Gospel of Mark Series: Chapter 1 Section 2: The baptism of Jesus

Welcome to my Gospel of Mark Series. During 2012-13, each week, I will write a post about the Gospel of Mark as I review and explore each of the 16 chapters and how it may be applied in our daily lives. My goal is to understand and pray the Gospel of Mark.  I hope you will join me on this journey as we travel through the liturgical season of Year B.

In today's post, we explore chapter 1:9-11 which is the baptism of Jesus.

Mark describes Jesus simple as a man coming from Nazareth in Galilee, a place mentioned nowhere in the Old Testament.   This event at the river is for Mark more significant.  It allows us, as the readers of Mark, in our first meeting with Jesus to see Him as the Messiah standing with His people and to know from the outset how God himself sees Jesus, as His own loved Son.

In Mark’s Gospel, the split heaven, the dove and the voice after the baptism are more important than the baptism itself.  The experience of these, in Mark’s Gospel, is for Jesus only, and for us the readers to know.

The heavens or sky split open is God revealing himself a new awareness of God breaking into the human consciousness of Jesus and through Him into the world.  The dove expresses the love, the peace and the Spirit of God which surround Jesus.

The voice from the heavens describes Jesus as the faithful servant of the prophecy of Isaiah (Is 42:1), but says much more.  It identifies Jesus as the Son of God, having an intimacy with God which can compare only with the special intimacy of life between parent and child.

We may wonder why would Jesus want to be baptised by John?  Jesus never asked forgiveness for a sin of His own, since Jesus is also God and is sinless.  His baptism by John could only have been a true expression of His deep longing to be totally centred on God.  It was also a way of acknowledging John’s work and showing human solidarity with all of us.  Jesus was not just giving good example to to others when he asked for John’s baptism of conversion.  His action could only have come from genuine interior feelings.

As I stated in the previous post regarding the preaching of John (1:2-8) St Mark fixes our gaze on John the Baptist because he:

1. symbolized a way into the future by a baptism of conversion.
2. wishes to show us that his baptism in water symbolized dramatically a personal readiness of heart for a baptism with divine Spirit to be given by Jesus, the more powerful one coming after  him.
3. wants us to realize that God centredness cannot be realized by human effort alone, but we prepare ourselves for it as we wait for it to come as a gift from God.

In our journal and/or our discussion group we may wish to reflect on this passage as follows:

• Name the key points that you have learnt about the person of Jesus in this passage of scripture?
• Imagine the atmosphere and stand in the crowd. Try to feel within yourself the atmosphere as the crowds waited to be baptised by John. How do you feel as you wait in turn for a baptism of conversion?
• Reflect on why Jesus mixed so easily with the people coming to hear John and receive baptism from him?
• Reflect on a time in your life where you have felt the conversion of heart and have been washed in a newness of life?
• What would it mean to you to hear the voice from heaven say  “ You are my son/daughter, the beloved, with you I am well pleased?
• What do the 3 symbols mean to me in my life?
• What do I need to change in my life  to experience a conversion of heart during this Lent?
• What is my attitude to the sacrament of reconciliation- what problems (if any) do I encounter when I think of this sacrament?
• Make a list of areas in my life that need a change of heart and develop an action plan on how this change of heart might occur. (eg name an area and name one/two changes that you will implement with God's help.
• Imagine meeting John the Baptist and receiving from him a baptism for the forgiveness of sins.  What is my attitude towards him ?
• What impact does the action of John the Baptist have on you (1:9-11). .
• How has this passage spoken to you- what does it say to you personally?

It is important to remember that St Mark wishes us to know the person of Jesus. Using a highlighter, mark all adverbs, adjectives or any phrase that describes Jesus or the people around him. You may wish to review last week's verse  and do the same thing.  As you continue to do this as we journey through St Mark's gospel, you will see emerging the person of Jesus.  Who is the person of Jesus in this passage? 

What will we learn about the person of Jesus this week?