Holy spirit descending like a dove

HOLY SPIRIT DESCENDINGLIKE A DOVE
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Mark 1:10 10Justas Jesus was coming up out of the
water, he saw heavenbeing torn open and the Spirit
descending on him like a dove.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The Baptism Of Jesus
Mark 1:9-11
A.F. Muir
One of many proofs of the wide influence of the Baptist's ministry. He came
from Nazarethof Galilee. The multitudinous baptism of John was a fit
occasionand backgroundfor the specialand peculiar baptism of Jesus. The
awakenednationalconscience representedfor the nonce the general
confessionofsin by the individuals of mankind savedthrough the gospel.
Christ's baptism was -
I. A FULFILMENT OF LEGAL RIGHTEOUSNESS. It was one ceremony of
the Law takenas representative of the spirit and essence ofthe whole
ceremonialsystem. Inasmuch as it involved a confessionofsin, he by
undergoing it
(1) humiliated himself; and
(2) identified himself with the sinful nature of the race.

Whilst condemning in his pure spirit the sin of man, he yet takes his place
with sinners, as one with them in their penalty and their hope.
II. A FULFILMENT OF SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS.
1. Through plenary receptionof the Holy Spirit. This was the same Spirit in
which he had already been living, but given now "without measure."
Inspiration ensues upon consciousacts ofobedience and righteousness;true
spiritual baptism is given to those who submit willingly to the positive
requirements of God's Law. This was
(1) the completion of the Divine-human consciousness;and
(2) the communion of God and man, of heaven and earth. The (violently and
suddenly) rent heaven symbolized this.
2. Through Divine attestation. It was a voice to John, but much more to Jesus
himself. Through this experience he realized that the attitude he had assumed,
and the careerupon which he was about to enter, were approved of his
Father. The favor and acceptancetherein declaredwere also, by implication,
a recognitionof his perfectpersonalpurity. It was not as a sinner that he
submitted to baptism, but as the sinner's Friend and intending Saviour. - M.

Biblical Illustrator
The heavens opened.
Mark 1:10
The Divine Trinity
Bishop JeremyTaylor.
This was the inauguration and proclamationof the Messiahs, whenHe began
to be the greatProphet of the New Covenant. And this was the greatest
meeting that ever was upon the earth, where the whole cabinet of the
mysterious Trinity was openedand shown, as much as the capacities ofour
present imperfections will permit; the SecondPersonin the veil of humanity;
the Third in the shape, or with the motion, of a dove: but the First kept His
primitive state; and as to the Israelites He gave notice by way of caution, "Ye
saw no shape, but ye heard a voice," so now also God the Father gave
testimony to His Holy Son, and appearedonly in a voice, without any visible
representment.
(Bishop Jeremy Taylor.)
The Spirit like a dove
Like a dove
J. Morison, D. D.
A most captivating symbol. The eagle, too, was in our Lord; everything about
Him was mingled with the sublime; but the dove was predominant. Not only
while on earth, but all along the ages, it is the powerof His gentleness and
tenderness and meekness — His love, in short, that has been victorious. He
has "wooed" and "won".
(J. Morison, D. D.)

Dovelike properties in Christ
G. Petter.
I. INNOCENTand harmless (Hebrews 7:26).
II. LOVING and tender hearted(Ephesians 3:19).
III. MEEK and gentle (Matthew 11:29). This is matter of singular comfortto
the faithful members of Christ: for Christ being innocent and harmless like
the dove, yea, pure from all spot of sin, this His purity and holiness is imputed
to so many as truly believe in Him; and by it they are accepted, as holy and
pure through Christ, though in themselves they are polluted and sinful. Again,
Christ being also a loving, gentle, and meek Saviour, He will not deal with us
in rigour or wrath; but in compassion, love, and gentleness, accepting our
weak endeavours in His service, pardoning our wants and infirmities, and
cherishing in us the smallestbeginnings of grace (Isaiah42:2, 3). Strive we to
imitate our Saviour Christ in these properties of the dove.
(G. Petter.)
The dove temper in the Church
The Holy Spirit came as a dove, a gentle, joyous creature, with no bitterness of
gall, no fierceness ofbite, no violence of rending claws, loving human houses,
associating within one home; nurturing their young together;when they fly
abroad, hanging in their flight side by side; leading their life in mutual
intercourse;giving in concordthe kiss of peace with the bill; in every way
fulfilling the law of unanimity. This is the singlenessofheart that ought to be
in the Church; this is the habit of love that must be obtained.
( Cyprian.)
How to improve our baptism

T. Manton.
To quicken you to improve your baptism consider —
I. BAPTISM IS A PERPETUALBOND OBLIGING US TO REPENTANCE
AND A HOLY LIFE (Romans 6:2-4; Colossians 3:8, 9).
II. THE IMPROVEMENTOF BAPTISM IS THE BEST PREPARATION
OF THE LORD'S SUPPER (John 13:8). Before the Church, none but
baptized persons have a right to the Lord's Table;before God, none but those
who have the fruit of baptism have a right to the benefit thereof.
III. IF WE IMPROVE IT NOT, BAPTISM WILL BE A WITNESS
AGAINST US. One Elpidophorus relapsedinto Arianism, and the deacon
who baptized him showedhim the garments in which he had been baptized,
and said, "These shallbe a witness againstthee to all eternity." But how shall
we improve it?
1. We must personally and solemnly own the covenantmade with God in
infancy. What was then done for us must now be done by us.
2. Renew oftenthe sense ofobligation to God, and keepa constantreckoning
of obedience (2 Peter1:9).
3. Use frequent self-reflectionto know whether you are indeed washedfrom
the guilt and filth of sin (1 Corinthians 6:11).
4. Use it as a greathelp in all temptations (1 Corinthians 6:15). Dionysia
comforted her son Majoricus, an African martyr, with this speech,
"Remember, my son, that thou art baptized in the name of the Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, and be constant." Luther, when tempted to despair, used to
say, "I am baptized, and believe in Christ crucified."
(T. Manton.)
After baptism
I.NEW REVELATIONS GAINED — "The heavens were opened."

II.NEW GIFTS IMPARTED — "The Spirit."
III.NEW WITNESS ENJOYED — "Thouart My belovedSon."
IV.NEW TRIAL IMPOSED — "Temptedof Satan."
V.NEW TRIUMPHS SECURED.
VI.NEW PRIVILEGES CONFERRED — "And angels ministered unto
Him."
VII.NEW WORK ASSIGNED — "Preaching the gospel."
STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES
The Biblical Illustrator
Mark 1:10
The heavens opened.
The Divine Trinity
This was the inauguration and proclamationof the Messiahs, whenHe began
to be the greatProphet of the New Covenant. And this was the greatest
meeting that ever was upon the earth, where the whole cabinet of the
mysterious Trinity was openedand shown, as much as the capacities ofour
present imperfections will permit; the SecondPersonin the veil of humanity;
the Third in the shape, or with the motion, of a dove: but the First kept His
primitive state; and as to the Israelites He gave notice by way of caution, “Ye
saw no shape, but ye heard a voice,” so now also Godthe Father gave
testimony to His Holy Son, and appearedonly in a voice, without any visible
representment. (Bishop Jeremy Taylor.)
The Spirit like a dove.

Like a dove
A most captivating symbol. The eagle, too, was in our Lord; everything about
Him was mingled with the sublime; but the dove was predominant. Not only
while on earth, but all along the ages, it is the powerof His gentleness and
tenderness and meekness-His love, in short, that has been victorious. He has
“wooed” and“won”. (J. Morison, D. D.)
Dovelike properties in Christ
I. Innocent and harmless (Hebrews 7:26).
II. Loving and tender hearted (Ephesians 3:19).
III. Meek and gentle (Matthew 11:29). This is matter of singular comfort to
the faithful members of Christ: for Christ being innocent and harmless like
the dove, yea, pure from all spot of sin, this His purity and holiness is imputed
to so many as truly believe in Him; and by it they are accepted, as holy and
pure through Christ, though in themselves they are polluted and sinful. Again,
Christ being also a loving, gentle, and meek Saviour, He will not deal with us
in rigour or wrath; but in compassion, love, and gentleness, accepting our
weak endeavours in His service, pardoning our wants and infirmities, and
cherishing in us the smallestbeginnings of grace (Isaiah42:2-3). Strive we to
imitate our Saviour Christ in these properties of the dove. (G. Petter.)
The dove temper in the Church
The Holy Spirit came as a dove, a gentle, joyous creature, with no bitterness of
gall, no fierceness ofbite, no violence of rending claws, loving human houses,
associating within one home; nurturing their young together;when they fly
abroad, hanging in their flight side by side; leading their life in mutual
intercourse;giving in concordthe kiss of peace with the bill; in every way

fulfilling the law of unanimity. This is the singlenessofheart that ought to be
in the Church; this is the habit of love that must be obtained. (Cyprian.)
How to improve our baptism
To quicken you to improve your baptism consider-
I. Baptism is a perpetual bond obliging us to repentance and a holy life
(Romans 6:2-4; Colossians 3:8-9).
II. The improvement of baptism is the best preparation of the Lord’s Supper
(John 13:8). Before the Church, none but baptized persons have a right to the
Lord’s Table;before God, none but those who have the fruit of baptism have
a right to the benefit thereof.
III. If we improve it not, baptism will be a witness againstus. One
Elpidophorus relapsedinto Arianism, and the deaconwho baptized him
showedhim the garments in which he had been baptized, and said, “These
shall be a witness againstthee to all eternity.” But how shall we improve it?
1. We must personally and solemnly own the covenantmade with God in
infancy. What was then done for us must now be done by us.
2. Renew oftenthe sense ofobligation to God, and keepa constantreckoning
of obedience (2 Peter1:9).
3. Use frequent self-reflectionto know whether you are indeed washedfrom
the guilt and filth of sin (1 Corinthians 6:11).
4. Use it as a greathelp in all temptations (1 Corinthians 6:15). Dionysia
comforted her son Majoricus, an African martyr, with this speech,
“Remember, my son, that thou art baptized in the name of the Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, and be constant.” Luther, when tempted to despair, used to
say, “I am baptized, and believe in Christ crucified.” (T. Manton.)

After baptism
I. New revelations gained-“The heavens were opened.”
II. New gifts imparted-“The Spirit.”
III. New witness enjoyed-“Thouart My beloved Son.”
IV. New trial imposed-“Temptedof Satan.”
V. New triumphs secured.
VI. New privileges conferred-“And angels ministered unto Him.”
VII. New work assigned-“Preaching the gospel.”
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesyof BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography

Exell, JosephS. "Commentary on "Mark 1:10". The Biblical Illustrator.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tbi/mark-1.html. 1905-1909.
New York.
return to 'Jump List'
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
And straightwaycoming up out of the water,.... NotJohn, as many think;
though it was true of him, that he came up out of the water, as the
administrator of the ordinance of baptism to Christ, but Christ himself; who
having descendedinto the water, the river of Jordan, and being baptized by
immersion in it by John, came up out of it; not from the river side, and up the
declivity to it, but out of the river itself: when
he saw the heavens opened; or "cloven", or"rent"; this may be understood,
either of John, who was the spectatorofall this, which was done for the
manifestation of the Messiahto him, and the confirmation of his faith in him,
and that he might bear record of him; and so the Persic versionreads, "John
saw", &c. see John1:30, or of Jesus Christhimself, who came up out of the
water; and when he did, saw the heavens part,
and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him. The position of these words
here, is a little different from that in Matthew 3:16, there it is, "the Spirit of
God descending like a dove";which seems ratherto point out the manner of
his descent, than the form in which he descended:here it is put, "the Spirit
like a dove descending on him"; which seems rather to incline to such a sense,
that the Spirit appearedin the form of a dove, as well as descendedlike one;
and both may be designed, and indeed the latter follows upon the former: if it
was the form of a dove the Spirit of God descendedin, it was a very suitable
one: the dove is a very proper emblem of the Spirit of God: "the voice of the
turtle", in Song of Solomon2:12, is by the Targum interpreted, the voice of
the holy Spirit: he may be likenedto a dove, for its simplicity and sincerity; he
guides into all truth as it is in Jesus, andteaches to speak the word in all
plainness, openness, and sincerity, and preserves the saints in the simplicity of
the Gospel;and for its mildness and meekness;one of the fruits of the Spirit of
God is meekness,Galatians 5:23. And this it produces in converted persons,

making them meek;humble, and gentle:and also for its harmlessness and
innocence;and which appears, or at leastshould, in those who mind the things
of the Spirit: hence that advice of Christ, "be harmless as doves", Matthew
10:16. Likewise for its purity and cleanness;the Spirit of God is a Spirit of
holiness, he is the author of sanctification;such as are washed, sanctified, and
justified, are so in the name of the Lord Jesus, andby the Spirit of our God, 1
Corinthians 6:11. The dove is a mournful and bemoaning creature;and the
Spirit of Godmakes intercessionfor the saints, with groanings which cannot
be uttered, Romans 8:26. To which may be added, that Noah's dove bringing
the olive leafin its mouth, as a sign, of peace and reconciliation, fitly
resembled the holy Spirit, one of whose fruits is peace, Galatians 5:22, and
which he produces, by leading to the blood, righteousness,and sacrifice of
Christ, whereby peace is made, and reconciliationobtained: and his
descending upon Christ here, points him out as the peacemaker, through
whom was come peace on earth, goodwill towards men, and glory to God.
Christ, on whom he lighted, is comparable to a dove; he is said to have doves'
eyes, Song of Solomon5:12, and he has all the fruits and graces ofthe dove
like Spirit of God, which rested on him; like the dove, he is humble, meek, and
lowly; in which characters, he is to be followed and imitated by his people:
and as that creature is a very loving one to its mate, so is Christ to his church;
whom he has so loved, as to give himself for her: and as that is a lovely
beautiful creature, so is Christ; he is altogetherlovely; and especially his eyes
of love, as they are set and fixed upon his church and people. With this
descentof the Spirit as a dove on Christ, compare Isaiah11:2; See Gill on
Matthew 3:16.
Copyright Statement
The New John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible Modernisedand adapted
for the computer by Larry Pierce of Online Bible. All Rightes Reserved,
Larry Pierce, Winterbourne, Ontario.
A printed copy of this work can be ordered from: The Baptist Standard
Bearer, 1 Iron Oaks Dr, Paris, AR, 72855

Bibliography
Gill, John. "Commentary on Mark 1:10". "The New John Gill Expositionof
the Entire Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/mark-
1.html. 1999.
Geneva Study Bible
5 And straightwayg coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened,
and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:
(5) The vocationof Christ from heaven, as head of the Church.
(g) John, who went down into the waterwith Christ.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Beza, Theodore. "Commentaryon Mark 1:10". "The 1599 Geneva Study
Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/gsb/mark-1.html.
1599-1645.
People's New Testament
Coming up straightwayout of the water. The Greek prepositiontranslated
"out of" is {ek,}which means out from within. This could only be true of

immersion. Thus all greatand candid Pedo-baptistscholars concede that
Christ was baptized.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that
is available on the Christian ClassicsEtherealLibrary Website.
Original work done by Ernie Stefanik. First published online in 1996 atThe
RestorationMovementPages.
Bibliography
Johnson, BartonW. "Commentary on Mark 1:10". "People's New
Testament". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/pnt/mark-
1.html. 1891.
Vincent's Word Studies
Straightway
A favorite word with Mark. See Introduction.
Opened ( σχιζομένους )
Lit., as Rev., rent asunder: much strongerthan Matthew's and Luke's
ἀνεῴχθησαν, were opened.
Copyright Statement
The text of this work is public domain.
Bibliography
Vincent, Marvin R. DD. "Commentaryon Mark 1:10". "Vincent's Word
Studies in the New Testament".

https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/vnt/mark-1.html. Charles
Schribner's Sons. New York, USA. 1887.
The Fourfold Gospel
And straightwaycoming up out of the water1, he saw2 the heavens rent
asunder3, and the Spirit4 as a dove descending upon him5:
And straightwaycoming up out of the water. The preposition "out of" shows
that Jesus was notyet fully out of the river, and that the vision and the voice
were immediately associatedwith his baptism.
He saw. The statementthat "he" saw the Spirit descending, which is also the
language ofMatthew (Matthew 3:16), has been takenby some as implying
that the Spirit invisible to the multitude. But we know from John's narrative
that it was also seenby John the Baptist (John 1:33,34), andif it was visible to
him and to Jesus, andit descended, as Luke affirms, in a bodily shape like a
dove (Luke 3:22), it would have required a miracle to hide it from the
multitude. Moreover, the objectof the Spirit's visible appearance was to point
Jesus out, not to himself, but to others;and to point him out as a person
concerning whom the voice from heaven was uttered. No doubt, then, the
Spirit was visible and audible to all who were present.*
The heavens rent asunder. The heavens open at the beginning of Jesus'
ministry to honor him, and at the end of it to receive him. Christ is the opener
of heaven for all men.
The Spirit. The Spirit came upon Jesus to give him the miraculous power
which he afterwardexerted (Luke 4:14).

As a dove descending upon him. All four evangelists are carefulto inform us
that it was not an actualdove (Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22
*NOTE.--Recognizing the weight of Bro. McGarvey's argument, I
nevertheless contendthat the multitude only shared partially in such a vision,
if they shared it at all; for (1) There is no Scripture which even hints that the
vision was seenby more than the two "inspired" parties, Jesus and John; and,
on the contrary, the words of Jesus athis baptism, were addressedto the Jews
generally. (2) Jesus was to be manifested by his characterand teaching rather
than by heavenly sights and sounds (Matthew 12:39), and the mysteries of the
kingdom (Matthew 13:11), and the opened heavens (John 1:50,51), with many
other manifestations, were reservedfor believers (John 12:28-30 Matthew
17:1,2,9;Acts 1:9; Acts 7:55,59;Acts 10:40,41),;Acts and; Acts are; Acts still;
Acts so;Acts reserved(1 Corinthians 2:14).; 1 Corinthians As; 1 Corinthians
to; 1 Corinthians the; 1 Corinthians arguments;1 Corinthians given; 1
Corinthians above,;1 Corinthians we;1 Corinthians suggest;1 Corinthians
that; 1 Corinthians "bodily shape" does not insure universal sight. Baalam
did not see what the ass saw (Numbers 22:21-31). Again, it may be true that
Jesus did not need to see the vision "to point him out to himself", but he must
have needed it for some purpose, for it is twice assertedthat he saw it, and the
temptations which immediately follow show that assurancesofhis divinity at
this particular time were by no means misplaced.--Philip Y. Pendleton.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that
is available on the Christian ClassicsEtherealLibrary Website. These files

were made available by Mr. Ernie Stefanik. First published online in 1996 at
The RestorationMovementPages.
Bibliography
J. W. McGarveyand Philip Y. Pendleton. "Commentaryon Mark 1:10".
"The Fourfold Gospel".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tfg/mark-1.html. Standard
Publishing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. 1914.
John Trapp Complete Commentary
10 And straightwaycoming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened,
Ver. 10. He saw the heavens opened] The visible heavens, so that the Baptist
saw something above the stars: so did Stephen; so could Christ when he was
upon the earth. It is a just wonderthat we canlook up to so admirable a
height of the starry sky, and that the eye is not tired in the way; some sayit is
500 years’journey to it. {a} Other mathematicians tell us, that if a stone
should fall from the eighth sphere, and should pass every day 100 miles, it
would be 65 years or more before it would come to the ground.
{a} Burton on Melancholy.
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Trapp, John. "Commentary on Mark 1:10". John Trapp Complete
Commentary. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jtc/mark-
1.html. 1865-1868.
Greek TestamentCriticalExegeticalCommentary
10.]εὐθύς, or - θέως, is a favourite connecting word with Mark. St. Mark has
here takenthe oral accountverbatim, and applied it to Jesus, ‘He saw,’&c.—
and αὐτόνmust mean Himself: otherwise we must understand ὁ ἰωάν. before
εἶδεν, and take ἀναβ. as pendent, which is very improbable.
The constructionof the sentence is a remarkable testimony of the
independence of Mark and Matt. even when parts of the narrative agree
verbatim. See note on Matthew 3:16.
σχιζ., peculiar to Mark; and more descriptive than ἀνεῴχθησαν, Matt. Luke.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Alford, Henry. "Commentary on Mark 1:10". Greek TestamentCritical
ExegeticalCommentary.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hac/mark-1.html. 1863-1878.
Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomonof the New Testament
Mark 1:10. εἶδε, He saw)i.e. Jesus saw:although John also saw it, John
1:32.— σχιζομένους, rent open) σχίζεται, is rent open, is said of that, which
had not previously been open. Christ was the first who opened heaven.—

ἀνοίγειν, to open, Matthew 3:16, is used in the generalsense;whereas in the
specialsense it is used in antithesis to [as distinguished from] to rend, Acts
7:56. See on the difference of these words, Matthew 27:51-52.(7)— τὸ πνεῦμα,
the Spirit) with which Jesus was about to baptize.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Bengel, JohannAlbrecht. "Commentary on Mark 1:10". JohannAlbrecht
Bengel's Gnomonof the New Testament.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jab/mark-1.html. 1897.
Matthew Poole's EnglishAnnotations on the Holy Bible
See Poole on"Mark 1:9"
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Poole, Matthew, "Commentaryon Mark 1:10". Matthew Poole's English
Annotations on the Holy Bible.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mpc/mark-1.html. 1685.
Cambridge Greek Testamentfor Schools andColleges

10. εὐθὺς … εἶδεν. As usual, εὐθύς belongs to the finite verb rather than to the
participle. This is the first occurrence ofMk’s favourite adv., which he uses 41
times (Matthew 18 times, Luke 7, John 6, Acts 10); cf. Job 5:3. Mt.’s favourite
adv. is τότε, which is rare in Mk, while Lk.’s is παραχρῆμα, whichMk does
not use at all.
εἶδεν σχιζομένους τοὺς οὐρανούς. Jesussaw the heavens being rent asunder.
We must mark the pres. part. and also the difference betweenMk’s bold
expressionand ἀνοίγω, which is the verb almost invariably used of the
heavens being opened. So elsewhere in N.T., as in LXX. (Isaiah64:1; Ezekiel
1:1) and Testaments ofthe XII. Patriarchs (Levi xviii. 6; Judah xxiv. 2, which
are Messianicparallels to the Gospelnarrative). In the Apocalypse of Baruch
(xxi. 1) we have the heavens openedand a voice coming from on high. Mk may
be thinking of Isaiah64:1, Utinam dirumperes coelosetdescenderes;but
there we have ἀνοίξῃς in LXX.
The nom. to εἶδεν is certainly Ἰησοῦς (Mark 1:9). We know from John 1:32
that the Baptist saw also, but the grammaticalconstructionand ἐν σοὶ
εὐδόκησα show that the vision, like the voice, was sentto the Christ. It is
unnecessaryto ask whether, if others were there, which is doubtful (Luke
3:21), they also saw and heard, or whether Jesus and John saw and heard
with eye and ear. Aperiuntur coeli, non reseratione elementorum, sed
spiritualibus oculorum (Bede). What is clearis that there was no
hallucination, but a real receptionof the Spirit of God and of the word of God.
Euthymius says that these signs were given ἵνα μάθωμενὅτι ἐπὶ παντὸς
ἀνθρώπου βαπτιζομένου ἀνοίγονται οἱ οὐρανοί, καλοῦντες αὐτὸνεἰς τὴν ἄνω
κατοικίαν. Theophylactadds that the Spirit descended, not because the Christ
was in need of it, “but that thou mayest know that, when thou art baptized,
the Spirit will come to thee.” In Hebrew poetry and in Philo the Dove is a
symbol of heavenly attributes; ἐκ φύσεως μιμήματαἔχει τ. ἁγ. πνεύματος
(Euthym.). See Lagrange, S. Marc, p. 12.
εἰς αὐτόν. See crit. note. The prep. indicates that ὡς περιστεράν is not to be
takenliterally; non veritas sedsimilitudo monstratur (Jerome). Mt. and Lk.
have ἐπʼ αὐτόν, possibly because εἰς αὐτόνmight suggestthat until then Jesus
had been devoid of the Spirit.

Copyright Statement
Bibliography
"Commentary on Mark 1:10". "Cambridge Greek TestamentforSchools and
Colleges".https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cgt/mark-1.html.
1896.
Whedon's Commentary on the Bible
10. Like a dove — At the creationthe Spirit of God moved (in the Hebrew
brooded) on the face of the waters. Genesis1:2. On which passageofGenesis
Rabbi Ephraim (as quoted by Townsend)says the “Spirit brooded like a dove,
which flies over its nest.”
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Whedon, Daniel. "Commentary on Mark 1:10". "Whedon's Commentary on
the Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/whe/mark-1.html.
1874-1909.
PeterPett's Commentary on the Bible

‘And coming up out of the waterstraight awayhe saw the heavens cleaving in
half and the Spirit as a dove descending on him, and a voice came from the
heavens, “You are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”.’
Here we have brought home to us Jesus’self-awarenessatHis baptism. As He
‘comes up out of the water’, (either by rising from its depths or by walking
towards the bank, depending on how John baptised), He is aware of activity in
heaven. The idea of the heavens being opened (anoigo)as indicating heavenly
activity was a regularone, but not in the vivid way in which Mark renders it
(skizo). Perhaps he intends us to link it with the rending of the curtain in the
Temple in Mark 15:38, another dramatic moment of divine revelation. Or it
may be that Mark has in mind Isaiah 64:1 (in the Hebrew), ‘O that You would
rend the heavens and come down’. ForIsaiah 63-64 has a number of
connections with the passage here. In Isaiah 63:11 the leaders of Israelcame
up out of the water(the sea)when God put in the midst of them His holy
Spirit, and Israelwere then led through the wilderness (Isaiah 63:13-14), only
to fail in the end in their response to God’s Kingly Rule (Isaiah 63:19). So
Mark may well have intended us to see that God was now rending the heavens
as Isaiah had pleadedin expectationof a better result.
‘The heavens cleaving in half.’ This does not refer to a physical gap appearing
but simply indicates that there was some unusual and dramatic activity in the
heavens, resulting in this case in the fact that something other worldly was
seenthere.
‘And the Spirit as a dove descending on him.’ He was consciousofwhat
seemedlike some kind of physical presence (Luke specificallyconfirms this
when he speaksof‘a bodily form like a dove’ - Mark 3:22), which reminded
Him of a dove and descendedon Him, in the same wayas the Spirit would
descendon the coming King (Isaiah11:1-4), the coming Servant (Isaiah 42:1-
4, compare Matthew 12:17-21)and the coming anointed Prophet (Isaiah61:1-
3). In John’s Gospelwe learn that John the Baptiserwas also aware ofthese
things (John 1:32). What the crowds were aware of we are not told. The
words, ‘Thisis my beloved Son’ in Matthew might suggestthat the crowds also
heard the voice, but again it may have been seenas spokenonly to John the
Baptiser. All would have takenplace in Aramaic so that both representations

are reasonable translations into Greek. To Jesus, ‘You are My beloved son’, to
John ‘this is My beloved son’. (The Aramaic may well have been simply ‘My
BelovedSon’. The pronoun, as it so often was, would have to be understood).
So in His baptism Jesus identified Himself with the repentant people and
receivedGod’s mighty empowering (compare Luke’s ‘full of the Holy Spirit’ -
Mark 4:1) and sealof approval, while John receivedconfirmation that this
was indeed the One Who had a unique relationship with God and will drench
men in Holy Spirit (John 1:33) like refreshing rain (Isaiah 32:15;Isaiah
55:10).
‘As a dove.’ Notliterally but in impression. It reminded those who saw it of a
dove. It is possible that the picture was intended to connectwith the Holy
Spirit hovering like a bird over the coming creation(Genesis 1:2), the symbol
of a coming creative work of God, this being linked in Mark’s mind with the
dove who brought back the symbol of the olive leaf to the ark in the time of
Noah, which demonstrated that God was in mercy allowing man to begin
anew in a new creation(Genesis 8:11-12). It was a symbol of mercy and hope
and new life. It may even connectwith the fact that in the Song of Solomonthe
dove is a description of ‘the beloved’ (Mark 2:14; Mark 5:2; Mark 6:9). And
we may well connectit with Jesus words about the ‘harmlessness ofdoves’
(Matthew 10:16), the point being that He had not come as a warrior Messiah
(see also Matthew 21:5). But it is a mistake in saying this to suggestthat it
differentiated Him and His preaching from that of John in that John was
somehow more judgmental and fierce. Jesus’words could be even more fierce
than John’s and John’s fierceness is often overemphasised. As with Jesus he
was ‘fierce’with those who deserved it, while his heart was compassionate
towards the lostsheep of the house of Israel.
‘And a voice came from the heavens.’The Rabbis spoke of a ‘bath kol’,
(daughter of a voice), a distant voice that filtered through from God as He
spoke in the heaven of heavens, but was inferior to the direct word of God to
the prophets, but this was no bath kol, this was God speaking directly and
firmly, authenticating Jesus’mission. The heavens had been opened. He was
fully involved in what was happening.

‘You are my beloved Son, in you I am well pleased.’This echoes Psalms 2:7, a
Psalmoriginally reflecting the adoption of the Davidic king by God, and
Isaiah42:1, words spokento God’s coming Servant to the nations. By it God
confirms that Jesus is the true Son of David, the expected Messiah, andGod’s
faithful Servant. Note that the empowering of the Spirit was promised both to
the coming king (Isaiah 11:2) and on the coming Servant (Isaiah42:1) and
anointed Prophet (Isaiah 61:1), and it was part of the Messianic expectation
among the Jews. But the words go deeper than that for they revealJesus as
God’s own beloved Son in a way never suggestedofthe Davidic kings.
In Psalms 2 the original reference was to the king of Judah as adopted by
God, probably at his coronationand possibly in a yearly renewalceremony. It
expressedthe confidence that the Davidic kingship, chosenand adopted by
God, would one day rule the world as His chosenking. Psalms 2:7 is literally,
‘you are my son, today have I begotten(i.e. adopted, made my son) you’.
Howeverthe change to ‘beloved’ reflects the fact that Jesus was notadopted
like the others but was unique. It practicallyreflects the same idea as the ‘only
begotten’- it is used in LXX to indicate Abraham’s ‘only son’ and Jephthah’s
‘only daughter’ - but was especiallysuitable as distinguishing Jesus from the
earlier Davidic kings, as the One Whom God essentiallyand uniquely loved,
His only belovedSon (compare Mark 9:7; Mark 12:6).
The quotation from Isaiah 42:1 links Jesus with the Servantof Isaiah. We
should especiallyconsider here Matthew’s quotation from Isaiah 42:1 which
also contains reference to him as ‘beloved’. Initially referring to Israel, and
then to the faithful in Israel(Isaiah 49:3) who would restore ‘Jacob’and
‘Israel’ (the peoples of Judah and Israel), and bring the nations to God, the
Servant narroweddown to a unique prophetic figure who would suffer at the
hands of His enemies who refused to hear him (chapter Isaiah50:3-8), and
who would be offeredup for the sins of God’s people (chapter Isaiah52:13 to
Isaiah53:12). While not directly linked with the Davidic kings he had royal
qualities (Isaiah 52:13), and Jesus laterlinked Himself with this suffering
Servant (Luke 22:37) as well as claiming to be the Messiah(explicitly in John
4:25-26 in a place where the title was not misleading to the hearers), the Son
of David, and the suffering Son of Man.

So Jesus became aware that the moment when He must revealHimself as Son
and Messiahand Servant of God had arrived. His missionof service, and
suffering, and royal authority must now begin. And this inevitably resulted in
His going apart into a quiet place to consider all the implications involved.
How human this revealed Him to be, yet how divine.
‘And straightway.’This is the first occurrence in Mark of a constantly
repeatedword, ’euthus. It means ‘immediately, straight away’, but it is at this
stage more a literary device to move the actionon quickly and to connect
different passages thanan indication of time specifically. It is especially
prevalent in Mark 1:9 to Mark 2:12 where it rapidly takes us through, and
connects together, Jesus’initial activity, doing it in one smooth forward
movement.
Excursus: Was John’s Baptism A Ritual Washing?
It is suggestedby many that John’s baptism was intended to be seenas a
ritual washing. But while the faith of Israelencouragedritual washing, such
washing was only ever preliminary. It was never seenas directly cleansing, for
it is regularly followedby the statement‘and shall not be cleanuntil the
evening’. Thus it was not seenas being itself the ‘cleansing’agent. It merely
washedawaythe earthiness ofman preparatory to his approach to, and
waiting on, God for cleansing. What cleansedwas the waiting on God in
obedience, and in the end the shedding of blood. Forin Old Testamenttimes
waterwas not so much lookedon as being for washing. It was rather what fed
the ground and was life-giving, and was what satisfiedthe thirst of men.
Seeming exceptions to this suggestionthat water does not indicate ‘cleansing’
found in Psalms 51:2;Psalms 51:7 probably refer to washing in ‘blood
sprinkled water’, for it is paralleled by ‘purge me with hyssop and I shall be
clean’which is a sacrificialreference. He is there speaking of being ‘washed’
in blood sprinkled water. Hyssop was used to sprinkle waterpurified with the
ashes ofa sacrifice, which was ‘a sin offering’ (Numbers 19:9; Numbers 17-
19). So David probably has in mind being ‘washed’in the ‘waterfor impurity
for the removal of sin’, which was watercontaining the ashes of sacrifice, and
wassprinkledto remove uncleanness. Noticein Numbers 19:19 how the careful

distinction is made. First the person is cleansedwith the sprinkling of the ash-
connectedwater, for the removal of ceremonialdefilement, then they wash
their clothes and bathe themselves in ordinary water, then they wait for the
evening when they become clean. Wateris not itself seenas directly
‘cleansing’, it follows atonementand, removing earthly taintedness, prepares
for cleansing.
So in the Old Testamentthe washing and bathing simply with wateris
carefully separatedfrom the idea of cleansing, and seems to have more to do
with becoming physically made ready to meet God, as a result of the removing
of their earthiness and earthly odours. It is preparatory to cleansing. It is
rather the watersprinkled with the ashes of the heifer which removes the
ceremonialdefilement and this is connectedwith the sin offering. Ezekielalso
connects the sprinkled ‘purified’ water(seenas purified with the ashes ofthe
heifer) with the purifying of Israelin a passageconnectedwith the coming of
the Spirit (Ezekiel36:25-27). Notice there that God will use ‘cleanwater’, i.e.
waterthat has, as it were, been cleansed.
Josephus sees this distinction betweenphysical washing and spiritual
cleansing clearly. He too misunderstood John’s baptism (as possibly did some
Pharisees,the extreme ritual cleansers, but see comment below) and saidof
John that he was ‘a goodman who bade the Jews to cultivate virtue by justice
towards one another and piety towards God and come togetherfor baptism;
for immersion, he said, would be acceptable to Godonly if practised, not as an
expiation for specific offences, but for the purification of the body, when the
soul had been thoroughly cleansedby righteousness’. Bythis the baptism is
degradedinto an outward ceremonywhich washes the body after it has been
truly cleansedrather than as being an essentialelementin the cleansing by
righteousness. Josephus rightly recognisesthe secondarynature of ritual
washing, and wrongly associatesit with John’s baptism. (We must always
remember that Josephus has a propaganda aim. He writes so as to ingratiate
the Jews with their Romanmasters).
But the baptism of John was central, not secondary. Attention was centred on
it. It was the focalpoint of his ministry. And it was closelyconnectedwith
repentance and admissionof sin and its consequentforgiveness. It was hardly

likely then that it indicated a mere ritual activity after the main event. It
rather represented the very source of the life that produced righteousness.
Becauseofthese difficulties reference is often made to proselyte washing, the
initial washing which a proselyte to Judaism underwent on entering Judaism.
But while that was sometimes, in passing, given a more significant meaning by
one or two later Rabbis, that too was from all points of view a ritual washing,
a leaving behind of the ritual defilement of the Gentile world. And there the
proselyte washedhimself, whereas it appears that here John administered the
baptism (‘baptised by John’). Indeed to washJews in this way would have
raisedan outcry of which there is no evidence in the account. While the
Pharisees questionedhis right to perform a significant ceremony, they did not
cavil at it by saying that such a baptism was intended only for Gentiles.
Rather did they see it as an ‘end of the age’event connectedwith the Messiah,
Elijah or the Prophet, all expected figures of the end times (John 1:25). This
fits wellwith their seeing it as signifying the idea of the pouring out of the
Spirit at the end of the age.
Indeed the difference is significant. All Jewishwashings were carriedout by
the personthemselves. It was they who prepared themselves. All
concentrationwas on their efforts. But John’s baptism was not self-
administered. It was done by anotherin God’s name. It lookedawayfrom
men’s own actions to God.
A better comparisonmight be Isaiah 1:16. ‘wash you, make you clean, put
awaythe evil of your doings from before my eyes, ceaseto do evil, learn to do
well.’ But this does not refer to ritual washing. Isaiahhad for the time being
‘done away’ with ritual (Mark 1:11-15). It is a command to become cleanin
life, and ‘washing’ is there a picture of the activity involved in a practical
getting rid of sin. This would certainly partly fit John’s position, but it will be
noted that it was still to be self-applied and such an idea is not takenup by
John. Indeed,unless we do connectit with the fruitfulness he describes, then
he seemingly gives no indication of the significance ofhis baptism, something
which would surely be quite remarkable. But if his baptism is a picture of the
outpouring of Holy Spirit, of the pouring out of spiritual rain which produces

fruitfulness, he explains it quite clearly. ‘I drenched you with water, He will
drench you with Holy Spirit’, the first the symbol the secondthe reality.
This is further confirmed by the fact that later on baptism will be seenas a
dying/rising againevent, dying in Christ and rising with new life in the Spirit,
a conceptregularly connectedin the Old Testamentwith the rain pouring
from the heavens (e.g. Isaiah44:1-5). And Peterspecificallyexcludes the idea
of removal of the defilement of the flesh from the significance ofbaptism (1
Peter3:21). It is even questionable whether the words of Ananias to Paul,
‘arise, and be baptised, and washawayyour sins calling on the name of the
Lord’ (Acts 22:16)directly connects the washing with the baptism. The
constructionof the sentence separatesthe two, making them two distinct
actions, and rather connects the ‘washing’ with the following phrase, the
‘calling on the name of the Lord’ (see Jeremiah4:14), although he would no
doubt make a connectionbetweenthe two. It is also significantthat he uses
’apolouo, which signifies washing by natural means (Job 9:30 LXX), not the
louo which means ritual washing. He has in mind verses such as Isaiah 1:16
not ritual washing.
Had Ananias meant that the baptism directly symbolised the washing he
would surely have said, ‘Arise and be baptised, washing awayyour sins
(rather than ‘and washawayyour sins’), and callon the name of the Lord’.
But as mentioned Ananias in fact may wellhave had Isaiah 1:16-18 in mind
where ‘washing’ means turning awayfrom sin. However, whateverthe case
there, there is no other place where washing and baptism are closely
connected. In Titus 3:5 it is ‘regeneration’that is seenas ‘washing’ while in
Ephesians 5:26 the washing of water is with the word. Thus in Acts Ananias
may have had primarily in mind response to the word and the regenerating
activity of God.
So the emphasis of the New Testament, when thinking of baptism, was not
that it washedmen, removing ‘dirt’ (even spiritual dirt), but that it fed their
souls giving refreshment and life. It representeda pouring out on them of
spiritual rain, so that out of their innermost beings might flow rivers of living
water(John 7:38). It gave them life and made them life-giving in the same way
as rain does the earth and drinking waterdoes to men.

End of Excursus.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Pett, Peter. "Commentary on Mark 1:10". "PeterPett's Commentary on the
Bible ". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/pet/mark-1.html.
2013.
Expository Notes ofDr. Thomas Constable
This is the first of Mark"s42usesofthe Greek adverb euthys ("immediately")
that give his narrative a feeling of rapidly moving action. Mark used this word
more than the other three evangelists combined.
"As the story progresses, the frequency of the word "immediately" drops off,
but reappears laterto reinforce how quickly the arrestand trial of Jesus take
place. And the tempo varies. Whereas earlyin the narrative the actionshifts
rapidly from one locationto another, the end of the journey slows to a day-by-
day description of what happens in a single location, Jerusalem, andthen an
hour-by-hour depiction of the crucifixion. Because the whole narrative moves
toward Jerusalemand toward crucifixion, the slowing of the tempo greatly
intensifies the experience of this event for the reader." [Note:Rhoads and
Michie, p45.]

Mark described Jesus seeing the heavens opened, though John at leastsaw
this too ( John 1:32-34). He used the vivid word schizomenous, meaning
tearing or rending. This word recalls Isaiah64:1 where the prophet calledon
God to rend the heavens and come down (cf. Psalm18:9; Psalm 18:16-19;
Psalm144:5-8). God now answeredIsaiah"s prayer. The descentof the Spirit
on Jesus constitutedHis anointing for ministry (cf. Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38). He
was God"s anointed servant("Christ;" cf. David, another anointed of the
Lord).
The dove is a bird that symbolizes the humble self-sacrificethat characterizes
it. It was a bird that poor Israelites" offeredin sacrifice to the Lord. The same
spirit of humble self-sacrifice indweltJesus.
The Spirit coming on Jesus here does not imply that Jesus had lackedHoly
Spirit empowering previously. Here the Spirit came to empower Jesus
specificallyfor His messianic ministry, which begannow.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Constable, Thomas. DD. "Commentaryon Mark 1:10". "ExpositoryNotes of
Dr. Thomas Constable".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dcc/mark-1.html. 2012.

Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Mark 1:10. Straightway. A favorite expressionin this Gospel.
He saw, i.e., Jesus Himself, though John also saw it (John 1:32).
Rending. A strongerexpressionthan that used by Matthew and Luke.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Schaff, Philip. "Commentary on Mark 1:10". "Schaff's PopularCommentary
on the New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/scn/mark-1.html. 1879-90.
The Expositor's Greek Testament
Mark 1:10. εὐθὺς, straightway, a favourite word of Mk.’s, to be takenwith
εἶδε = as soonas He had ascended, etc., He saw. For similar usage in reference
to εἶτα vide Hermann, Viger, p. 772.— σχιζομένους,being rent asunder, a
sudden event; a strongerword than that used in Mt. and Lk. ( ἀνεῴχθησαν—
ῆναι). The subjectof εἶδε is Jesus.— εἰς αὐτόν:this reading suggests the idea
of a descentnot merely upon ( ἐπὶ) but into Him, as if to take up its abode;
henceforth the immanent spirit of Jesus.
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Nicol, W. Robertson, M.A., L.L.D. "Commentary on Mark 1:10". The
Expositor's Greek Testament.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/egt/mark-1.html. 1897-1910.
George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary
Spirit. The epithet Holy is not found in most of the Greek manuscripts but it is
in John i, 32. and 33.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Haydock, George Leo. "Commentaryon Mark 1:10". "GeorgeHaydock's
Catholic Bible Commentary".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hcc/mark-1.html. 1859.
E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes
straightway= immediately. See note on Mark 1:12.
out of = awayfrom. Greek. apo, App-104. But all the texts read ek = out of
(App-104.)
heavens. Plural. See note on Matthew 6:9, Matthew 6:10
opened = parting or rending asunder.
the Spirit. Greek pneuma. With Art. See App-101.
like = as.

upon. Greek. epi, App-104.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Bullinger, Ethelbert William. "Commentary on Mark 1:10". "E.W.
Bullinger's Companion bible Notes".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bul/mark-1.html. 1909-1922.
The Bible Study New Testament
As soonas Jesus came up out of the water. "Out of' means "out from inside."
Scholars agree thatJesus himself was immersed.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Ice, Rhoderick D. "Commentary on Mark 1:10". "The Bible Study New
Testament". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/ice/mark-1.html.
College Press, Joplin, MO. 1974.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(10) He saw the heavens opened.—Better, as in the margin, rent open, St.
Mark’s language here, as elsewhere,being more boldly vivid than that of the
other Gospels. (See NotesonMatthew 3:16-17.)

Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Ellicott, Charles John. "Commentary on Mark 1:10". "Ellicott's Commentary
for EnglishReaders".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/ebc/mark-1.html. 1905.
Treasuryof Scripture Knowledge
And straightwaycoming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and
the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:
coming
Matthew 3:16; John 1:31-34
opened
or, cloven. or rent.
Isaiah64:1
the Spirit
Isaiah42:1; Luke 3:22; John 1:32
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Torrey, R. A. "Commentary on Mark 1:10". "The Treasuryof Scripture
Knowledge". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tsk/mark-
1.html.
10 And straightwaycoming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened,
Uhhh, LOGIC BREAK. If Christ came "up out of the water," he must have
been down in it - IMMERSION seems the LOGICAL conclusion.
Matthew 3:16 "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightwayout of
the water:and, lo the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of
God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him"
Luke 3:21 "Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus
also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, 22 And the Holy
Ghostdescendedin a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came
from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well
pleased."
One is hard pressedto understand the pictures that have been produced, and
the teaching that have been taught that all around Christ saw this event. They
may have, but the text does not tell us that. The text could well read that
Christ only saw the events contained in these verses. Is there any other
passagethat would suggestthat others saw the event other than the physical
baptism of the Lord?
To answerthe question let us read from John 1:19 "And this is the record of
John, when the Jews sentpriests and Levites from Jerusalemto ask him, Who
art thou? 20 And he confessed, anddenied not; but confessed, Iam not the
Christ. 21 And they askedhim, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I

am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. 22 Then said theyunto
him, Who art thou? that we may give an answerto them that sent us. What
sayestthou of thyself? 23 He said, I [am] the voice of one crying in the
wilderness, Make straightthe way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. 24
And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.25 And they askedhim, and
said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias,
neither that prophet? 26 John answeredthem, saying, I baptize with water:
but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 27 He it is, who
coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe"s latchetI am not worthy
to unloose. 8 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where
John was baptizing. 29 The next day John seethJesus coming unto him, and
saith, Beholdthe Lamb of God, which takethawaythe sin of the world. 30
This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before
me: for he was before me. 31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made
manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. 32 And John
bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and
it abode upon him. 33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with
water, the same saidunto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit
descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the
Holy Ghost. 34 And I saw, and bare recordthat this is the Son of God.
[Bethabara is not a knownlocation. One places it about 25 miles from
Nazarethwhile most suggestit was eastof Jerusalemand "beyond Jordon" -
People were mentioned as coming from Jerusalemso most assume this locates
the area in the southern part of the Jordon River rather than the northern
part.]
It would seemthat at leastJohn and Christ saw the events following Christ"s
baptism but whether the people did or not is up for debate.
We also see further information about what John knew. In verse 32-34 it is
revealedthat God spoke directly to John at some time about his ministry as
well as the coming of one that is mightier. Only by seeing the dove descending
was John to know the Christ.
I think we have seenthe importance of looking at all four gospels to gain the
entire picture.

Copyright Statement
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publication may be reproduced, storedin a retrieval systemor transmitted in
any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or
otherwise without the prior permission of the author, exceptas provided by
U.S.A. copyright laws. Do feelfree to make copies for friends that might be
interestedas long as you do not make profit from the copies. This is God's
work and I don't want anyone to profit from it in a material way.
Bibliography
Derickson, Stanley. "Commentaryon Mark 1:10". "StanleyDerickson - Notes
on SelectedBooks".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/sdn/mark-1.html.
END OF STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES
BARCLAY
THE DAY OF DECISION (Mark 1:9-11)
1:9-11 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by
John in the Jordan; and as soonas he came up out of the waterhe saw the
heavens being riven asunder and the Spirit coming down upon him, as a dove
might come down; and there came a voice from heaven, "You are my beloved
Son; I am well pleasedwith you."
To any thinking person the baptism of Jesus presents a problem. John's
baptism was a baptism of repentance, meant for those who were sorry for
their sins and who wished to express their determination to have done with
them. What had such a baptism to do with Jesus? Was he not the sinless one,
and was not such a baptism unnecessaryand quite irrelevant as far as he was
concerned? ForJesus the baptism was four things.

(i) It was the moment of decision. Forthirty years he had stayed in Nazareth.
Faithfully he had done his day's work and dischargedhis duties to his home.
For long he must have been conscious thatthe time for him to go out had to
come. He must have waited for a sign. The emergence ofJohn was that sign.
This, he saw, was the moment when he had to launch out upon his task.
In every life there come moments of decisionwhich may be acceptedor
rejected. To acceptthem is to succeed;to reject them, or to shirk them, is to
fail. As Lowellhad it:
"Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide
In the strife of Truth with falsehood, forthe goodor evil side;
Some greatcause, God's new Messiah, offering eachthe bloom or
blight,
Parts the goats upon the left hand, and the sheep upon the right
And the choice goes by for ever 'twixt that darkness and that
light."
To every man there comes the unreturning decisive moment. As Shakespeare
saw it:
"There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their lives
Is bound in shallows and in miseries."
The undecided life is the wastedlife, the frustrated life, the discontentedlife,
and often the tragic life. As John Oxenham saw it:
"To every man there openeth
A way and ways and a way;

The high soul treads the high way,
And the low soul gropes the low,
And in betweenon the misty flats,
The rest drift to and fro."
The drifting life can never be the happy life. Jesus knew whenJohn emerged
that the moment of decisionhad come. Nazareth was peacefuland home was
sweet, but he answeredthe summons and the challenge ofGod.
(ii) It was the moment of identification. It is true that Jesus did not need to
repent from sin; but here was a movement of the people back to God; and
with that Godwardmovement he was determined to identify himself. A man
might himself possesseaseand comfortand wealth and still identify himself
with a movement to bring better things to the downtrodden and the poor and
the ill-housed and the over-workedand the underpaid. The really great
identification is when a man identifies himself with a movement, not for his
own sake, but for the sake ofothers. In John Bunyan's dream, Christian came
in his journeying with Interpreter to the Palace whichwas heavily guarded
and required a battle to seek an entry. At the door there satthe man with the
inkhorn taking the names of those who would dare the assault. All were
hanging back, then Christian saw "a man of a very stout countenance come
up to the man that sat there to write, saying, 'Set down my name, sir'." When
greatthings are afootthe Christian is bound to say, "Setdown my name, sir,"
for that is what Jesus did when he came to be baptized.
(iii) It was the moment of approval. No man lightly leaves his home and sets
out on an unknown way. He must be very sure that he is right. Jesus had
decided on his course of action, and now he was looking for the sealof the
approval of God. In the time of Jesus the Jews spoke ofwhat they calledthe
Bath (Hebrew #1323)Qol(Hebrew #6963), whichmeans, the daughter of a
voice. By this time they believed in a series of heavens, in the highest of which
satGod in the light to which no man could approach. There were rare times
when the heavens openedand God spoke;but, to them, God was so distant
that it was only the far awayecho of his voice that they heard. To Jesus the

voice came directly. As Mark tens the story, this was a personalexperience
which Jesus had and not in any sense a demonstration to the crowd. The voice
did not say, "This is my belovedSon," as Matthew has it (Matthew 3:17). It
said, "Thouart my beloved Son," speaking directto Jesus. At the baptism
Jesus submitted his decisionto Godand that decisionwas unmistakably
approved.
(iv) It was the moment of equipment. At that time the Holy Spirit descended
upon him. There is a certain symbolism here. The Spirit descendedas a dove
might descend. The simile is not chosenby accident. The dove is the symbol of
gentleness. BothMatthew and Luke tell us of the preaching of John. (Matthew
3:7-12; Luke 3:7-13.)John's was a messageofthe axe laid to the rootof the
tree, of the terrible sifting, of the consuming fire. It was a messageofdoom
and not of goodnews. But from the very beginning the picture of the Spirit
likened to a dove is a picture of gentleness. He will conquer, but the conquest
will be the conquestof love.
BRIAN BILL
Mark 1:1
The MessageofMark
RecentlyI shared a very interesting article that led to some greatdiscussion
during our staff team time called, “Is Your Church a Cruise Ship or Aircraft
Carrier?” You can find the post on the sermon extras tab on our website.
Here are a few excerpts.
People who attend “cruise ship churches,” much like cruise ship passengers,
often come to be entertained and cateredto by the staff. Very little is expected
of these church attendees. In fact, they tend to rate the quality of their
experience – the music, the sermon and the way it made them feel – much like
cruise ship passengersrate their satisfactionwith various aspects oftheir trip.

Cruise ship churches tend to be internally focusedon the needs of their
regularly attending members. The main goalin these churches, as on a cruise
ship, is to keepthe “customer” happy and the complaints to a minimum.
Leaders in a cruise ship church focus on the existing members rather than
pursuing those far from God or encouraging others to do so. Very little of a
church’s calendar, training or communication is spent on activities to reach
the lostor help those in need outside the church.
There are, however, churches that are more like aircraft carriers. These
churches are designedto empower all members to find their God-given
purpose in life, to equip them and to send them on missions into the world to
reachand serve those who don’t know Jesus, much like the crew of an aircraft
carrier is all about launching military planes and equipping them well to
carry out successfulmissions.
Did you know an aircraft carrier is the same size as many cruise ships,
housing thousands of people? But what distinguishes an aircraft carrier ship
isn’t its size; it’s the efficiency on the flight deck. The crew of an aircraft
carrier canlaunch a plane every 25 seconds—allin a fraction of the space of a
typical landing strip. The mission pervades every aspectof the ship. From the
pilot to the personwho restocks the ship’s vending machines, everyone on a
carrier knows his or her particular role and how it supports the mission—to
equip, prepare, launch and receive aircraftback from their crucial
assignments.
An “aircraftcarrierchurch” has a clearmission that stems from the Great
Commandment and the GreatCommission. Everyone in the church knows
why their church exists and plays a role in the mission.
I am so glad that Edgewoodis an “aircraftcarrier church”! Instead of
meandering, you are living on mission! Instead of just living for pleasure you

are focusedon your God-given purpose. Instead of just cruising through life,
you are committed to the GreatCommandment and the GreatCommission.
I believe Edgewoodis the most generous church in the world. You tell your
friends about Jesus and invite them to gatherwith us. You care about what
the Bible says and strive to live by it, even when it is countercultural. Many of
you are planning to participate in the Walk for Life this Saturday and others
of you have already supported it financially. I’m hoping that we have a great
turnout from Edgewood.
Just this pastweek, the Celebrate Recoveryband played in the Labor Day
parade, AWANA kickedoff with a carnival on Wednesdayand Second
Winders and Entrusted with a Child’s Heart startedagain on Thursday.
It’s a privilege to serve on the flight deck with the people of the U.S.S.
Edgewoodas we live on mission by gathering, growing, giving and going with
the gospelofour Lord Jesus Christ to the glory of God!
BTW, let me be clearthat I’m not saying that going on a cruise is a bad thing.
I’ve heard that they’re a blast…I just don’t want our church to become one.
We’re beginning a brand new series this weekendcalled, “The Gospelof
Mark: Servantand Savior.” While I’ve preachedmany sermons from the
gospels, I’ve never preached verse-by-verse through one of them. It’s going to
take us some time but we’ll also be taking some breaks as well. Lord willing,
we’ll finish chapter two at the end of November. In Decemberwe’ll camp in a
series that will getus ready for Christmas and then we’ll pick back up
withMark 3 in January.

Let’s kick it off with the very first verse and then we’ll look at some of the
unique elements of Mark. Grab your Bibles and turn to Mark 1:1: “The
beginning of the gospelof Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
It’s interesting that Mark starts with the launch of Jesus’formal ministry,
unlike Matthew and Luke who begin with the birth narratives. The word
“beginning” can refer to the cause, orhead of something. Jesus is before all
things as John 1:1 says: “In the beginning was the word…” Beginning can
also refer to the start of something, like a road. At a deeper level, Mark is
telling us that He is about to begin something brand new, much like Genesis
1:1: “In the beginning…”
“Gospel” literallymeans the goodnews that God has provided salvationfor
everyone through the life, death and resurrectionof Jesus Christ. The use of
this word would have surprised his readers in at leasttwo ways.
• For those with a Jewishbackgroundor an understanding of the Old
Testament, they would have been stunned because they would have thought of
a verse like Isaiah52:7 where we read of the coming of God to a people who
have been in exile: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feetof him
who brings goodnews, who publishes peace, who brings goodnews of
happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your Godreigns.’”
• For those from a Roman backgroundthey would associate“gospel”with
some significant event that would change world history, like the birth of an
heir to the Emperor. One historical inscription reads like this: “The birthday
of Augustus was the beginning for the world of the ‘goodnews’that come to
men through him.”
Not only was “gospel” a powerful word, it also came to be known as a literary
genre. This chart [put up on screen]helps us see the different types of
literature that make up the different sections ofthe Bible – In the Old
Testamentwe encounter Law, History, Poetry, the MajorProphets and the

Minor Prophets. The New Testamentcontains the Gospels, Church History,
Letters and Prophecy.
We commonly say that there are four gospels but really, there is only one
gospelof, and about, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It’s better to say that we
have four accounts ofthe goodnews. In that sense, it’s not really Mark’s
gospel, it’s the goodnews of greatjoy about Jesus Christ. One paraphrase of
verse 1 puts it like this: “The beginning of the preaching of the joyful tidings.”
Mark wastes little time by getting to the identity of his subject, using three
names and titles.
• His Person- “Jesus” is his given name, which in Hebrew is Yeshua, which
means “Yahwehis salvation.” The angelof the Lord told Josephin Matthew
1:21: “…you shall call his name Jesus, for He will save His people from their
sins.” His name is descriptive of His mission.
• His Position- “Christ” is the Greek title for Messiah, whichmeans Anointed
One. The question of Jesus’identity is the hinge point of the book. Turn to
Mark 8:29: “And he askedthem, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter
answeredhim, ‘You are the Christ.’” Everything written before this
confessionofChrist focuses onJesus as Servant and the verses that follow set
the scene forhis work as Savior. It’s really the hinge of the book and the hinge
of our lives. PeterconfessedJesus as Christ. Have you done that?
• His Power- “The Son of God.” This bold title conveys full divine status.
Look at 1:11: “And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with
you I am well pleased.” 3:11 tells us that when demons saw Him, “…they fell
down before Him and cried out, ‘You are the Son of God.’” We also see this in
the Centurion soldier’s confessionin Mark 15:39. If Peter’s confessionis the
hinge point of the book, this military man’s declarationis the high point:
“And when the centurion, who stoodfacing him, saw that in this way he
breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was the Sonof God!’”

The Personof Mark
There has never been any serious question regarding the human author of this
gospel. His officialname was John Mark. John was his Hebrew name, which
means “graceofGod” and Marcus was his Roman name, which means, “the
hammer.” We could call him the Holy Hammer.
His mother’s name was Mary and she owneda large home in Jerusalem. We
don’t know anything about his father. Perhaps Mark’s mom was a single
parent. BTW, Chris James is leading our “Single and Parenting” class that
meets on Wednesdaynights. A number of you are parenting solo and could
really use some support and encouragement. Checkthe bulletin for more
details.
Peterwho was like a father to Mark, led him to faith in Christ, and mentored
him as a man. In 1 Peter5:13, Petercalls Mark his “son.” Although Mark was
not one of the 12 disciples, he learnedabout the Lord through Peter. There
are two highlights (or lowlights) from Mark’s life that are worth mentioning.
1. He fled from Jesus.
On the night before Jesus was crucified, Mark 14:51-52 gives us an
autobiographicalcomment: “And a young man followedhim, with nothing
but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen
cloth and ran awaynaked.” While Peterended up denying Jesus, Mark
ditched Him.
2. He folded on Paul.
Years later, the Apostle Paul and his cousinBarnabas took Mark on a short-
term missions trip. In Acts 13:5 he’s referred to as an assistantor helper.
When things gotmessy Mark folded and ended up going back home. This

causedsome conflict on the flight deck betweenPaul and Barnabas. Barnabas
gave him a secondchance but Paul was not willing to do so. Later on,
however, Paul chilled out and saw that God loves to redeemand restore those
who fold on Him. Check out this amazing statementfrom Paul in 2 Timothy
4:11: “GetMark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for
ministry.”
Mark fled and he folded but because ofGod’s faithfulness, he gotback up and
followedChrist. I find it interesting that Mark bailed and Peterfailed and yet
both got back on mission. Aren’t you glad that our past failures don’t
disqualify us from following Christ?
We’ve lookedat the personof Mark. Now let’s considerthe purpose of
Mark’s account.
The Purpose of Mark
Do you ever feel angry when you considerwhat’s happening in our culture?
Do you get afraid when you see Christianity becoming increasingly
marginalized in our secularsociety? Something very similar but far worse was
happening to first century Christ-followers. After Rome suffered a huge fire
that was likely setdeliberately by the emperor Nero, Christians took the
blame for the flames. Persecutionwas unleashedand things became very
precarious for believers.
It was into this setting that Mark wrote. He’s encouraging a minority group of
people to live on mission just like our Masterdid, no matter how difficult it
becomes. Theyneeded to be reminded that even if the world seemedlike it
was falling apart, God would work through their witness. Likewise,we are
calledto live holy lives in an increasinglyhostile environment. When we suffer
we must remember that our Saviorsuffered. And when we get angry and
afraid we must keepserving those around us.

Fellow shipmates, as our societycontinues to slide toward Sodom, following
Christ will become increasinglycostly, but totally worth it.
The Gospelof Mark can be read in about 90 minutes and contains poignant
and declarative statements that will help eachof us get recalibratedin order
to live on mission.
Mark is not only the shortestand earliest gospel, it also has some very unique
features that we’ll uncover together. Mark’s gospelis an ideal introduction to
the Christian faith. When getting the gospelinto other languages,Wycliffe
Bible translators often start with Mark because of its brevity and its clear
message. BTW, if you’re a newer believer, Mark is a greatbook to read. Let’s
look now at some of the peculiar things about this gospel.
The Peculiarity of Mark
1. Mark focuses more on the works ofJesus and less on His words.
Mark records nineteen miracles, but only four parables. Interestingly, eachof
these parables has serving as its key theme.
2. The language Mark uses is emotive and often abrupt.
We read in 8:12 that Jesus “sigheddeeply” and that He was “movedwith
compassion” in Mark 6:34. He “marveled at their unbelief” in Mark 6:6 and
in Mark 3:5 He looked“aroundin anger.” At the same time, when He saw the
rich young ruler in Mark 10:21 we read: “And Jesus, looking athim, loved
him…”
We also see that people had strong reactions to Jesus. I count over 15
individuals who decided to follow Christ when coming face-to-facewith Him.

People were never passive about Jesus orbored with Him. There’s no wayto
just ignore Him. He either made people angry or astonishedor amazed or in
awe. People fought againstHim or they put their faith in Him. The same is
true today. You will reject Him or you will receive Him. There’s no middle
ground. Check out these 12 reactions that people had to Jesus and see if you
can remain neutral.
1. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves (Mark
1:27)
2. And they were filled with greatfear (Mark 4:41)
3. He ran and fell down before Him (Mark 5:6)
4. And they were overcome with amazement (Mark 5:42-43)
5. And many who heard Him were astonished(Mark 6:2)
6. And they took offense atHim (Mark 6:3)
7. Forthey all saw Him and were terrified…and they were utterly astounded
(Mark 6:50-51)
8. The people ran about the whole region(Mark 6:54-55)
9. And they were astonishedbeyond measure (Mark 7:37)
10. And they were amazed…and afraid (Mark 10:32)
11. For they fearedHim because, becauseallthe crowd was astonished(Mark
11:18)
12. And they marveled at Him (Mark 12:17)
So here are some questions for you. What’s your response to Jesus?Have you
made the decisionto follow Him? What’s your reactionto what He has done
for you?
3. Jesus acts quickly to meet needs.

We see this in the use of the word “immediately” or “straightway.” Used42
times, this conveys a sense ofvividness and excitement! Let’s just look at a few
examples from chapter one (Mark 1:10, 12, 18, 20, 21, 23). The Gospelof
Luke, which is much longer, only uses “immediately” seventimes. We also see
that 2/3 of the verses begin with “and” to communicate the speedat which the
Savior ministered (notice Mark 1:29, 35, 40, 2:1). Mark has been called “a
moving picture of the ministry of Jesus.”Don’tyou love that Jesus is all about
forward motion?
This week I talked to Jerry Patterson, who retired from the Navy. He helped
me understand that aircraft carriers are all about “forward deployment” and
“presence.” He describedtheir purpose to defend and to go forward and also
be ready to help during catastrophes. We see clearlyin Mark that Jesus was
all about “forwarddeployment.” How about you? Are you on mission to
respond immediately to needs or is there some “mission drift” going on in
your life?
4. Mark uses the historical present tense over 150 times.
In the original, instead of writing, “Jesus came”Mark wrote, “Jesus comes.”
Mark’s all about, “Jesus says,”not“Jesus said” and “Jesus heals”insteadof
“Jesus healed.”Jesus did all those things in the past but He’s still doing them
in the present! He saved then and He still saves now!Tim Keller writes:
“Jesus is not merely a historicalfigure, but a living reality, who addresses us
today.”
5. Mark holds up the costof discipleship even though the disciples fall short.
In Mark 8:34 we read, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me.” Jesus continually calls his followers to
complete commitment and when they cave, He comes alongside and urges
them to get back on mission. Sometimes the disciples question and complain

like in Mark 4:38: “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” We have
met the disciples, and they are us, right?
Here’s the deal. We will never water down the message.Jesus is calling us to
take up our cross, whichmeans to go as condemned criminals to our death.
Randy Alcorn writes,
“Following Christmeans taking up your cross daily, which means little
sacrifices made repeatedly.”
But aren’t you glad that Jesus gives us grace and mercy when we fall down? If
God can use a denier like Peter and a deserterlike Mark, He canuse flawed
disciples like you…and like me.
6. Mark is a missionary book.
Mark omits language that someone living in Rome would not understand. He
explains Aramaic words and Jewishcustoms (see 7:3-4). The bottom line is
that Mark is all about making the gospelmessageaccessible to those
considered“outsiders.” We must do the same because it’s so easyfor us to just
focus on us insiders. We must remember that the church is the only
organizationin the world that exists for the benefit of its non-members!
Churches tend to count their seating capacity. I think a better metric is to
count our sending capacity. Mark’s accountopens with, “The beginning of the
gospelof Jesus Christ, the Sonof God” and closesin Mark 16:15 with, “Go
into all the world and proclaim the gospelto the whole creation.”
7. Mark’s emphasis is on the last week ofJesus’life.
The events surrounding the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ
make up 40% of Mark’s manuscript. Someone has described Mark’s gospel

as “a passion-narrative with an extended introduction.” Jesus was born in
order to die. His death was not a tragic accidentbut part of God’s plan from
the very beginning. Jesus is our Selfless Servantand He is our Suffering
Savior.
Kent Hughes, in his commentary on Mark, tells about a world-renowned
scholarof classic literature, Dr. E .V. Rieu. He is knownfor a fantastic
translation of Homer’s Odysseyinto modern English for Penguin Classics.An
agnostic his entire life, Penguin publishers approachedhim at the end of his
careerand askedhim to translate the gospels. Thatraisedsome eyebrows
because people wonderedhow an agnostic classicalscholarcouldtranslate
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. When Rieu’s sonheard about it he had a
greatreaction:“It will be interesting to see what father will make of the four
Gospels,”then he paused, “It will be even more interesting to see what the
four Gospels make offather.” He didn’t have to wonder very long - when he
translated them he came face-to-facewith Christ, and became a committed
Christian. His story is a testimony to the transforming powerof God’s Word.
Let’s go back to the metaphor of a church as an aircraft carrier. I also learned
about life on a carrier from Erik Flakerwho spent four years on one and from
Abby Steele, who also servedin the Navy. They both mentioned the
importance of teamwork and that everyone must do their job. If a shipmate
doesn’t open the right valve someone coulddie. If orders aren’t followed,
planes could crash. Everyone has a job to do and must do it faithfully if the
mission is to be accomplished. No one is just along for the ride or to see the
sights. The keyis for every member of the crew to always be ready and to
maintain “high up tempo.”
Mark’s gospelwill equip us to live on mission. Let’s break out of our patterns
of self-absorptionand self-centeredliving and serve like never before so
people will be drawn to the Savior.

Communion Calibration - The night before Jesus died, He gatheredHis
shipmates for a meal and for some final missioncalibration. It’s likely that the
Last Supper was held in the home of Mark’s mom. Jesus dined with His
disciples before he deployed them. It’s interesting that he chose community
right before he died. One again he demonstrated that He is a servant by
serving His team during their last meal togetherand then He died as their
Savior, urging them to live on mission by completing His mission. The word
“commission” comesfrom the world of shipbuilding. A commissionedship is
one deemed ready for service. When a ship is ready to sailit is “placedinto
active service and sent on mission.” Jesus desires forus to commune with Him
right now so that we canbe calibratedand commissionedto live on mission
for Him. It’s not about our comfort but all about our commitment to Christ.
Let’s use this time to getoff the cruise ship and jump aboard the carrier
under the command of our captain, Jesus Christ the Son of God.
Transition Prayerfor Communion (deacons come down) - I draw our
attention to Mark’s accountof this meal in 14:22-24:“And as they were
eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and
said, ‘Take;this is my body.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given
thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, ‘This
is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.’” Communion
Closing Song:“Jesus Paidit All”
Mark 1:2-11
I Am Second
Prayer Transition: “Blessthe Lord O my soul, worship His holy name”
Last week we campedin the very first verse of Mark’s manuscript and
establishedthe importance of being gospel-centric and mission-focused. We
askedourselves this question, “Are we more like a cruise ship or an aircraft
carrier?” During the messageI referred to our church as the U.S.S.
Edgewood. That’s allJim Sheese neededto hear as his photo-shop sense took

over (actually, his wife Angela first alertedhim to this idea). Here’s his latest
creation[show pic of the crew of the U.S.S. Edgewood].
Our focus today is not on the Edgewoodcrew but on two individuals, John
and Jesus. Theywere cousins and both had greatbirth stories, but they were
certainly not equal. John MacArthur imagines the conversationthat may have
takenplace when the moms gottogether. Mary says to Elizabeth, “How’s
your boy? Elizabeth might respond, “Odd, really odd. You know, he’s lived
his whole life apart from us, he lives out in the desert. How’s your boy?” To
which Mary likely said, “You know, he’s perfect.” That’s kind of a
conversationstopper.
John was all about being secondto the Savior and loved to point others to put
their faith in Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God.
John the Baptist
We’ll look first at John the Baptist (he’s the first Baptist, just kidding) in
Mark 1:2-8 and then we’ll look at Jesus in Mark 1:9-11.
Lets read Mark 1:2-8 together: “As it is written in Isaiahthe prophet,
‘Behold, I send my messengerbefore your face, who will prepare your way,
the voice of one crying in the wilderness:‘Prepare the wayof the Lord, make
his paths straight,’ John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and
proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness ofsins. And all the
country of Judea and all Jerusalemwere going out to him and were being
baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing theirsins. Now John was
clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waistand 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 stoopdown and
untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit.’”

Becca andMegan, our youngestdaughters, have heard me preach a lot of
sermons over the years. I recently learned that they try to guess whatmy
alliterated outline is going to be when the messagestarts. Whenwe have lunch
afterwards they often tease me about it. This week I made sure to show Becca
three words that begin with the same letter that come right out of our text for
today…I didn’t have to getcreative on my own.
I underlined these words right from the passage…
• John the Preparer(Mark 1:2-3)
• John the Proclaimer(Mark 1:4-5)
• John the Preacher(Mark 1:6-8)
1. John the Preparer.
John’s first job was to prepare the wayfor Jesus. Mark tells us in Mark 1:2
that Isaiahpredicted exactlywhat John would do. The phrase, “It is written”
is in the present tense, indicating a continuous result. What follows is a
composite quotation from Malachi3:1 and Isaiah 40:3: “Behold, I send my
messengerbefore 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 is God’s messenger, sentto come “before your face,” whichliterally
means “presence, in front of your eyes.” Eventhough John ministered in the
wilderness, he was highly visible to many people. His messagewas also very
audible. We could translate it like this: “Lo! A voice exclaiming…”

Twice we read that he came to “prepare the way of the Lord.” In ancient
times when a king would travel somewhere, his advance team would go on
aheadto make sure the roads were passable. Preparing the waymeant to level
out the roads and to reduce twists and turns. They functioned much like civil
engineers, fixing highways and even constructing bridges so the king would
have no delays when he came to town.
The other day I was out on a long run. As I was gasping for breath I noticed
an older womanahead of me looking at the ground. When I gotcloserI saw
her bend down and pick up a nail from the road. She was keeping the road
clearand removing something that could cause a flat tire. While I was
oblivious she was keeping the way cleanand clear. John the Baptist was like
that. He didn’t want anyone to have a blowout and have to pull over. He
didn’t want anything in the wayof the One who is the way, the truth and the
life.
The forerunner would also announce to the people that the king was coming
so they better getready to meet him. The word “wilderness” refers to the
rolling badlands that made up a desolate area of barren chalky soilcovered
with pebbles, broken stones and rocks. What a metaphor for the barren
hearts of people, like you and like me. John’s job was to prepare hard-hearted
people for Jesus the King.
2. John the Proclaimer.
John prepared and he also proclaimedin Mark 1:4: “Johnappeared,
baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness ofsins.” The word “baptizing” refers to immersion. The idea is to
go totally under the water, not holding anything back. At that time Jewish
people would use waterfor purification and even had baths called mikvehs
but baptism was reservedfor Gentiles who convertedto Judaism.

It’s interesting that these Israelites had to go out into the wilderness to be
baptized. No doubt they would have been reminded of their history when their
ancestors wanderedin the wilderness for 40 years due to their disobedience.
There were two primary points to John’s proclamation:
• Repentance from sin. The word repentance means, “a change of mind that
results in a change of action.” To repent means to be going in one direction
and then turning around and going in a new direction. We must always
proclaim repentance in our gospelpresentations. Too oftenwe present Jesus
as an “app” or an “add-on” to our lives and as a result we have more fans
than true followers. We needmore emphasis on repentance today because too
many pastors are proclaiming a watered-downChristianity with no demands
and no discipleship.
We need preachers who will tell the truth about sin and righteousness and
judgment so that people will repent, experience remissionof sins, and be
ready for the return of Christ. We must be on guard because 2 Timothy 4:3-4
says:“Forthe time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but
having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their
own passions, andwill turn awayfrom listening to the truth and wander off
into myths.”
• Remissionof sin. The word “forgiveness”means to be released, to have your
sins remitted as if they had never happened. Acts 3:19 puts repentance and
remissiontogether: “Repenttherefore, and turn back, that your sins may be
blotted out.”
I had a brief gospelconversationwith an older man at McDonald’s this week.
He had just finished his coffee and I told him that I geta senior discount now.
He told me I lookedyoung (I’ll take that). And then he leaned in and said,

“I’ll tell you what. The older you getyou’ll see that you have to pay for the
sins of your youth.” I smiled and said, “That’s why Christ came so we don’t
have to pay for them.” He quickly changedthe subjectbut I was grateful for
the opportunity to have a conversationabout Christ and was reminded that I
always need to be ready to take advantage of every opening.
Let me be clear that people were not baptized to have their sins forgiven. They
were baptized because they had repented and receivedremissionof sin.
Baptism is an incredible picture of a person dying to the life of sin and rising
againto a new life. Baptism always follows beliefin the New Testament. If
you’ve been delivered through the new birth, it’s time for you to be dunked.
This weekendtwo seven-year-olds and one man in his 70s took the plunge. If
you’re saved, it’s time for you to get immersed. Baptism is a step of obedience
and a public declarationthat you belong to Jesus Christ. The main idea is one
of identification.
If you’d like to learn more about baptism, I encourage youto pick up a copy
of the Taking the Plunge booklet. In it, I lookedup every passage where
baptism is mentioned and then drew some conclusions.
Mark 1:5 tells us that John was baptizing multitudes of people: “And all the
country of Judea and all Jerusalemwere going out to him and were being
baptized by him in the river Jordan.” The word “all” refers to a totality of
people living in Judea and Jerusalem– that’s a lot of people! The phrase,
“were going out to him,” means there was a continuous steadystream. Can
you imagine walking 20 miles, the distance from Jerusalemto the Jordan, to
be baptized?
The Jordan River was not a mighty river like the Mississippior even the
Rock. It was more like Duck Creek or the Green River. The Jordan is only 10

feet at its deepestand 100 feetacross atit’s widest. When Beth and I were in
Israelwe were frankly underwhelmed by the Jordanbecause we were
expecting it to be much bigger. We know from John 3:23 that John did his
baptizing “at Aenon nearSalim, because waterwas plentiful there.” This is
more evidence arguing for immersion because Johnwanted to find a place
where he could totally submerge those being baptized.
The Jordan had spiritual significance to people. It was associatedwith
deliverance because Joshua ledthe people across it as they headed to
Wisconsin(the land of promise). People wentfrom the Wilderness, which was
associatedwith death and through the Jordan, which representeddeliverance.
One commentatorestimates that as many as 300,000people were baptized by
John and his disciples overthe course of many months. This is amazing
because Johntreated the Jews like they were Gentiles, confronting them with
their sins so that they would repent and experience remission. Look at the last
phrase in Mark 1:5. They came:“confessing their sins.”
3. John the Preacher.
John prepared people, he proclaimed repentance and remission, and he was
also a preacher. Let’s look at his manner and his message.
• His manner. John was unusual in the way he lookedand in what he ate.
Notice his garb in verse 6: “Now Johncame with camel’s hair and wore a
leather belt around his waist…” His clothing was as rough as his message. In
the tradition of prophets like Elijah, John stepped out of the wilderness
looking a bit like a wild man. We know from Luke 1:15 that he was a
Nazarite, meaning that his hair and beard had never been trimmed (he
probably lookedlike one of the guys from Duck Dynasty). Camel’s hair was
rough and his leatherbelt held it all together(BTW, PastorAndy will be
preaching about the Belt of Righteousness as partof the Armor of God on
Sunday night).

His garb was certainly not fashionable and for his grub, he “ate locusts and
wild honey.” This is exactly what someone dwelling in the desert would eat.
Bees made hives in the rocks and according to Leviticus 11:21, locusts were on
God’s approved menu. If you’re looking for a new diet, I commend it to you
because locusts provide protein and honey has the carbs that we need. I can
already see a new breakfastcerealcalled, “Honey-nut Grasshoppers – The
breakfastof prophets.”
• His message. Verse 7 summarizes his sermon: “And he preached, saying,
‘After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am
not worthy to stoopdown and untie.’” John called people to repentance but
the heart of his message was Jesus.Comparedto Christ, he knew he was
nothing.
In that culture the taking off of sandals was a job for the lowestslave. Hebrew
slaves weren’tallowedto do it. Roads were coveredin dust and dirt and often
flowed with raw sewage, thus making feet filthy. John is saying that he is
lowerthan the lowestservant, not worthy to do even what they do. In essence,
he’s saying, “I am nothing; but He is everything.” Listen. You will never see
the worthiness of Jesus unless you first see your unworthiness. You won’t be
saveduntil you first settle the factthat you are a sinner.
This is pretty incredible because Jesus thoughthighly of John, saying in Luke
7:28: “I tell you, among those born of women none is greaterthan John. Yet
the one who is leastin the kingdom of Godis greaterthan he.” Actually, John
didn’t think of himself as second;he thought of himself as the littlest, the least
and the last…and that’s what made him great.

Mark 1:8 shows us that John understood that Christ was number one:“I have
baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” John
was using waterto signify life change;Jesus brings life change through the
Holy Spirit. Going under watersignified cleansing but people can only have
their sins washedthrough the blood of Jesus. Watermight clean the outside
but only the Holy Spirit cancleanse us on the inside.
The Baptism of Jesus
Notice that Jesus comes onthe scene with no fanfare or huge announcement.
He simply shows up at the JordanRiver to be baptized by John. This is his
first appearance since he was seenin the Temple at the age of twelve. Look at
verse 9: “In those days Jesus came from Nazarethof Galilee and was baptized
by John in the Jordan.” One commentatorsuggests thatJesus walkedabout
60 miles for His baptism.
Have you ever wonderedwhy Jesus was baptized? He certainly didn’t need to
repent or confess His sins, did He? In fact, in Matthew 3:14, John tried to
prevent Jesus from being baptized: “I need to be baptized by you, and do you
come to me?” Jesus gives us the answerin verse 15:
“Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”Jesus
was baptized to identify with us. God the Father put our sins on Him and His
righteousness was put on us according to 2 Corinthians 5:21. Jesus did
absolutely everything that the Fatherrequired. Hebrews 2:17 says,
“Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he
might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to
make propitiation for the sins of the people.”
His baptism also shows His willingness to acceptthe mission given by His
father. The Unger’s Bible Dictionary points out that the Levitical law

required all priests to be consecratedwhenthey were around 30 years of age
(Numbers 4:3) through a twofold process ofwashing and then anointing
(Exodus 29:4-7). When Jesus was “washed,”orbaptized in the Jordan, the
heavens were opened and He was anointed with the Holy Spirit. We see this in
Mark 1:10: “And when he came up out of the water [this is another indication
of immersion], immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit
descending on Him like a dove.”
The Greek wordwhich describes the heavens “being torn open” means, “to
setasunder, divide, rend, split.” It is used only one other time in Mark 15:38
to describe the thick curtain in the temple being torn from top to bottom when
Christ died. This curtain kept people from getting close, dividing the holy
place from the most holy place. Amazingly, the wayis now open for us to
come right into the presence ofGod!
Get ready for a spiritual goosebump moment because Isaiah64:1 contains the
cry repeatedover the centuries as people longed for God to come down: “Oh
that you would rend the heavens and come down!” Psalm 144:5 says
something similar: “Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down!” Aren’t
you glad that Christ has come down?
And now, after 400 years of silence from above (broken first about 30 years
earlier when an angelappeared to Zechariah, John’s father), the heavens are
ripped open after Jesus is baptized, and the Spirit “descends onhim like a
dove.” In the writings of Judaism, the Holy Spirit is compared to a dove in the
Targums, which is a translationof the Hebrew Scriptures that the Jews of
Jesus’time read. Tim Keller points out that Genesis 1:2 says the Spirit
“hovered” over the face of the waters. The verb means, “to flutter.” The
rabbis translatedit this way: “…the Spirit of God fluttered above the face of
the waters like a dove…” Seeing the dove descendwould have certainly gotten
their attention because Godwas about to initiate a new creation!
When the heavens rip open you might expectsomething cataclysmic was
about to happen but rather the Holy Spirit comes down like a dove. Doves are
gentle birds that descenddelicately and restin their place. A dove has no

Holy spirit descending like a dove

Holy spirit descending like a dove

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