“’Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, Whom you seek, will suddenly come to His Temple, even the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming,’ says the LORD of Hosts.” (Malachi 3:1)
“The beginning of the Gospel of Messiah Yeshua, 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.’” (Mark 1:1)
Mark gives an account of the ministry of John the Baptist whose coming was foretold by Malachi, and whose mission was described by Isaiah. With brevity and haste, but most graphically, he records the stages that Yeshua of Nazareth passed through to fulfill the actual service for which he was appointed.
For a generation, Yeshua was one of the people: Undistinguishable from other men by the eyes of those who looked upon him; undiscovered as to any deep secret of personality, or any profound anointing for service. His was the most common name of the day: Jesus, Greek for Yeshua. He was one of the crowd.
Nazareth was his place of growth from boyhood to manhood. Ordinary responsibilities were faced by him every day. As was his custom, he mingled with worshippers, reading the Torah and hearing it expounded Sabbath after Sabbath. From all of this, Yeshua came when men travelled into the wilderness to listen to a strange preacher, John the Baptist, who ploughed their consciences and called them to repentance, the confessing of their sins, and to baptism.
Yeshua came from Nazareth to baptism, anointing and temptation.
John preached repentance unto remission of sins, not repentance for remission of sins. There can be no remission apart from Yeshua.
As John said in Mark 1:7-8: “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 concluded by saying that Yeshua shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit which was not a symbol but a renewing and regenerating of life through which remission of sins shall come. John’s baptism was for repentant souls as an outward sign.
But how are we to understand this baptizing of Yeshua?
In John 1:33, John said: “I did not know him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.”
We must understand that when John said that he did not know who Yeshua was, he did not know that Yeshua was the Messiah. John distinctly declared he did not know the Messiah until he saw the Holy Spirit descending upon him.
In Matthew 3:14, we read: “John tried to prevent him [Yeshua], saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and are you coming to me?”
John, the man of clear moral perception, who had been looking fearlessly into the eyes of the crowd that gathered about him, looked into the eyes of Yeshua and said: “No, this is a baptism of repentance. I am here to baptize men repenting of sins! I need to be baptized of you!”
This was a prophetic recognition and declaration of the sinlessness of Yeshua.
Why was Yeshua baptized? He was baptized as a repenting soul. His also was a baptism of repentance. His was a baptism of the confession of sins. The repentance was not for himself, the sins were not his own. In that hour, he identified himself with the multitudes in baptism, we see the most wonderful and solemn sight of the servant of God taking upon himself the burden of human sin counting it as if it were his own sin, doing what Paul ultimately wrote (2 Corinthians 5:21):
“For He made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.”
Yeshua, the sinless, identified himself with the sinful that righteousness should become possible to the sinners whose sins he bore.
His baptism was his act of dedication. The coming of the Spirit was God’s act of consecration. An endowment of the Spirit was given to him as the servant of God in a new sense, in a new significance, and with new powers.
How does this provide a precedent for our example?
Yeshua came to temptation (Mark 1:12-13):
“And straightway the Spirit drove him forth into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan.”
Quite literally, “the Spirit drove him forth”, the same word used in the driving out of demons by Yeshua. This was not a leisured, meditative walk, but swift impetuous movement as of one driven irresistibly forth, so that there could be no halting.
For 40 days, he was tempted to doubt love, to traffic with the faith, to question the hope.
“And he was with the wild animals…” (Mark 1:13)
“With” the wild animals suggests the closest association and unity. Not to become like them, in a very animalistic manner, but rather to show that Yeshua was able to show that he was more than capable of overcoming his “animalistic”, fleshy, earthly, human behaviour.
As such, the verse (Mark 1:13) continues: “…and the angels were ministering to him.”
This shows that Yeshua transcended his earthly existence, even in the midst of such harsh temptations, relying instead on the pure, heavenly sustenance that was available to him from his Heavenly Father (through the ministering angels).
All in all, Yeshua exited the wilderness unscathed and victorious, and in the light of this, the Father precursored this event and said (Mark 1:11):
“You are My beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.”
As said earlier, Yeshua came from Nazareth to baptism, anointing and temptation. The resolve of Yeshua’s soul was revealed in baptism. Why did Yeshua descend into the waters of baptism? To fulfill righteousness. Righteousness is the establishment of Divine kingship. The resources at his disposal for the fulfilling of his resolve were revealed at his anointing. Finally, Yeshua was driven to face the foe: This was real temptation. The Spirit, after his anointing, drove him to face the forces that ruin and blight and blast and spoil humanity. Through all of this, Yeshua was victorious.
This is the beginning of the Gospel, the “Good News”, the light in the midst of the darkness that was written down for us, for our edification. Men may silence the voice of a prophet, but they cannot hinder the Word of God. The beauty of this “beginning of the Gospel” shows us the way in which our Lord and Saviour Messiah Yeshua had to walk before beginning his ministry.
We must take these verses to heart if we look to Yeshua as our Lord and Saviour, and if we desire to follow in his footsteps. Through baptism, we are reborn in the image of God. Through the anointing of the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to live our lives refreshed and renewed in this world. And through temptation, we are tested and proven that we are capable of being beloved sons and daughter of the Most High.
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