GOSPEL OF MARK: GOD’S SERVANT IN ACTION
BAPTISM AND TEMPTATION OF JESUS
A. Acts 2:38 (READ)
1. How many of you remember when you were BAPTIZED?
a. I believe that is a DAY in a Christian’s LIFE that most will never FORGET.
b. There is no greater FEELING than coming up out of that watery grave knowing that you are
FORGIVEN.
ILLUSTRATION:
Jay Utley, a retired preacher from Oklahoma, tells about the very first time he baptized someone. It was a young man in his YOUTH GROUP where he was serving as a Youth Minister many years ago. Jay, himself, was BAPTIZED as a young man, and he wondered how different it would feel to
be the one doing the BAPTISM rather than the one being BAPTIZED.
He nervously said the appropriate WORDS, and lowered the young man into the WATER. And when he took the young man at the deepest POINT, he felt the boy’s body JOLT and TIGHTEN. Jay thought to himself, “Wow, so that’s how it FEELS when the person’s sins are forgiven and they
receive the Holy Spirit.”
After he brought the young man up from the water Jay excitedly asked, “Did you feel the JOLT when the Spirit came into you?” “No,” the young man said, “but I did feel it when you HIT my head on the BAPTISTERY STEP!”
2. During my 37 years of MINISTRY, I have had the privilege of baptizing DOZENS of people.
a. In addition to BAPTIZING people in the church BAPTISTERY, I have BAPTIZED people in
SWIMMING POOLS, BATHTUBS, HORSE TANKS, and even in the CARIBBEAN SEA.
b. The most I BAPTIZED was one Sunday night while serving as a Prison Chaplain in Southeast Texas, when 23 INMATES responded to the invitation giving their LIVES to Christ in BAPTISM. (I taught these men every week in a Bible Class, and preached one Sunday night a month.)
3. However, nothing COMPARES to the NUMBERS of people that John the Baptist was BAPTIZING.
a. Mark said that “the whole Judean country side and all the people of Jerusalem went out to be
baptized by John”- Mark 1:6.
b. The Apostle John who was an early disciple of John the Baptist recorded that “…people were
constantly coming to be baptized by him”- John 3:23.
COMMENT:
It must have thrilled John to see so many people coming out to him to be BAPTIZED. “He was preaching REPENTANCE, telling people that they need to TURN AWAY from their sins and be BAPTIZED for the FORGIVENESS of their SINS”- Mark 1:4.
B. Then one day as John is baptizing in the Jordan River, a MAN who had been waiting in LINE along with
everybody else walks up to John to be BAPTIZED.
MESSAGE:
I. BAPTISM OF JESUS- Mark 1:9-11 (READ)
A. Much the same way that Mark abruptly introduced John the Baptizer, so does he introduce Jesus on the scene by simply writing, “Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan”- v. 9.
1. Mark is a MATTER-OF-FACT kind of guy who doesn’t WRITE with a lot of FLAIR.
a. He’s just trying to make the POINT that the man Jesus that John baptized is the Son of God.
b. That’s Mark’s FOCUS of this GOSPEL, and what he wants his READERS to understand.
2. We have to go to the others GOSPEL WRITERS to FILL in the BLANKS that Mark leaves out.
a. What we do know from Mark’s Gospel is that “Jesus traveled approximately 60 miles from
Nazareth in Galilee to be baptized by John.”
COMMENT:
Although we don’t know for sure how Jesus got there, we do know that His USUAL mode of TRAVEL was on FOOT. That would certainly make for a rather long and exhausting JOURNEY. (I don’t even like walking from the GROCERY side to the PHARMACY side at Wal-Mart.)
b. From Luke’s Gospel we learn that Jesus didn’t have a PRIVATE baptism, “He was BAPTIZED along with everyone else”- Luke 3:21. (He stood in the line with SINNERS just WAITING
His turn.)
c. John’s Gospel reveals that “although John the Baptist and Jesus were related, he didn’t know
who Jesus was until God pointed Him out”- John 1:33.
COMMENT:
Remember, John left home as a young man and lived in the WILDERNESS all this time. If he and Jesus did hangout as boys, it would have been 20 plus years since they saw each other.
d. Let’s turn to Matthew’s Gospel as we read his account of this event- Matthew 3:13-15 (READ)
COMMENT:
John’s message to the people was for them to “Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness
of their sins”- Mark 1:4.
Then the next person in LINE to be BAPTIZED is Jesus, and immediately John deters Him from being BAPTIZED because he had come to PREPARE WAY for Him—the SINLESS Son of God. There was nothing from which Jesus needed to REPENT—to turn AWAY from. There were
no SINS of which He needed to be FORGIVEN.
John being the HUMBLE servant that he is says to Jesus, “No, I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to someone like me?” John is well aware that between the two men standing
there, he is the SINNER not Jesus.
Jesus tells John that the purpose for Him coming to be BAPTIZED by him is to “fulfill all righteousness.” This was the Father’s WILL for His Son.
B. What was PURPOSE of the Jesus’ BAPTISM?
1. To VALIDATE that Jesus is the Son of God.
a. From Matthew’s account, we know that John recognized Jesus as being from God when He walked up to him to be BAPTIZED, but the DIVINE validation came only when the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus like a DOVE (more on that in a moment) and God spoke, “You are me
Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
b. There’s some debate as to whether the crowd heard the VOICE or only Jesus heard the VOICE.
COMMENT:
It seems that Mark’s and Luke’s accounts make the statement personal: “You are my Son…”, whereas Matthew’s account makes it public: “This is my Son….” We can’t know for sure, but I tend to lean toward the VIEW that everyone heard God AFFIRMING that Jesus is His Son.
c. However, whether PERSONAL or PUBLIC, the VALIDATION from the Heavenly Father to
His Son must have been very SPECIAL for Jesus
COMMENT:
Remember, Jesus has taken on HUMANITY, and along with that comes every HUMAN EMOTION that you and I FEEL. Jesus is getting ready to start His earthly MINISTRY, and He knows what’s WAITING from people who are out to do Him HARM and have Him KILLED.
How DIFFICULT that must be.
So as John raises Jesus from that WATER, He stands there soaking WET. And then His Father speaks from Heaven, “Son, I love You; and I am so pleased with You.”
2. To IDENTIFY with us SINNERS in His BAPTISM.
a. If the SINNERS who stood in LINE with Jesus to be BAPTIZED heard God’s VOICE from heaven say, “This is my Son…”, can you imagine the IMPACT that would have on them? (“I
spoke with God. I touched God.”)
COMMENT:
Jesus didn’t come to this earth to be ABOVE us, but to be “GOD WITH US.” To WALK in our SHOES. To experience our EMOTIONS, our FRUSTRATIONS, our TEMPTATIONS, and, yet, remain SINLESS to be our PERFECT SACRIFICE.
b. Jesus came to IDENTIFY with us.
ILLUSTRATION:
Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch Christian who, along with her father and sister, courageously HID Jews in their home outside of Amsterdam, Netherlands during World War II. Her family was BETRAYED and handed over to the Germans, and they were sent to the notorious Ravensbruck Concentration Camp, where later her Father and sister miserably died.
Before their CAPTURE, Corrie in her book “The Hiding Place” tells how her father, Casper Ten Boom, had deep COMPASSION for the Jewish people who were being sorely PERSECUTED and even KILLED by the Nazis. In 1940 when the Nazis required all Jews in the Netherlands to wear a YELLOW STAR that singled them out from NON-JEWS, Casper, though not a JEW himself, STOOD IN LINE to obtain a STAR that he proudly wore. He wanted to be IDENTIFIED with the very people that he was trying to PROTECT.
COMMENT:
Jesus, although SINLESS, stood in LINE to be BAPTIZED with SINNERS in order to IDENTIFY with the very PEOPLE that he came to SAVE.
3. To give us an EXAMPLE to FOLLOW.
a. Jesus’ invitation was often, “Follow Me.” “Follow my example.”
b. When He told John the Baptist that the reason he wanted to be baptized was to “fulfill all
righteousness,” that involves being OBEDIENT to the WILL of God.
c. Luke 7:30-31- “The Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s WILL for themselves
because they had not been baptized by John.”
COMMENT:
It was God’s WILL that Jesus be BAPTIZED, not to be FORGIVEN but out of OBEDIENCE to the Father. And we are to FOLLOW Christ’s EXAMPLE.
4. For Jesus to be EMPOWERED by the Holy Spirit.
a. “The Holy Spirit resting upon Jesus like a DOVE was not only SIGN to John that Jesus was definitely the Messiah”- John 1:32-34, but also the means through which the man Jesus would
receive the EMPOWERMENT of the Holy Spirit.
b. Isaiah 11:2- “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of
the Lord.”
COMMENT:
Remember, “when Jesus came to the earth, He gave up all rights and prerogatives of being God—DIVINE”- Philippians 2:6-7. He was 100% human. It wasn’t until after the Holy Spirit rested on Him at His BAPTISM that Jesus was able to perform MIRACLES. (What was the first miracle He performed? “Turning water into wine”- John 2:7-11.)
C. At the end of Jesus’ MINISTRY three years later as He about to ASCEND into Heaven, He gives His disciples the GREAT COMMISSION to carry on the TEACHINGS about the NEED to be
BAPTIZED.
1. Mark 16:15- “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes
and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
2. How anyone can ARGUE that BAPTISM is not necessary to be forgiven of our SINS and be SAVED, is beyond me.
II. TEMPTATION OF JESUS- Mark 1:12-13 (READ)
A. Have you noticed that when you are on a spiritual HIGH that Satan likes to KNOCK you down?
1. I always counsel those who are being BAPTIZED into Christ that Satan will put on the PRESSURE
like never before, and sometimes, IMMEDIATELY.
ILLUSTRATION:
One summer when I was preaching at the Southside church in Terre Haute several years ago, I got a call from a church member telling me that their daughter, who was at Wabashi Christian Camp, was going to be BAPTIZED that evening, and they wanted me to do it.
There were three YOUNG PEOPLE line up to be BAPTIZED. Since the CAMP didn’t have a SWIMMING POOL, a HORSE TANK was set up outside used for a BAPTISTERY. (PHOTO.) After I BAPTIZED the GIRL from my church, next a BOY around 15-years-old was BAPTIZED by his Youth Minister, followed by another GIRL around the same age.
After the BOY was baptized, he was standing there SOAKING WET wrapped in a TOWEL. When the GIRL came up out of the WATER, her WET SHIRT clung to her BODY.
I then overheard the young man say to his Youth Minister, “Maybe I should be RE-BAPTIZED . . . I think I just SINNED again.”
2. It was no different for Jesus.
a. There was no time spent BASKING in the GLORY of the HEAVENLY VOICE or in presence of the HEAVENLY DOVE.
b. Mark said, “At once (immediately) the Holy Spirit sent Jesus to the desert where Satan tempted
Him.”
B. Mark doesn’t go into any DETAIL regarding how Jesus was TEMPTED, and neither am I. You will
need to read the GOSPELS of Matthew and Luke to get the SPECIFICS.
1. Although there were only three TEMPTATIONS recorded in those Gospels, don’t think for one
moment that Jesus wasn’t tempted BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER the 40 days in the wilderness.
a. Luke records, “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left Him (Jesus) until an
opportune time”- Luke 4:13. (“I’LL BE BACK!”)
COMMENT:
As we read about what all Jesus went through in His MINISTRY—the DISBELIEF and RIDICULE of His SIBLINGS, the ATTACKS by the PHARISEES and other RELIGIOUS LEADERS, the BETRAYAL by Judas, the DENIAL by Peter, the ABANDONMENT by the rest of the APOSTLES, the TORTURE, the HUMILIATION, the CRUCIFIXION. . .were all orchestrated by Satan in attempt to cause the Son of God to SIN.
b. Hebrews 4:15b- “Jesus was tempted in every way that we are (and then some), yet without sin.”
2. We, too, are given the power through the Holy Spirit, to turn Satan down when we are TEMPTED.
a. 1 Corinthians 10:13 (READ and COMMENT)
b. Satan has no POWER over us. All that he can do is make SUGGESTIONS.
COMMENT:
TEMPTATION in no way IMPAIRS our FREEDOM to CHOOSE. Never are we forced KICKING and SCREAMING against our WILL to GIVE IN to TEMPTATION. We cannot PREVENT ourselves from being TEMPTED for the most part, but regardless of the PRESSURE we don’t have to SIN.
3. But aren’t you grateful that when we do GIVE IN, that the “BLOOD of Christ COVERS our sins”?
a. Those of us whom have been BAPTIZED into Christ and walk in His LIGHT are “continually CLEANED by the blood of Jesus”– 1 John 1:7.
b. Because Jesus remained SINLESS despite all the TEMPTATIONS that Satan threw at Him, He became the PERFECT SACRIFICE for our SINS.
4. 2 Corinthians 5:21- “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might
become the righteousness of God.”
COMMENT:
This verse TEACHES that on the CROSS Jesus took our SINS, and, in turn, gave us His RIGHTEOUSNESS. This is not a license to SIN, but the REASON to turn away from SIN and LIVE for Christ.
CONCLUSION:
