Mark hits the high points

Mark 1:9-13

What a different account from Dr. Luke, Luke goes into great details, but Mark always seems to be the guy who is hitting the high points and moving on.  Picking up the account in Mark 1:9-11, “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.” 

Did only Mark and Jesus hear what was said when the heavens were being torn open and the Spirit descended on Him like a dove?  All three persons of the Trinity are represented at Jesus’ baptism.  Now I’m a dad, and I was a son, these words from the Father to His Son, “You are my beloved Son; with you, I am well pleased,” are words any child longs to hear.  But this is not any Child; this is Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God.  Jesus, the Son of God who was sent by the Father to become lower than the angels, to come to earth and be a servant, to teach about the kingdom of heaven, and to die for the sins of ALL mankind, to proclaim victory over death and the grave!

It must have been Mark’s personality to be in a hurry, or he liked the word “immediately,” in that he uses it 40 times in writing the Gospel of Mark.  One of the many times the word immediately is used in verse 12, and in verse 13 look at who is ministering to Jesus.  “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.”  Often I have to remind myself that Jesus was all God, and also all man, He had flesh, and He got tired, and He laughed and cried, and when cut He bled.  And like you and me He had two voices speaking to Him, one was the Spirit of God, and the other was Satan.  The big difference between you and me is Jesus knew the Father’s voice, and the other that sounded like His human voice but was not able to deceive Him.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice