Why Go Through with This?

Mark 1:9

      Do you remember when you were a kid, how waiting for the presents to be opened seemed to take forever? At least it did in my house. We would get to open our stockings as soon as we woke up, but we had to wait until after breakfast before we sat down as a family and opened the presents one at a time, taking turns. That waiting was at times almost too much to bear. You could see the bundles wrapped just a few feet away, but you couldn’t open them up. The anticipation would build until the appointed time.

      In Mark’s gospel, we don’t have much anticipation. In the previous verse, John contrasted his ministry with that of Jesus. He said that he would use water to baptize people and that Jesus would use the Holy Spirit to baptize people. These two elements that Mark includes in his quick version of the events show up in our text over the next couple of days.

      Mark now begins to write about John the Baptists ministry with Jesus coming to John for the purpose of being baptized. This seems very odd, because John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. People came and confessed their sins and then were baptized. But for Jesus, there was nothing to confess. So why would Jesus go through this ritual? What did he gain? Why travel for something you don’t need?

      Our text Jesus came from Nazareth, his hometown. It was a small town, isolated from its neighboring towns by the geography. The only way to get to the town, which is situated on a hill, was to climb a winding footpath. For Jesus to get to the Jordan River to be baptized, it would have taken him several days to travel. Although the trade route comes close to the town, there is no direct road to the Jordan. We also don’t know exactly where John was baptizing. How did Jesus know where John would be? The Jordan is a winding, usually shallow stream. Which pool of water did Jesus visit with John? Mark doesn’t tell us.

      What I find interesting is that Mark doesn’t include the question by John to Jesus. He doesn’t include his objection to the baptism. If we read Matthew 3:14, we find that John objects to Jesus submission as he knows that Jesus has the upper spiritual hand. John sees that his baptism doesn’t fit with Jesus’ position in salvation history.

      Have you ever participated in a ceremony of honor and recognized your own unworthiness to be honored, but you went through the ceremony anyway, allowing others to render you honor? In a few weeks I will go through a retirement ceremony, one in which there will be others also honored. Some of those with whom I will be honored are heroes. They have been wounded. They gave parts of their body to ensure our freedom. I haven’t been wounded in this way. I feel humbled to be in their company. I feel like the ceremony is too much for me. There are others who deserve honor much more than I do. But, I will allow the ceremony to go forward with my active participation. For me the ceremony marks the end of one phase of life and the beginning of another.

      I think Jesus goes through baptism to provide the opportunity for John to complete the connection between the promise as the forerunner to the Messiah and the Messiah Himself. Sometimes the ceremony is for people other than the participants. Sometimes it just isn’t about us!

Waiting Room

Proverbs 15:30

      Have you ever had to wait in a hospital waiting room while someone you love is going through an operation? Those moments can be the longest moments on earth. You see the doctor walking down the hallway toward you, and you examine their face for the smallest hint that things went well. Are they walking the walk of defeat, hanging their head looking like they lost, or are they bouncing triumphantly, head held high, smile on their face?

      The words of this proverb have never rung so true in my life as they do today. When I recently saw the doctor’s face, relief gripped my heart. My heart was so filled, I leaked out of my eyes. A weight had been lifted. I felt it through my whole body.

      Have you ever had any of these ‘sitting on the edge of your seat’ moments? Life and death hanging in the balance, waiting for the news? Our military families live with this kind of moments for months at a time. They never know if the next knock on the door means someone is here to tell them their soldier has died, or that it is Girl Scout cookie time. No wonder being in the military takes a special kind of person and family. They have the hardest of all lifestyles. They never know what the moments will bring.

      I recently served as the judge in a legal matter. As soon as the verdict was read, the defendant stood silent, searching my face for what the verdict meant. When I smiled at him, you could see the relief flood his whole body. He had his life back!

      Of course our spouse and children know our looks, as we know their looks. We must be aware of our looks, and make sure that they reflect the presence of the LORD. If we are depressed, then get some help. Find a professional to talk to. If we need to repent, then repent. We are responsible for our witness, at home and in the world. We need to be able to bring the Good News from a vessel that has experienced His joy. Don’t fake it. Live it.