And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove

 

 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  As it is written in the Prophets:

 "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,

Who will prepare Your way before You."

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

'Prepare the way of the LORD;

Make His paths straight.'"

John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.  

Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.  I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.  Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.  And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.

 

- Mark 1:1-13 

 

Yesterday we read that, as the two disciples who had encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus were reporting their experience to the rest of them, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you."  But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.  And He said to them, "Why are you troubled?  And why do doubts arise in your hearts?  Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself.  Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."  When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.  But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, "Have you any food here?"  So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.  And He took it and ate in their presence.  Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."  And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.  Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."  And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.  Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.  And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God.  Amen.

 

  The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  My study Bible explains some of the terms in this first verse of Mark's Gospel.  Gospel is from a Greek word (εὐαγγέλιον/evangelion) that means "good news" or "good tidings."  In the roman Empire, it was a word commonly used for proclamations by the Emperor.  Here, my study Bible says that it refers not to Mark's writings per se, but rather to the story of the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  That is, the good news of our salvation.  Beginning points to the opening events of Christ's public ministry, especially the preparation by His forerunner, St. John the Baptist, and Christ's encounter with him.  

As it is written in the Prophets:  "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You."  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.'"  John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.  These quotations are from the Prophets Malachi and Isaiah, and they point to John the Baptist as fulfillment of these specific prophesies.  See Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3.   John's call to repentance is traditional for prophets.  His baptism is one for remission of sins, but cannot grant this once and for all.  It is instead a prefiguring and preparation for the baptism of Christ which is to come (see Romans 6:3-11).   These verses tell us at once how widely revered John the Baptist was as a holy man in Israel, for even all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.  Thus, John has made his mark on the awareness even of the powerful leadership establishment in the temple at Jerusalem.

 

Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.  I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."  John himself is also a prophet, and he is considered to be the last and the greatest of the Old Testament type prophets.  His clothing is also a "type" of a prophet, for he is clothed in a manner similar to that of Elijah (2 Kings 1:8), which helps to show that he fulfills the prophecy of Elijah's return (see Malachi 4:5-6; Matthew 11:13-15).  My study Bible explains that John the Baptist is a figure of the Law in that, like the Law, he denounced sin but could not remit ("put away") sin.  But both John and the Law point to the One who can remit sin. 

It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.  Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  Note that Jesus comes from Nazareth of Galilee to this place where John baptizes in the Jordan near Judea.  Although Jesus does not need purification, He fulfills a great deal through His Baptism by John.  By making human baptism His own, He would wash away humanity's sin, grant regeneration, and reveal the mystery of the Holy Trinity in this "theophany" (manifestation or appearance of God) of Father, Son, and Spirit.   My study Bible quotes St. Gregory of Nyssa:  "Jesus enters the filthy, sinful waters of the world and when He comes out, brings up and purifies the entire world with Him."

Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.  And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.  In Matthew 4:1-10 and Luke 4:1-13 we can read a fuller version of the temptations to Jesus by Satan.  The word translated as drove literally means to cast or throw.

Right from the beginning we see Jesus' ministry completely bound up with the activity of the Holy Spirit in the world.  His first act is to be baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan, and at that Baptism, the Holy Spirit makes quite a dramatic appearance.   We're told that "immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove."   And then there is another immediate action by the Spirit:  Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. It seems important to note all of this involvement by the Spirit, and it reminds us also that a prophet (such as John the Baptist) does not become a prophet except through the action of the Spirit also.  In the prophecy of Malachi quoted by John the Baptist, we read, "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face" (Malachi 3:1).   Through whom else but the Holy Spirit does the Lord send prophets and messengers to the people?  Let us note also that in each of these example, the Holy Spirit participates with some sort of dramatic action.  The Spirit does not simply appear but rather descends upon Jesus like a dove.  In another dramatic action, the Holy Spirit does not simply direct or give instructions to Jesus to go to the wilderness, but rather acts.  The Spirit immediately drove Him into the wilderness.  This tells us about God's active work in the world, God's participation in the world.  The action of the Holy Spirit also echoes what we are to do in our lives as Christians.  We're called not simply to believe, but to act as does the Holy Spirit.  We're called to live our faith by what we do in our lives, to put our faith into action, in the way that the Holy Spirit puts God's will and energy into action in these verses.  It's deeply significant that our first verses in Mark follow the final reading in Luke in our lectionary readings (see yesterday's reading, above).  For, just as we begin Christ's ministry with these actions of the Holy Spirit, so Jesus, in yesterday's reading, Jesus' final words to the disciples before blessing them and ascending to heaven are as follows:  "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."  This Promise of the Father is the Holy Spirit.  And what is the action He promises?  They will be endued with power from on high.  In Acts 2 we read of the fulfillment of the sending of the Promise of the Father at Pentecost, and the action simply never seems to stop.  The apostles are endowed with the Holy Spirit, and tongues of fire appear above each one, even as each speaks in languages not their own, but in the tongues of those who hear the good news they preach.  St. Peter is inspired by the Spirit and preaches to the "men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem," teaching about Jesus and the fulfillment of prophecy, also given through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Peter preaches by giving them the words of the prophet Joel, also of David whose psalms prophesy of Christ.  When his audience asks what they should do, Peter responds telling them to be baptized and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Thousands are baptized, and the Church begins its growth.  But none of this action happens without the participation of the Holy Spirit, who acts among us and with us and through us.  Even the sound accompanying the fulfillment of this promise at Pentecost comes as one that suggests tremendous action:   it is "a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting" (Acts 2:2).  The movement suggested here is unmistakable.  The word for Spirit means breath in both Hebrew and Greek, but this sound that accompanies the appearance of the Spirit, like a rushing mighty wind, and which fills the whole house with its noise, leaves no doubt of the experience of bold action and movement setting something in action, and meant for activity in the world.  Let us consider when we pray to the Spirit, when we look around at our world and see its state, what action we would like to see in the world.  What effects can this action like a mighty wind create?  What has the Holy Spirit created?  Are we aware of God's action in our lives?  Are we prepared for God's action in our lives?  Can we be like Christ, "thrown" by the Spirit into the actions God asks of us, endowed with the capacity to do as God would ask of us to participate in God's life in the world?  How do we live our own baptism, in which we die to the old life, and are born into the new through the Spirit?  How does the Spirit lead the action of a blessed way of life?