We are delighted to be with you again today. We have just started our study in Mark, and last week we looked at John the Baptist preparing the way. The takeaway was: How are we preparing for Christ’s 2nd coming? Great question. If we are expecting Him, our lives will be much different than those who are not.
Our lesson today examines Jesus and what He experienced to validate His life here. The lesson is divided into two parts so that next time will be the continuation of this lesson. Turn to Mark 1 and J Mark will teach the first part of the lesson, “Preparing the Son of Man.”
Years ago, the current US President was invited to speak at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention. Our ministry, Heralds of Hope, was a member of that group, so Joyce and I attended the convention. One of the things I remember about that experience was the security surrounding the event.
As you can imagine, the president didn’t just show up and walk in the door. An advanced security team conducted a thorough sweep through the convention center. Only when they were satisfied that there were no threats was the president allowed to enter the building, and then only with members of his Secret Service security detail. Everyone who entered had to pass through a metal detector.
Imagine if, when the time came for the president’s speech, the moderator had introduced the head of the security team instead of the president. You’d say, “That’s crazy; that’s not how it works.” And you’d be right! The presence of the security team announced that someone important was coming, but the focus wasn’t on the security team; it was on the president.
As we learned in our previous study, Mark’s gospel begins with a joyous declaration of the good news of the divine King, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. When we use the word “gospel,” we’re generally referring to one or two things. We refer to the four gospels, the records of Jesus’ life and ministry, or the gospel message, the Good News of salvation through Jesus. But Mark’s audience had a different understanding of the word.
The word “gospel” was not inherently a religious term. In the first century usage, it signified the ascension of a king to his throne. Mark’s Gentile readers would’ve immediately made the connection between the use of this word and the announcement of a coming Sovereign. Yet, by His name and title, Jesus Christ, and by His identification as the Son of God, Mark’s audience would’ve understood that this coming One was no ordinary earthly king.
In their understanding, the king was always preceded by a royal herald. He was an authorized messenger whose responsibility was to proclaim the coming king and to prepare the way before him. That is precisely what we saw in our previous study with the introduction of John the Baptist. He was the herald, the messenger announcing the coming of the King, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. So, the focus wasn’t on him, but on the King who would soon appear. He was preparing the way for Jesus.
But there were also preparations that Jesus needed to make. Those preparations will be the focus of the following two episodes, “Preparing the Son of Man.” Our text is Mark 1:9-15.
9 It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
10 And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.
11 Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
12 Immediately, the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.
13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.
14 Now, after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
From these verses, we observe the critical PROCESSES involved in preparing the Son of Man. These processes are also an essential part of our preparation for sharing the Good News.
The processes we will examine are approbation, authentication, and proclamation.
The First PROCESS (involved in preparing the Son of Man) is,
His Approbation
Approbation has a similar meaning to the word approval, but it also carries with it the ideas of admiration, commendation, and praise. You’ll understand why I chose this word as we continue. And I believe that Jesus’ approbation is received from God and men.
Here’s the setting. John is baptizing people in the Jordan River based on their repentance and confession of sin. Jesus travels from Nazareth in Galilee so John can baptize him. While the site where John was baptizing hasn’t been identified beyond doubt, Jesus most likely traveled a significant distance, perhaps as much as 50 to 75 miles, to the vicinity of Jericho!
According to John’s gospel, John the Baptist said, “I did not know Him [Jesus], but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” Either John had never met Jesus in person, or it had been such a long time since a previous meeting that he didn’t recognize Him! Ordinary people didn’t travel long distances in those days for vacations or family reunions.
We know that Jesus didn’t need repentance and confession of sin; He was God in the flesh. Matthew’s account tells us that John didn’t want to baptize Jesus; he felt unworthy, and he repeatedly refused to do it. It didn’t make sense to him. He said to Jesus, “I need to be baptized by you!” But Jesus said, “No, we need to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” What did that mean?
For one thing, we know very little about Jesus from his early childhood until he appears at John’s baptism. We have one account of Him visiting the Temple when he was 12 years old: that’s it. So, this baptism is His introduction to the public. Jesus didn’t need to be baptized for repentance, but He set an example for us to follow. God had approved John’s baptism, and that was enough for Jesus to participate.
Is it also possible that John was taking some of that Jordan water, symbolically polluted by the sins of the people he baptized, and baptizing Jesus with that polluted water? In that case, this baptism is symbolic of the cross, where He took our sins on Himself. And remember, Jesus did refer to the cross in Luke 12:50 as “a baptism I must be baptized with.”
So, John overcame his initial reluctance and baptized Jesus. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only in-person meeting between John and Jesus. Immediately, several things happened simultaneously. As Jesus came up out of the water after His baptism, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit, like a dove, descended on Him. In addition, a voice is heard from heaven saying, “You are my Son, the Beloved; therefore, in You I take delight.” Here you have a clear expression of the triunity of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Now, can you see why I chose the word ‘approbation’ over ‘approval’? God did more than approve of what Jesus did. It was more than a pat on the back or a fist-bump. It was more like an embrace coupled with a verbal blessing. He called Him “Beloved” and expressed His delight in Him. There was admiration, commendation, and praise in these words from God the Father.
The biblical record mentions only a few instances when the heavens were opened under exceptional circumstances. I find it interesting that the word Mark uses here for the opening of the heavens is the same word Matthew uses to describe the rending of the veil in the Temple at Jesus’ death. Signs of God’s approval bookended Jesus’ earthly life.
As all this was happening, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove. The dove is a symbol of peace, of purity, and innocence. This was, at least in part, a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy that “the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him…” In the presence of John the Baptist and the watching crowd, the Holy Spirit visibly anointed Jesus for His role as Messiah.
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus didn’t go to Jerusalem to inaugurate His earthly ministry? That was the center of the nation’s religious life. But just as he had been born in obscurity among the ordinary people of Bethlehem years earlier, here He was coming to the ordinary people of Judea who needed the confession and repentance that John’s baptism symbolized.
He came from Nazareth of Galilee, a “wrong side of the tracks” kind of place. The Jewish leaders expected the Messiah to come from Jerusalem and to free them from bondage to Rome. That expectation was so ingrained that they ignored the prophecies that told them otherwise.
Like the Jewish leaders of that day, you and I have similar prejudices about certain people or places. We know from Jesus’ ministry that He didn’t do that. He identified with all the people. He understood that the human condition is the same everywhere, and therefore, the divine prescription is the same.
Indeed, this is an interesting record of an event in Jesus’ life. However, if we only examine the historical narrative, we overlook what God has for us today.
Do you have God’s approbation on your life? Are you willing to fulfill all righteousness, whatever that obedience means in your circumstances? What hardships are you willing to endure, what condescension or humility will you embrace to fulfill God’s calling on your life? Do you sometimes feel like you’re a “nobody,” that your background isn’t that great, that you come from an obscure place, or a messy family? People also made accusations about Jesus’ family. It doesn’t matter.
Would God say of you, “This is my beloved son or my beloved daughter?” Does he delight in you? Perhaps you can’t see how that’s possible, but let me read something to you. This is Jesus speaking in John 14:23. “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him…”
Doesn’t that sound like acceptance, like delight? I enjoy traveling, but my favorite place to be is at home. I am delighted to be at home. If you don’t have the assurance that God loves you and delights in you, it will hinder what He wants to do in your life.
So, the first process needed in preparing the Son of Man was approbation.
Thank you, J Mark, and thank you for being with us. Approbation is a significant and possibly new word, but for us to share the Good News, we must believe we have God’s approval and praise, His approbation. If we think God is against us and we don’t have His approval, we are unlikely to share our faith with others. God is for you, so understand and fight the thoughts that say God doesn’t like you and can’t be trusted. Many times, God has shown us He works despite us, not because of us.
If you have any questions or would like to contact us for any reason, please don’t hesitate to let us know. You can reach us by email or through our website. Our email address is [email protected], and our website is heraldsofhope.org. On our page, click ‘Contact Us’ at the top right. From there, you can message us directly. Connect with us however you can. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Today’s teaching reminded me of the battle being fought in our minds. In II Corinthians 10, we are told to “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” God has given us His approval, and this is the foundation from which we must start.
