Mark 1:1-13

Bringing the sermon home:

Mark begins his record of the good news of Jesus precisely where the “Old Testament” (the Hebrew Scriptures) left off: with the prophet Malachi’s announcement of the coming of an Elijah-like figure who would lead many of God’s people in repentance before God’s presence returned to dwell with His people.

Mark shows us that John the Baptist was that promised figure and that Jesus, as God the Son in human flesh, is the promised return of God’s presence to the earth. With the coming of Jesus, the New Exodus promised by Isaiah and the other prophets has begun, most notably in the liberation from our bondage to the power of sin in our hearts through the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

As Jesus Himself is baptized by John, we see Him willingly standing in the place of sinners, identifying Himself with those He came to save. We also see Him picturing the means by which He will make His people clean: through His own death, burial, and resurrection (pictured by going down under and coming back up out of the water).

By enduring every temptation thrown at Him by Satan, Jesus succeeded where every other person who has ever lived has failed, and He did so in the place of those who obey His command to repent and believe. By the Spirit He gives us, we can now follow Him in obedience.