Mark 1:10
One
of the important parts of writing assembly instructions is to be sure that you
write all the steps. You can never assume that the person reading will know the
missing step. I used to love reading assembly instructions from other parts of
the world. They used to be written in such funny English. It was always fun to
try to figure out what they wanted to say. I have an MP3 player that I still
can’t figure out how to use because the instructions are so poor. They leave
out many steps.
Mark
is so focused on getting to the heart of Jesus ministry that he leaves out one
step. Did you notice it? Do you need a hint? Jesus never goes down into the
water before He comes up out of the water. Our brains assume the entry into the
water from the context, but Mark doesn’t state the fact. For Mark it is not
needed.
One
thing we can note is that Jesus was in the water. The water was not sprinkled
on Him, or poured on Him. At least for Jesus, immersion, head to toe, happened.
Now we could argue about what isn’t written, couldn’t we. Perhaps Jesus walked
into the water up to his knees and John the Baptist sprinkled water on His
head, or poured it on Him. Perhaps John used a Supersoaker to spray people in
Baptism. If you only need a little water, why go to the Jordan River? Why not
meet at a well somewhere? John’s ministry could have been much more mobile,
traveling to where the people were.
So
what happens when Jesus comes out of the water? John sees heaven ripped open.
It was not simply a clearing of the clouds, as I had imagined. This opening was
more than the sun breaking through the clouds and bright bands of light cutting
through the clouds at multiple angles. This tearing of the space between God’s
dwelling place and earth was an abrupt action. This is an invasion from heaven
into earth’s space. We see it in physical form. God opens the window and looks
at us, and in that instant John gets a glimpse into heaven.
In
the space that is opened between heaven and earth, God’s Spirit descends. We
don’t know whether He descended like a dove, flittering and flapping, or whether He had the
appearance of a bird similar to a dove. One way or other the Holy Spirit enters
this earthly realm through a rift in the normal barrier between heaven and
earth, and enters into Jesus. This must have been something to see!
What can we gain from this verse for our lives
today? God is able to bridge the gap between His dwelling place and ours. He
doesn’t do it with this kind of flare very often, but He can and does enter. He
entered at this point to signal His presence here on earth.