village agriculture but not for supporting the sort of large, profitable estates that could be found in the broad, alluvial valleys below (the kind that needed many day laborers, or where landowners might be tempted to tear down their barns to build bigger ones; compare Matt 20:1–16; Luke 12:16–20). Underground water resources in areas of soft limestone tend to be small, and while there are some springs in the Nazareth basin, they are not particularly strong. Moreover, soft limestone makes for inferior building materials, a matter that would be of interest to stonemasons and builders such as Joseph or Jesus (on this, see below). All of this means that on geographical criteria alone, we would expect that Nazareth would be a small agricultural village inhabited by relatively poor people who were pretty much left alone by the rest of the world.”
There is an immediate comparison going on, between Jerusalem and Judea and Nazareth and Galilee. The former was composed of the powerful, the elite, the ruling class, whereas the latter was composed of poor farmers and laborers. As William L. Lane points out, the entire region of Judea and those in Jerusalem came out to John but only one Galilean came out to him (Lane 1974, 54-55). Jesus, as a working class from Galilee, would have stood out as very different here.
The location of Nazareth makes a lot of sense if you remember that Joseph was looking for a place to live where his family wouldn’t stick out or be noticed. They were in hiding. He chose a place to live which would have been ignored, and would have given him and Jesus, as stone masons, a way to make a living.
We know that Jesus coming out of Nazareth to John at the Jordan to be baptized symbolizes something, but what does it symbolize? John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Mark 1:4). So why would a perfect man, who had never sinned, need to be baptized? If He didn’t sin He would have no need for repentance from sin. Indeed, we see that even John wanted to refuse to baptize Jesus and instead confessed that he needed to be baptized by Him.
“John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
Matthew 3:14 (ESV)
Yet Jesus rejected this idea, instead, He insisted that John must baptize Him immediately (Matthew 3:15)!
Mark’s account of the baptism is condensed compared to Luke and John. But Mark offers us something that the others do not, because when Mark describes the heavens being opened, he uses the Greek word for “torn in two”.
“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.”
Mark 1:10 (ESV)
This is the same Greek word that the Septuagint uses to describe parting of the sea during the Exodus!
“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.”
Exodus 14:21 (ESV)
We can see then that Mark is using language that paints a picture and makes a connection. He is comparing the parting of the red sea to the parting of the heavens. But why would Mark make this connection? Because he is showing you the context of the baptism. Jesus wasn’t baptized because He had sinned, Jesus was baptized because Israel had sinned. Jesus was in fact, recreating the “baptism” of Israel when they walked on dry ground through the red sea! Thus, Jesus becomes a type if Israel, because Israel could not keep the law, that is, Israel couldn’t fulfill the law and it’s righteousness. Thus, Jesus was coming to John to fulfill the righteousness that Israel could not!
“But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.”
Matthew 3:15 (ESV)
There is more here though. For Mark is comparing the heavens being torn open with the waters being torn open. This speaks of the two types of baptism, for John baptized with water but he prophesied that there was coming One who would baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit.
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Matthew 3:11 (ESV)
“I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
John 1:31-34 (ESV)
The dove, that is the Holy Spirit then descended on Jesus. This represented the anointing of the King, for kings were anointed with oil (Saul, 1 Samuel 10:1, David, 1 Samuel 16:13, Solomon, 1 Kings 1:39, etc). Further we notice that when David was anointed the Holy Spirit fell on him.
“Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.”
1 Samuel 16:13 (ESV)
So too the Holy Spirit came on Jesus as part of His anointing as the King of Israel (Son of God can at times also mean King of Israel). This is why John called Him the Son of God during this event, because He was being recognized and anointed as the King of Israel.
There is more here though, for at the end of the baptism a pronouncement from heaven says “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”. This also has great significance, for as The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament points out, David means “beloved one” (Koehler 1994-2000, 215). When God calls Jesus His “beloved son” He is saying that Jesus is the “Son of David”, the promised coming King of Israel.
Today, for Christians baptism is a type of swearing of allegiance, a public pledge that we belong to Jesus and He is our King. Let us live our lives daily with this in mind, that He not only rules in Heaven, but He rules in our Hearts.
Summary
Thus, the baptism of Jesus by John represented Jesus fulfilling the law as Israel could not, going into the wilderness and into the waters. Just as the waters had been split, so too now the heavens were torn in two. The Holy Spirit descended upon Him to show that He was anointed as King of Israel, but also to show that it was Him whom would baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit. Lastly the Father pronounced that Jesus was indeed His son, but not just this but so much more, because He was the promised Messiah, Son of David, the King of Israel.
Life Application
Looking at the life application, R. Kent Hughes says (Hughes 1989, 25).
“Have you perhaps received water baptism but not the drenching in the Holy Spirit? That is the baptism you must have. All Christians are baptized into one Body in him. Unless Christ has filled your life, unless he has permeated your heart of hearts, you are not one of his. Regardless of how you have been dipped or sprinkled or dry cleaned, or whatever has happened, you are not one of his unless you have received the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, his cleansing from sin, and his empowering to godliness. Is he that real to you? If so, then bless his name. If not, seek him today.”
Questions to Consider
Have I been baptized?
If so, have I had the Holy Spirit poured into my life?
Do I live my life looking to Christ as my King?
Connections
Exodus 14:21
Matthew 3:13-17
Luke 3:21-22
John 1:32-34
Outline
Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.
The heavens were torn in two when He came out of the water.
The Holy Spirit came upon Him like a dove.
The Father pronounced that Jesus was His beloved Son.
References-
Paul H. Wright, “The Size and Makeup of Nazareth at the Time of Jesus,” in Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels, ed. Barry J. Beitzel and Kristopher A. Lyle, Lexham Geographic Commentary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016), 31, 33-34, 35.
William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1974), 54–55.
Ludwig Koehler et al., The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994–2000), 215.
R. Kent Hughes, Mark: Jesus, Servant and Savior, vol. 1, Preaching the Word (Westchester, IL: Crossway Books, 1989), 25.
