A Remarkable, Surprising Beginning – Mark 1:4-11

A text – Mark 1:4-11

1:4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
1:5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
1:6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
1:7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.
1:8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
1:9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
1:10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.
1:11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

A reflection:

The Gospel of Mark may be the earliest collection of stories of Jesus’s life and ministry. It was probably written for Gentiles rather than Jews, so that they might understand who Jesus was and what he did. It begins with John the Baptist (or Baptizer) out in the wilderness, attracting people to be baptized for repentance and forgiveness of sins. Mark might be starting his story by showing us “the way things used to be” and then introducing Jesus, who changes everything. To underscore how different Jesus was going to make everything, Mark shows us that when John baptizes Jesus in the Jordan river, the heavens are torn apart, the Holy Spirit descends in the form of a dove to Jesus, and God’s voice from heaven declares Jesus to be God’s own son.

I always try to picture things quite concretely. In this story I can picture Jesus and his cousin John in the river. I can even picture the Holy Spirit dove descending. But the heavens tearing open? What must that have been like? The word torn is the same word Mark later uses later in the Gospel for what happens to the curtain in the holiest of holies in the temple when Jesus dies on the cross – the curtain is torn in two.

Mark’s audience is non-Jewish people who want to know more about Jesus’s life and ministry. And here, in the tenth sentence of his story, the heavens tear open and the voice of God claims Jesus as God’s own son, in whom God is very pleased! The stage is set for Jesus’s life and work to unfold for us. Maybe the audience is awed. Maybe the audience refuses to believe in this wonder that happened. Well, it’s only the first of many wonders that Mark will tell. Wouldn’t it have been a remarkable thing to witness? And scary. And the signal of something completely new and unexpected to come.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for Mark, the master of surprise for his hearers and readers. Thank you that Jesus’s life and ministry were written and survive to reach us today. Help us to read these stories with wonder, letting ourselves be surprised by God.   Amen.