Study Format:
1. Read passage aloud. What did you notice in the reading? What words or phrase caught your attention?
2. Read passage aloud a second time. What questions would you ask the text?
3. Read passage aloud a third time. What do you hear God calling you to do or be in response to this text?
Interesting Ideas to Consider:
• Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan, and the voice from heaven proclaiming him God’s Son, is central to Mark’s understanding of who Jesus is.
• Unlike in Matthew and Luke, in Mark only Jesus sees the heavens open and hears the divine voice. Mark’s readers get to see the identity of Jesus while his identity remains hidden from the characters in the narrative.
• The descent of the Spirit and the words of the voice echo the suffering servant who bring salvation in Isaiah 42:1 (“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations”) and the promise that the Spirit would bring salvation in Isaiah 63:11 (“Then they remembered the days of old, of Moses his servant. Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is the one who put within them his holy spirit”)
• The title “Son of God” derives from Psalm 2:7, where it referred to the Davidic kings(“I will tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to me, ‘You are my son; today I have begotten you”), and from Isaiah 44:2, where it referred to all the people of Israel (“Thus says the LORD who made you, who formed you in the womb and will help you: Do not fear, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen”).
• Various elements of apocalyptic symbolism, like the heavens opening, the descent of the Spirit, and the divine voice are meant to point to Jesus as the agent of God’s salvation. Jesus’ baptism is not revealing who Jesus is to Jesus, it is revealing who Jesus is to the reader. It demonstrates again Jesus as the fulfillment of the promises of the prophets.
• This episode also fulfills an expectation in ancient biographical writings that the hero be prepared for his mission through some sign of divine favor.
• The Spirit driving Jesus into the wilderness fulfills another necessary feature of ancient biographical writing, testing the hero.
• Though very short, a lot is packed into the two verses that make up the temptation in the wilderness in Mark’s Gospel. The obvious is the allusion to the Israelites forty years in the wilderness. Less obvious is the wild animals waiting on Jesus. One of the aspects of the fall narrative was Adam was no longer in relationship with wild animals, they became adversaries. But Jesus is not in conflict with nature, in Jesus wilderness is transformed into paradise. Examples of this are also found in Isaiah (Isaiah 11:6-9, “The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea,” 32:16-20, “Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. The effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust for ever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places. The forest will disappear completely, and the city will be utterly laid low. Happy will you be who sow beside every stream, who let the ox and the donkey range freely, “ 65:25, “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent—its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD”). Instead of focusing on the conflict between Jesus and Satan, Mark’s Gospel describes the characteristics of the coming kingdom of God.
• The presence of angels with Jesus in the wilderness is another sign of his relationship with God/the divine.
• After Jesus’ identity has been stated and he has been tested, his ministry can begin. The summary of his preaching in v. 14b-15 is a combination of John the Baptist’s preaching of repentance and the opening line from Mark, “the beginning of the good news.”
• “The time is fulfilled” (v. 15a) and “the kingdom of God has come near” (v. 15b) demonstrate that Jesus’ presence is the fulfillment, the kingdom of God is present in Jesus.
Works Sourced:
Perkins, Pheme. “The Gospel of Mark.” The New Interpreter’s Bible Volume VIII. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995.
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