Welcome to our first service for the year. I hope you had a good January while we were away.
Do you remember the first time you drove or taught a child to drive a car? Especially if it was a manual, the first start and acceleration and then panic break as you bunny hop forward getting used to the car moving. Sometimes new starts are like that bunny hopping. I hope your year’s start isn’t like that.
Today we are looking at Jesus’ start to His ministry. In Mark’s gospel style, we are moving here at breakneck speed, so we really only get the initial highlights of Jesus’ start and there is a little bit of a bunny hop to it. In just these 7 verses we have three scene changes. We have Jesus’ Baptism, Jesus’ Temptation and Jesus’ Proclamation.
Jesus’s Baptism
Jesus is introduced to us as coming from Nazareth in Galilee. This was not a famous or important town, in fact, they may have had a bit of a country accent so people could tell he wasn’t from the big smoke. But even though He may not have come from an important place, when He got baptized all Heaven broke loose.
We are told that heaven was torn open as Jesus came out of the water in the Jordan. In the past "Joshua (Josh. 3:7–17; 4:14–17), Elijah (2 Kings 2:8), and Elisha (2:14) each parted the Jordan river as symbol of their power" (Garland, D. E. (1996). Mark Zondervan Publishing House (NIVAC)) but now Jesus in the Jordan has the heavens parting. And in this act two things happen. The Spirit descends on Him and the Father speaks.
Here we have a glimpse of the Trinity. The Spirit descends to empower the Son, and the Father declares His love for the Son. All three persons are there, commissioning and affirming Jesus.
The Father says:
“You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:11 (NIV))Jesus is loved by God. Before time itself, the Father loved the Son. This has always been true, but here we get a public display of affection of this truth.
And it’s curious to think that Jesus, the second person of the Trinity gets baptized, even though He was not a sinner, He was God’s Son. One author comments
"It is no more odd for Jesus to be baptized in the Jordan River than for Him to hang on the cross at Calvary as the sinless and spotless Son of God" (Akin, D. L. (2014). Exalting Jesus in Mark (D. L. Akin, D. Platt, & T. Merida, Eds.). Holman Reference.Jesus was baptised as a public act of committing to the way of God and identifying Himself with sinful humanity. Jesus never set Himself apart from sinful people. Quite the opposite: He came to dwell with them and to heal them from their sin.
Jesus’ Temptation
Now after Heaven opens up it seems also Hell does too. Directly after this great announcement from the Father, life does not go well for Jesus. The Spirit that came down on Him, does not make His life easier, instead, Jesus is directed by the Spirit to be in the wilderness for forty days being tempted by Satan.
The wilderness was not a very comfortable place to be in. It was a place of danger and hunger and loneliness. There were wild animals and Satan was there. The way of life Jesus was baptised into was not one of comfort, but one of temptation and suffering. But He was the new and better Adam who overcame temptation in those 40 days and for the rest of His life.
This passage is sometimes preached at the start of Lent. The 40 days leading up to Easter. There is kinda teaching parable between looking at Jesus’ 40 days to kick starts the 40 days of Lent. For us this year, Lent starts next Wednesday on Valentine's Day. I don’t know if I really have done a proper lent where I consistently gave up something. I know people who have uninstalled phone apps for this period or given up alcohol or chocolate. But I think the main thing isn’t necessarily to turn away from something but rather to turn towards something. Lent, or just the lead-up to Easter, can be a time for us to remember Jesus, who He was and what He did and how we are followers of Him now.
The contrast between Jesus baptism and his temptation is one between the Father’s approval and the Devil’s tricks. It shows the tension in which Jesus lived with God’s affirmation and the messiness of life. And that is also for us.
When the Spirit comes it changes you. You are now set on the road of discipleship. This involves suffering, but we are also called Children of God.
Jesus’ Proclamation
After being affirmed by God, and tempted by the Devil, Jesus then proclaims His message. It was“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15 NIV)The good news is that God’s kingdom, the one where God rules over His people is here. It has come in Jesus and He invites us all to join this new people group, this new citizenship, this new family. We have to hear about Jesus and His saving act, trust that it is all true and to live under His new rules.
This will change us as we repent and follow Jesus. Repentance isn’t just feeling bad about the things you did. It isn’t just saying sorry. It means you turn from one thing to another.
A Sunday school teacher once asked a class what was meant by the word “repentance.” A little boy put up his hand and said, “It is being sorry for your sins.” A little girl also raised her hand and said, “[no], it is being sorry enough to quit.” (Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations (4976 Enough to Quit))
And through God’s grace, when we repent we receive the Holy Spirit and are brought into the Kingdom of God. Romans tells us
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. (Romans 8:14 NIV)And
Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:17 NIV)Even though we have the Spirit, it still may mean suffering, but as a Christian, it also means we are God’s children. That is something that suffering or death can not take away from us. No matter how many bunny hops we have in life, we are still moving forward, we are still God’s children.
So as we start this year proper, as we head towards Easter, let us be reminded that Jesus was God’s beloved Son, who empowered by the Spirit overcame temptation for us, so that through His life and death and resurrection we can also be God’s beloved child.
Our challenge is to believe it, to live it and to declare it.
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