THE BAPTISM AND ANOINTING OF JESUS.
Mark 1:4-11.
MARK 1:4. John preached the “baptism of repentance.” Baptism is a dipping of the physical body into water. The baptism administered by John signified a turning away from sin and a turning unto God.
Every wicked act, every unguarded word, every wayward thought; every failure in our love towards God, towards His people, and towards our neighbours is SIN, and offends the LORD.
We must be aware how sin separates us from God, and turn away from it to Him, purposing in our hearts to be no more the servants of sin, but of the LORD who has loved us, and who is merciful to those who turn to Him through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
MARK 1:5. For a while the people were content to submit themselves to the teaching of John, and crowds from all over Judah came down to the River Jordan to be baptised by him.
MARK 1:6. Clothed with camel’s hair and wearing a leather belt, and living on a diet of locusts and wild honey, John the Baptist came in the spirit of the prophet Elijah.
MARK 1:7. John was a popular preacher. Yet his preaching always pointed away from himself to Jesus. John’s commission was to prepare the way for Jesus, not to seek honour for himself: “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.”
It is good to follow the crowds who listen to the Gospel, but it is better to follow the Jesus whom we preach!
MARK 1:8. John spoke of another kind of baptism which Jesus would administer: the baptism with the Holy Spirit. There is the need to be inwardly ‘born again’ of the Spirit of God (cf. John 3:3-8).
God the Father is God for us: ‘If God be for us, who can be against us?’ (cf. Romans 8:31).
God the Son is God with us: ‘They shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, God with us’ (cf. Matthew 1:23).
God the Holy Spirit is God within us. When you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, trust in Him, and repent of all your sins - then the Father and the Son come to dwell in your heart in the Person of the Holy Spirit (cf. John 14:23).
MARK 1:9-11. Jesus came to John to be baptised in the River Jordan. Jesus did not have any personal sin to repent of, but His washing with water may have signified the ritual washing of a priest when he is first consecrated. Jesus was anointed when the Holy Spirit came upon Him in the form of a dove. God the Father accepted the Person of Jesus with a voice from heaven: “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
This event at the River Jordan was the high point of John’s ministry, and the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus. In His baptism, Jesus also associated Himself with the people He came to save, and gave us an example to follow.
