Mark 1:9-11 - Jesus was baptised by John

1:9

We now get mention of the baptism of Jesus and His temptation in the wilderness. Mark gives the briefest of accounts of these two incidents. Jesus came from Nazareth and was baptised by John. Mark gives no indication of why Jesus needed to be baptised, Matt 4:13-17 gives more explanation, Mark simply states that Jesus was baptised. In a sense that is enough. We may ask why do we need to be baptised? Well, Jesus was baptised, and no servant is greater than his master, so we should just get on with it!

1:10.11

As Jesus came up out of the water Jesus saw heaven opened and the Spirit descended on Him like a dove. These two verses are more or less identical to Matt 3:16,17. Our repentance and faith opens up the way for our receiving of the Holy Spirit. Then a voice from heaven came declaring that Jesus was God’s Son, and that God was well pleased with Him. Any “theology” that sees Jesus as less than the Son of God is completely mistaken.

2 Samuel 7:6-9 - I have not dwelt in a house

7:6,7

God reminds David that since He led the Israelites out of Egypt He had not dwelt in a house, a tent had been His dwelling place throughout that time. Moreover, while God had issued many commandments, not once did He command them to build a house for Him. He never complained that they had not built a house of cedar for Him. Clearly having a temple of that form was not a priority for God!

7:8,9

God now reminds David of what He has done for David. He took David from tending the sheep to shepherding the nation of Israel. Throughout that time God had been with David and had defeated all David’s enemies, be these ones from within Israel (namely the house of Saul) or enemies without, the Canaanites and Philistines. Now He is going to make David’s name great. It was a matter of what God had done for David, and what He was going to do for David, rather than what David could do for God! We need a right balance here, but it is more a matter of what God does for us, than what we do for Him.

Mark 1:7,8 - And this was his message

1:7

John the Baptist is at pains to stress that he is not the main man. In the gospel of John a key feature of the early chapter or two is its emphasis on the fact that John the Baptist came to point people towards Jesus. Here John first stresses his own inferiority compared to Jesus. Jesus is more powerful than John the Baptist, and John is the most lowly of servants in comparison to Jesus. Tying or untying the straps of someone’s sandals was the most menial of tasks.

1:8

John then emphasises the greatness of Jesus. John baptised with water, it was a baptism of repentance (Acts 19:4), in a sense it was what we could do (I know God is instrumental in leading us to repentance). Jesus would baptise with the Holy Spirit. God Himself would come to live within us, we would be born again, a wok of inner transformation would begin. John could not do this, nor was he meant to. The Old Testament made clear the need for us to be born again. It catalogues the repeated failure of even the “good men”, men such as Moses, David etc. It spoke of a day coming when God would pour out His Spirit on mankind (e.g. Is 32:15; 44:3; Ezek 39:29; Jer 31:31-34; Joel 2:28,29).

2 Samuel 7:4,5 - Go ahead and do it

7:4

That night the Lord speaks to Nathan. It is interesting that God does not speak to David directly, but via the prophet Nathan. How does this apply today? One could argue that now that we have the Holy Spirit, God will speak to us directly. On the other hand, prophets and prophecy are part of God’s equipping gift to the church, and receiving advice from godly men and women is a normal part of God’s economy. There is in reality no opposition between the two. God will often guide us through the advice or prophecy of others, at the same time there will be “inner witness” (i.e. from the Holy Spirit).

7:5

We now come to what God actually wants, to what is the heart of God. God begins with a question “are you the one to build me a house to dwell in?” David’s whole perception is misguided, or lacking. God’s plans for mankind in general, and for David in particular, are much better and deeper than David’s idea. The fundamental difference is that man (David here) will design a man driven plan (i.e. David building a temple), albeit one seeking God’s help. The real plan is a God designed and driven plan. We are called to follow Christ.

Mark 1:5,6 - The whole Judean countryside

1:5

John and his message had mass appeal. Mark tells us that “the whole Judean countryside and all the people went out to him”. They confessed their sins and were baptised in the Jordan. Luke 3:15 tells us that there was a general air of expectation. Too much of the church tries to gain popularity by following cultural trends. This is a foolish approach. The “common people” often recognise that there is something wrong, they won’t know what exactly, and won’t put it down to rebellion against God. But we need to preach God’s word, not some cultural nonsense.

1:6

The description of John is reminiscent of Elijah (2 Kings 1:8). Locusts were the only insect that the Law allowed them to eat. Apparently they could be boiled or roasted, either way, I don’t fancy them. 

2 Samuel 7:1-3 - Living in a house of cedar

7:1

“The Lord had given him rest from all his enemies”. Chapter 8 will record more battles, and it is likely that chronologically the events in chapter 8 preceded the events recounted in this chapter. This chapter has been placed before chapter 8 for thematic reasons. In the previous chapter we read of the eventual return of the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. This only happened after an initial ill-fated attempt. This chapter too tells of David’s own plans being mistaken, and telling us what God’s actual plans are. In chapter 6 there was a harsh rebuke from God, in the death of Uzzah, and David seems to work out for himself what the correct way to do things was, i.e. follow the pattern set out in the Law. Now David is rebuked again, but in a far gentler fashion, and the revelation goes beyond the Law. 

7:2,3

Nathan the prophet is introduced for the first time. There is no information regarding his background. David speaks to Nathan and tells him that he thinks it is wrong that he, David, is living in “a house of cedar” (i.e. is living in very comfortable surroundings) while the ark remains in a tent. Nathan’s initial response is “whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you”. This response is well meaning, but was not inspired by the Lord. Not everything a prophet says is a word from God.

Mark 1:3,4 - John the Baptist appeared

1:3

The Isaiah part of the quotation comes from the well known Isaiah 40. This passage speaks of Israel’s sins being forgiven, of all human power being like grass, i.e. very temporal, and of the greatness of God’s love for His people.

1:4

Malachi identifies the Messenger as one who would come like Elijah (Mal 4:5,6), and Jesus later identifies John as Elijah (Mark 9:13), though interestingly John the Baptist himself denied being Elijah (John 1:21). John appeared in the wilderness and preached a baptism of repentance. Repentance is the gateway to knowing God. We need to acknowledge that our ways are wrong, that we need a change of direction, a change that aligns ourselves with God’s ways, indeed aligns ourselves with God.

The fertile area around the Jordan soon became wilderness. Baptism was used for Gentiles converting to Judaism, and represented a complete turnaround in their way of life. The unique feature of John’s baptism was that this was applied to the Jews themselves. The Jews, along with all of humanity, needed a complete turnaround.