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We understand that while Mark's stated purpose that we have looked at in verse number one of this chapter,
his stated purpose for writing this gospel is to proclaim that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah and the Son of God.
We are not actually introduced to this Jesus and to who this man actually is until we get to verse nine.
It's the first time in the narrative that we actually are introduced to who he is.
Mark's focus up to this point, as we studied in depth last week,
has been on the voice in the wilderness that would prepare the way for the coming king.
And that voice was none other than John the Baptist or John the Baptizer,
whose ministry had the distinct features of preaching and of baptism.
And we studied last week how unique his preaching and his baptism actually was.
It wasn't that there were no other people in Israel who were involved in these kinds of things.
There were others who were preaching in some form or fashion.
There were various ceremonial washings that people went through.
But nothing was quite like what John was doing, nor was it happening where John was doing it.
And we're told in verse five that people from all over Judea,
people from all over Jerusalem,
had flocked to the wilderness by the Jordan River,
specifically to hear the preaching of John,
and to involve themselves with this baptism.
It was a radical ministry.
It was a radical message.
And it was a radical method that John was going through to get the message across.
And it was radical because John was calling Jews to see themselves as Gentiles.
The baptism that he was doing, as we talked about last week,
was a baptism that was most closely associated with Gentile proselytes coming into Judaism.
Jews didn't go through this baptism.
They didn't go through this kind of ceremonial cleansing.
What John was getting them to do in his preaching
was recognize that they, in and of themselves,
needed this same cleansing of heart.
This was a baptism of repentance.
So it was a radical message.
They were to view themselves in terms of the way that they would view Gentiles,
and the Gentiles standing with God.
They were outsiders.
They were unclean in that sense.
So John called for these people to repent of their sinful ways,
and to turn their hearts to the Lord.
And this was the way in which John prepared the hearts of the people
to receive the coming Messiah and King.
Now, it was in the days of John's wilderness ministry that we find Jesus' first public appearance
in terms of formal ministry.
Remember, John wasn't meant to be on the scene and have a ministry that lasted indefinitely.
That wasn't his purpose.
His time of ministry was actually very short,
though it was of an immense impact and of an immense importance.
But like any herald,
John's role, his calling, his duty,
was to prepare the way and then get out of the way.
And so there's not much more time spent on John the Baptist in the Scriptures.
John's gospel goes a little bit further into who John was and what he was doing,
but really there's no reason to talk about him further.
He had fulfilled his calling.
For probably about six months before Jesus shows up on the side of the riverbank,
John was preaching in the wilderness.
For six months, he had this elevated ministry in Judea,
and then maybe for another six months or so after the fact.
He had a very short ministry, but it was for a very specific purpose.
He was the herald of the king.
But the king was now there,
so there was no need for the herald.
So John is beginning to transition off the scene
as Jesus is transitioning on the scene.
And Mark uses verses 9 through 15
in order to record this transition.
And so we see then in verse number 9
that Jesus came from Nazareth.
Would you look at it with me one more time?
And it came to pass in those days
that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee.
Now, when we get into this part,
I want you to think for a minute
and imagine if you were one of the people
that had come from Jerusalem
or from one of the other parts of Judea
to hear John preach this message.
And what was it that he was preaching?
You show up on the side of the riverbank.
You're curious as to what this is all about.
And John is proclaiming,
repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
And then he's saying,
there comes one after me who is mightier than me.
I'm not even worthy to wash his feet, John says.
And you get this anticipation in your mind,
this thought of,
wow, John is pretty well regarded.
He's saying that there's someone else coming just after him
that is gonna be of such greater magnitude
and of such greater importance than even John.
And so you're anticipating on the riverbank that day
this amazing person to show up.
And then what you see come to the scene
is this man named Jesus of Nazareth.
John tells us that on the day that he shows up,
John the Baptist looks and says,
behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Now I want you to imagine,
we have the distinct opportunity
of already knowing lots of the scripture.
Like most of us understand this story.
We have already talked about how this is really about Jesus
and this is who Jesus is.
None of the people on the side of the riverbank knew that.
They didn't know who Jesus was.
Their entire understanding of the Messiah
was nothing like what Jesus was going to be.
His ministry, at least in this particular advent,
was not gonna be anything like they expected for it to be.
And yet, what we have Mark emphasizing here
is not only that Jesus came to be baptized,
but he emphasizes where he came from,
which I think is significant and an encouragement.
Nazareth was Jesus' hometown.
It was an insignificant place.
It was a place that nobody even knew about.
So when John writes about this,
or excuse me, when Mark writes about this
to his Roman audience,
he has to even explain a general geographical location
of where Nazareth actually is.
He says it's Nazareth in Galilee,
or in Galilee of the Gentiles,
as it was often referred to.
That was to give them an approximate understanding
of where Nazareth actually was.
This is also a nod to the Old Testament prophecy
that foretold that the Messiah
would come from this region.
Now, most people didn't think about that.
They didn't look for the Messiah to come from here.
A fixation on the birthplace of the Messiah
being in Bethlehem is probably what gave rise
to the ignorance in regards
to Isaiah's prophecy in chapter nine.
Now, you know that chapter well.
Every Christmas, we quote one of the verses in it.
Isaiah chapter nine,
behold, a child is born.
The government shall be upon his shoulders.
We understand that prophecy.
In verse number one in relation to that prophecy,
here's what Isaiah says.
In earlier times, God treated the land of Zebulun
and the land of Naphtali with contempt.
But later on, he shall make it glorious.
By the way of the sea, that is the Sea of Galilee,
on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.
But most people had missed this.
They were looking for this Messiah
to probably be more affiliated with a place like Jerusalem.
They certainly would have been aware
of David's hometown of Bethlehem
and how the Messiah would need to be
of the lineage of David.
But not many people were thinking
that this Messiah was gonna come from Galilee,
but especially Nazareth.
I mean, where is Nazareth?
We don't know anything about it.
It's not mentioned anywhere else in Scripture.
The fact that Jesus' birth took place in Bethlehem
fulfilled Micah's prophecy.
But the fact that he grew up in Nazareth
fulfilled Isaiah's, just giving more proof
that Jesus is indeed this Messiah
that the prophets had foretold long before.
Now, Galilee was sometimes referred to
as Galilee of the Gentiles.
And the reason it's referred to that
is because it had a history in Judea
for having Gentile citizenship.
And there's lots of history you could go into there
that we won't do this morning.
But basically, most Jews,
especially the closer you got to Jerusalem,
looked out on the area of Galilee,
and they looked down upon it.
They despised the people from there.
They considered them unclean.
They considered them a lower system of people.
They considered them Gentile people,
and they wanted nothing to do with them.
One such person, or one such indication,
is evident even in Jesus' calling of his own disciples.
When he called Nathanael, here's what he said.
John chapter one,
Philip found Nathanael and said to him,
we have found him of whom Moses in the law
and the prophets wrote,
Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
And Nathanael said,
can any good thing come out of Nazareth?
To which Philip responded,
you're just gonna have to come and see.
In other words, I'm with you,
and it doesn't sound right to me, Nathanael,
but you gotta see this guy.
You gotta listen to what he's saying.
You gotta see what's going on with this man.
What's the importance of this?
The importance is,
Jesus was nothing of what people expected him to be.
He was nothing of what we would want him to be, even.
This great king, this savior,
this person that John is saying is so much greater,
he's from Nazareth?
And then we see the humility of Christ.
The humility of Jesus is quite astounding.
And we see it not only in the fact that,
and it's enough even in this fact,
but not only in the fact that God condescended
to become a man,
that he set aside the glories and the benefits of heaven
in order to come and be a man,
but he did that in the most inferior
and contemptible manner imaginable.
This is not a Cinderella story.
Jesus' life is not a Cinderella story.
That's not what this is.
It's not that God looked down
and he saw this young man named Jesus of Nazareth
who was like most stories would tell in our day.
He was just destitute,
and he was robbed of everything that he needed,
but he was of such great character and integrity.
He was a diamond in the rough, so to speak.
And God looked and showed pity and compassion on him
and brought him up from the depths of his despair
and used him in such a fantastic way.
That is not what's happening in this passage.
Jesus is literally God who has condescended
to become a man in order to save sinners
from sin and death and hell.
He is literally God that has come to do that.
And as he has done that,
he did it in the most inferior way.
He's the king, John says,
that is coming to save his people.
And one might expect a king to be born in a palace.
They might expect them to be raised
in the grandeur of a city like Jerusalem.
But Jesus was born in a stable.
And he was raised among the poorest of people
in the poorest of towns.
That's where the king came from.
Now Isaiah foretold in Isaiah 53,
that he would be despised and rejected of men.
And then he goes on to say in chapter 53
that he would be one from whom men would hide their face.
He's not even talking about his crucifixion yet
in Isaiah 53.
This is the beginning.
He's saying people will look on the Messiah,
they will look on the Son of God,
and they will despise him.
He will not be attractive.
What's gonna happen with this Messiah?
You're not gonna look at him and think,
wow, he just exudes power and authority.
That's not what he's gonna be like.
He's gonna be despised and rejected of men.
He was gonna be somebody that when you looked on him,
you'd hide your face from him.
You don't want anything to do with him, Isaiah says.
That was the way in which he was gonna come.
And the simple statement of his geographical upbringing
is what gives rise to this.
It contributes to this prophecy
that this is who he would be.
Now again, think with me about these people
that would have heard John preaching.
He left the riches of heaven
in order to be among the poorest on earth.
That's what Philippians 2 tells us.
He left the glorious praises of angels
in order to be despised and rejected by mankind.
You understand the significance of that?
When you study the Old Testament
and you see these encounters
that individuals have with angels,
they were so glorious and magnificent in appearance
and in the way that they carried out their ministry
that most people when confronted by an angel in the Bible
either passed out
or they immediately got down and tried to worship them.
How many times do we read
that someone would try to worship an angel
and the angel would lift them up and say,
no, you don't need to worship me.
I'm just a messenger.
But the sheer presence of them,
the glory of what they look like
and how they ministered was so magnificent
that this was the response that men have.
Now, Jesus was in heaven from eternity past
and around the clock he was receiving praises
over and over and over
from the very beings
that when they're presented to man on earth
either pass out or fall down and worship themselves.
And he leaves that,
willingly,
he leaves that
in order to come to the earth
to have some man that he created spit in his face,
to hate him,
to have the people that was supposed to be teaching about him
plot a way for him to be murdered.
He was despised.
He was rejected.
He left so much in order to go through that.
He left the perfect, glorified state of heaven
in order that he might take on the weakness
and frailty of human life in a fallen world.
Why?
Some may say,
what a waste.
Why did he do that?
It was love.
Love is the reason.
Love for his own.
Love for you.
Love for me.
John 3 tells us plainly.
You know the verse.
For God so loved the world.
His love was so great
that he himself,
he sent his only begotten son
that whoever would believe in him
would never perish
but will have everlasting life.
Why did Jesus do all of that?
Love.
There's a hymn that was instrumental
during the second great awakening in America
written in the early 1800s
called What Wondrous Love Is This?
I don't know if you know it.
But it speaks of this love.
It goes like this.
What wondrous love is this,
O my soul,
O my soul.
What wondrous love is this,
O my soul.
What wondrous love is this
that calls the Lord of bliss
to bear the dreadful curse
for my soul,
for my soul.
To bear the dreadful curse
for my soul.
And then the next verse goes like this.
When I was sinking down,
sinking down,
sinking down.
When I was sinking down,
sinking down.
When I was sinking down
beneath God's righteous frown,
Christ laid aside his crown
for my soul,
for my soul.
Christ laid aside his crown
for my soul.
Why?
Love.
An amazing love.
Now think about those people
on the side of the river that day.
Jesus shows up.
They're here in this incredible,
and they're excited.
There's this anticipation building.
And then John says,
behold the Lamb of God.
And everybody turns around,
they look at Jesus,
and they say,
this is it?
This is it, John?
This is the one that's supposed
to be mightier than you?
This is the one that's supposed
to take away the sin of the world?
How in the world is he gonna do that?
He's from Nazareth.
To some people,
he may not seem like much.
But when you know him,
when you know him,
he's the most beautiful thing.
When you know him,
he's the most glorious thing.
It didn't matter that he was despised
and rejected of those men.
When you know him,
you will love him.
Why?
Because he loves you.
We love him,
John wrote,
because he first loved us.
And how was that love demonstrated?
When I was sinking down
beneath God's dreadful frown,
Christ laid aside his crown
for my soul,
for my soul.
What wondrous love is this?
You say,
you get all that
just out of that one phrase,
Jesus came from Nazareth?
Yeah, it's unbelievable.
We're probably not gonna make it
all the way through
this sermon today.
This is what Mark's doing
in these verses.
He's transitioning
from John to Jesus.
This is the introduction
he gives of Jesus.
And then he covers
this transition
in three phases.
Jesus' baptism,
Jesus' temptation,
and then Jesus' ministry
and message.
We're only gonna make it
through the baptism today.
But let's look at it.
Verse number nine.
It came to pass
in those days
that Jesus came
from Nazareth of Galilee
!
And was baptized
of John in the Jordan.
And straightway coming up
out of the water,
he saw the heavens opened
and the spirit like a dove
descending upon him.
And there came a voice
from heaven saying,
Thou art my beloved son,
in whom I am well pleased.
And he was baptized
in John,
or of John,
in the Jordan.
Like Jews from all of Judea
and Jerusalem,
Jesus came to one of
John's riverside meetings.
And he expressed this desire
and intention
to be baptized.
Now let's be honest,
this is a little strange.
In fact,
this is an act of Jesus
that has baffled
the minds of Christians
for hundreds of years.
But it's not an obscure passage
in the scripture.
It's not one
that keeps us guessing.
In fact,
all four gospel writers
emphasize this event
as being significant
to the beginning
of Jesus' ministry.
The question has to do with,
why would Jesus need
or want to be baptized
to begin with?
John's baptism
was about repentance
from sin.
Does that mean
that Jesus
had some kind of sin
in his life
of which he needed
to repent?
Some people have suggested that.
But that cannot be the case.
The Bible clearly teaches
that he has never sinned.
He never did a sinful act.
Though presented
with every opportunity
to sin,
he never succumbed
to temptation.
He is God
and therefore it's impossible
for him to sin.
So it couldn't be that.
It couldn't be a sin
that he needs to repent of.
Some have suggested
that Jesus was just a man
and that at this moment
of his baptism
he was somehow infused
with the divine essence
and divine qualities
that God wanted to give him
to accomplish this purpose.
But that couldn't be it either.
John 1 tells us
that in the beginning
was the Word.
And the Word was with God
and the Word was God.
He's always existed
and he's always existed
in a perfect state.
So it can't be that he needed
to be cleansed of sin
or repent of sin.
It can't be that this was
just an act of divine infusion
of the Spirit
in some kind of weird way
that took a normal man
and made him a God-like figure.
That's not what's happening here.
Even John the Baptist
was troubled by this request.
He didn't want to do it.
In fact,
in Matthew chapter 3
in Matthew's account
it says this,
then Jesus arrived
from Galilee
at the Jordan
coming to John
to be baptized by him.
But John tried
to prevent him.
He tried to prevent him.
That word prevent
is in the imperfect tense
which from what I understand
means that it was
a continuous thing.
It was something that John
this was a conversation.
It wasn't a
Jesus comes to John
and says,
hey, I want you to baptize me.
And John says,
you know,
I don't know about that.
And Jesus says,
no, I want you to do it.
And then, okay, I'll do it.
It wasn't like that.
There was this exchange
happening
where John
was so troubled
by this request
of Jesus
to be baptized
knowing that his baptism
represented repentance.
That he refused to do it
over and over.
He kept saying,
no, I can't do this.
I can't do this.
This is going to diminish
who you are.
This is going to diminish
what I've been preaching.
I can't do this
for you.
He says,
John tried to prevent him
saying,
I have need
to be baptized by you.
And do you come to me?
John says.
Now, John had
an incredibly high view
of Jesus.
And he had
an incredibly humble spirit.
I don't know
that most of us
would respond that way.
We're out on the riverbank.
Jesus of Nazareth
shows up.
And we have
this understanding
that he's going to be
the one that delivers us
from Rome.
That's probably what
most of them
were thinking
at this point.
And Jesus walks up to you
and he says,
hey, I want you
to baptize me.
Can I tell you what?
I'd be tempted
to think at that moment.
Yeah.
You want me to do it?
Yeah.
I'd love to do it.
Hey, everybody gather around.
I'm going to baptize Jesus.
He asked me to baptize him.
That's how most of us
would respond, isn't it?
Not John.
He had such a high view
of God to me.
Such a high view
of Jesus.
Such a humble spirit
that Jesus comes
and says,
John,
I need to do this.
And he says,
I can't do it.
I'm not even worthy
to wash your feet
and you want me
to baptize you?
No.
I need to be baptized
by you,
John says.
But then Jesus says,
Matthew 3,
Jesus answering said to him,
permitted at this time,
for in this way
it is fitting
for us
to fulfill
all righteousness.
And then he permitted him,
it says.
In other words,
Jesus says,
John,
for us to obey
the will of the Father,
us,
not just me,
but you too,
for us to do
what God the Father
wants us to do right now,
we're gonna have to do this.
We're gonna have to fulfill
all righteousness
and we need to do it.
And of course,
John submits
and goes through
with the baptism.
So if Jesus
had committed no sin
of which he needed
to repent,
why then
did he get baptized?
Why do the gospel authors
place such a significance
on it?
Let me give you
three explanations,
really just three words
if you're keeping the notes
there in your scripture journals.
The first word is this,
confirmation.
Confirmation.
We see that in verse nine.
It came to pass
in those days
that Jesus came
from Nazareth of Galilee
and was baptized
of John.
He didn't go to just
anybody to be baptized.
He went specifically
to John
and there's a significance
in that.
His participation
in John's baptism
was a public confirmation
of who John was
and what he was doing.
It makes sense
that John's claim
of being the voice
in the wilderness
would be validated then
by the very one
to whom he was
or of whom
he was preaching about.
For Jesus
to go through
this process
meant that he was
confirming
John's identity
and he was affirming
John's message.
It put his public stamp
of approval
on the message
that every individual
was in need
of a savior
regardless of their background,
regardless of their status,
regardless of their affiliations.
It didn't matter
that they were Jews.
It didn't matter
that they were
of the physical seat
of Abraham.
None of that mattered.
This puts Jesus'
stamp of approval
on the fact
that every single person
is in need
of redemption
and salvation
and forgiveness.
When standing before God
we are all unclean.
It puts his stamp
of approval
on that message.
Of course,
by confirming
the ministry of John
Jesus confirmed
his own identity
as the Messiah
because it was Jesus
that John
was preaching about.
So the very fact
of Jesus' participation
said to the people,
you need a savior
and I am that savior.
Listen to John
and now listen to me.
So confirmation.
Secondly,
identification.
Identification.
Though perfectly sinless,
in his baptism
Jesus identified
with the sinners
that he had come to save.
MacArthur helps us here.
He wrote,
in the first act
of his ministry,
the one who had no sin
publicly identified himself
with those
who had no righteousness.
The sinless lamb
submitted to a baptism
designed for sinners.
A foreshadowing
of the fact
that he would soon
submit himself
to a death
deserved
by sinners.
There's a shadow
in this act
that points
to what Christian baptism
would eventually come
to look back on.
So as Jesus
goes down into the water
and he goes
and baptizes,
it becomes symbolic
of that moment
of what we now
in baptism
look back on
and that is his death
and his resurrection.
People from all over
Judea and Jerusalem
came to demonstrate
a repentant heart.
Jesus came
to identify with them
by pointing to
the cleansing
that he would provide.
This cleansing
was just symbolic
of what he was
going to do
for mankind.
Of course,
this was a mystery
to them.
Nobody on the bank
of the river
understood that.
It wouldn't be
until after
the crucifixion
and resurrection
that anybody could.
It was veiled
in this moment
but we had the distinct
privilege
of looking back
and saying
this is what this meant.
He was identifying
with me.
He was identifying
with what he had
come to do
for me.
King Hughes says
he associated himself
with us sinners
and placed himself
among the guilty
not for his own
salvation
but for ours.
Not for his guilt
but for our guilt.
Not because he feared
the wrath to come
but to save us
from it.
His baptism
meant the cross.
Why did Jesus
get baptized?
It's not because
he had sin.
It's because he wanted
to confirm
the message
in the ministry
of John
and then he wanted
to identify
with sinners
pointing us
to the cross
and then thirdly
and most dramatically
we see
revelation.
Revelation.
We see this
in verses 10 and 11.
Straightway coming up
out of the water
he saw the heavens
opened
and the spirit
like a dove
descending upon him
and there came
a voice from heaven
saying thou art
my beloved son
in whom I am well
pleased
was during this
act of baptism
that the very first
explicit revelation
of Jesus
being the Messiah
and Son of God
was made.
As Jesus came up
out of the water
in this instance
he and John
and presumably
others that would
have been gathered
at the river that day
for this meeting
witnessed and experienced
something spectacular
unbelievable
we might say.
Jesus comes up
out of the water
and immediately
the heavens
are torn open
is the word
that's actually used
there torn
they are opened up
and the Holy Spirit
descends
in a visible way
it's not that
he was a dove
that's not what
that is meaning
it's meaning
that he was gentle
like a dove
would be
it symbolized
kind of like
a dove
would have responded
and they witnessed
visibly the Holy Spirit
descending from
these heavens
that have just
been torn open
and resting
upon this man
that had just
been baptized
and then
it gets even better
a voice thunders
from this heaven
that has just
been torn open
and what does
the voice say?
It says
this is my beloved son
in fact it speaks
directly to Jesus
and says
you are my beloved son
in you
I am well pleased
what a magnificent
revelation this is
this is unbelievable
Jesus comes up
out of the water
and all of this happens
it's really amazing
this wasn't just
the declaration
of Jesus
as a Messiah
this was a declaration
that Jesus
was the very
son of God
and amazingly
we see the representation
of each person
of the Trinity
all in one place
all at one time
maybe for the first time
truly in the Bible
as far as
we understand it
in this way
now think about it
Jesus the son
the son of God
the second person
of the Trinity
is in the water
he's visible
then God the Holy Spirit
is descending
the same place
and then God the Father
is not seen
but he's heard
he's heard as he's speaking
remember last week
we talked about
he's a God who speaks
and he speaks
and all one time
we see all three parts
of course we don't
understand this
we don't understand
how this works
a lot of people
try to deny it
but how can you deny
what the scripture says
in one place
God the Son
God the Spirit
God the Father
all there together
in one essence
this is who they are
it's who he is
this was a monumental
and undeniable moment
on which John the Baptist
based his testimony
and witness of Jesus
we're almost done
listen in John chapter 1
John testified saying
I have seen the Spirit
descending as a dove
out of heaven
and he remained on him
and John says
I did not recognize him
that is John
and Jesus
though related
John spent his life
in the wilderness
his parents were very old
when they had him
they probably died
when he was very young
and he spent his life
in the wilderness
there might have been times
that John and Jesus
at family gatherings
particularly around the feast
in Jerusalem
might have seen each other
and known each other
as children
we don't know for sure
but it's possible
that that happened
but in adulthood
it's been very long
since John had seen
Jesus himself
and so at first
when Jesus comes
he doesn't recognize him
like any of us
would recognize somebody
that we haven't seen
for 20, 25 years
at this point
somebody that we knew
as a kid
we may not recognize
them now
that's what John's saying
he said
I did not recognize him
but
he who sent me
to baptize in water
that is God the Father
God said to me
he upon whom you see
the Spirit
descending
and remaining upon him
this is the one
who baptizes
in the Holy Spirit
and John says
I myself have seen
and have testified
that this is
the Son of God
now what are these
gospel authors doing?
they're providing
eyewitness accounts
of who Jesus is
and what he has done
so that we may believe him
and they're giving
John's account
of saying
listen
as John went around
after that day
saying look
I saw it
I saw the heavens open
I saw the Spirit
descend
I saw it
I was told
this is what was
going to happen
and then one day
Jesus showed up
and that's exactly
what happened
I saw it with
my own eyes
John says
he is the Son of God
Dennis Prager
is a popular
conservative
talk show host
he's also an
Orthodox Jew
and from time to time
he'll do a
kind of a Q&A
sort of thing
called
ask a Jew
ask a Gentile
and from time to time
he'll have somebody
like John MacArthur
or Alistair Begg
or somebody like that
on his program
and I was listening
to one of them
last year
around Easter
that he had done
with Alistair Begg
and Dennis Prager
made this statement
he said
the Jews problem
with Jesus
is not his
messianic claim
he said the Jews
have all kinds
of messiahs
we're grateful
for them
and Jesus probably
fits that description
well
I like Jesus
I like what he did
he certainly
attempted to turn
people back to
Sinai
is what he would
always make
as his point of reference
he said the Jews
have no problem
with Jesus'
messianic claim
they have a problem
with this divinity claim
that God
would somehow
be
in
three persons
is
beyond their
ability to believe
he along
with many others
believed that
Jesus
was a type
of messiah
whose teaching
was powerfully
compelling
but they're
unprepared to
accept him
for who he really
is
and that is
the son of God
but the gospel
writers
insist
that the events
surrounding
the baptism
of Jesus
make this
divinity claim
of Jesus
irrefutable
why did Mark
bother to mention
the baptism
of Jesus
how could he not
his purpose
is to prove
to us
that Jesus
is the Christ
the son of God
how could he
ignore
such a monumental
moment
of revelation
perhaps you're
prepared to
accept Jesus
as an incredible
teacher
with an incredibly
powerful impact
on the world
but are you
prepared to
accept him
as the son
of God
you say
Jared I don't
know about this
this
this seems
kind of out
there
I don't
disagree
when I read
things today
fictional things
and when I
see stories
demonstrated on
TV and on
movies and I
see something
maybe along
these lines
happen I
never automatically
look at it and
think wow that
must have really
happened
but this is not
just a story
this is not a
historical novel
this is not
meant to just
get us excited
about something
and draw some
applications that
might help us
in our life
that's not what
this is
this is an
eyewitness
account
of a real
man named
Jesus of
Nazareth
that was
baptized by a
real man
named John
the baptizer
a name given
to him by
people that
didn't follow
him
this is the
real account
that people
saw and
witnessed
and because
the word of
God tells it
it's true
are you
prepared to
accept it as
truth even
though you may
look at it and
think wow this
is this is
unique can
you believe it
yeah you can
because it's
true it's
true why is
this so
significant
Jesus tells us
in John
chapter 10
Jesus said
I am the
door
he's given an
illustration about
sheep and
shepherds and
sheep pens
and he says I
am the door
if anyone enters
through me
he will be
saved
and will go in
and find rest
find pasture
the thief comes
only to steal
and to kill
and to destroy
but I came
that they may
have life
and that they
may have it
more abundantly
Jesus'
claim
is that he
was the only
way to this
life
and what
helps us
understand the
authority of that
claim
because there was
a man named
John the Baptist
that said I saw
it
I saw it
I heard it
with my own
ears
he said you
are my
son
in whom
I am well
pleased
and if that's
who Jesus
is
we cannot
ignore his
message
and his
message is
I am the
door
if you want
life
you have to
go through
me
and if you
will come
through me
you will find
rest for your
soul
he says you
will find
pasture
but you have
to go
through me
and when
Jesus says
that
he doesn't
say it
arrogantly
there's no
pride in that
he's not
looking at
people
and saying
demanding
that his
authority
over them
like a
gentile
leader
would have
lorded
authority
no he's
saying it
with compassion
and with
mercy
understanding
that if
they don't
go through
him
they will
not get
life
and it's
that love
in his
heart
and that
mercy
and that
compassion
in his
heart
that he
says I'm
the door
listen
I'm the
door
if you
don't go
through me
you won't
have life
but if you
come through
me
you will
find rest
you will
find pasture
you will
find rest
for your
soul
the thief
comes to
steal and
to destroy
but I have
come that
you may
have abundant
life
Jesus says
and because
of the witness
of John
and because
of the
experience
around Jesus
his baptism
we cannot
ignore that
message
and that's
the message
for you
today
are you
prepared
to believe
it
are you
prepared
to believe
that Jesus
truly is
the son
of God
that he
is God
in the
flesh
if you're
not prepared
to accept
that and to
believe that
you will
not have
life
you cannot
have life
you cannot
look at him
indifferently
you cannot
see him
as just
a wonderful
man that
had an
incredible
impact
and you
shouldn't
wait much
longer to
make that
decision
the Bible
says
behold
today
is the
day
of
salvation
I want
to
implore
you
to
believe
the
gospel
there
was an
urgency
to Jesus
his message
and to
John's
why
because
of the
reality
of who
he
was
if
that's
who
Jesus
is
we
have
to
listen
to
what
he
said
and
if
we're
going
to
listen
to
what
he
said
we
have
to
believe
and
if
we
don't
we
don't
have
life
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you
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