The Call (Mark 1:1-15)
The New Moses and the New Joshua (1:4 & 5)
Having recited the prophecy of the messenger or angel of the Lord who will prepare the way for Jesus, Mark now presents the messenger.
The Jordan was the boundary that marked the transition of the Israelites from the wilderness to the Promised Land. Indeed, when the Israelites miraculously crossed the Jordan on dry ground, they also circumcised all their males since they had not practiced circumcision for the forty years in the wilderness (Joshua 3-5). This was not the only transition point in Israel’s exodus that involved passage through a body of water. Earlier, the crossing of the brook Zered marked the point at which the older generation of Israelite warriors died in the wilderness so that the new generation could make a second attempt at entering the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 2:13-15). The text specifically says that the men died because “the hand of the Lord was against them.” The first such crossing, of course, did not involve the death of unfaithful Israelites, but rather of the Egyptian army. The crossing of the Red Sea marked the leaving of Egypt forever, just as crossing the Jordan marked the leaving of the wilderness.
Baptism
What is the reason for John’s baptizing in the Jordan River? The Greek word “baptism” was used to refer to ceremonial cleansings and washings. Mark himself, for example, uses the word to refer to washing dishes (7:4) just as the author of Hebrews uses it to refer to the ceremonial sprinklings of the Mosaic law (Hebrews 9:10). However, if only cleansing was involved in John’s baptism, then John’s geographic location makes no sense. If all that mattered to John’s “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,” was the application of water, then there would have been no reason for him to stay in the wilderness in the region of the Jordan. He would have reached many more people by simply going to Jerusalem and preaching there. But for some reason, he felt compelled to baptize in the Jordan an make people go out to him in order to be baptized. We need to ask ourselves “Why the Jordan?”
The Apostle Paul later refers to the crossing of the Red Sea as a “baptism” (First Corinthians 10:1 & 2). Perhaps thinking about why Paul associated crossing a body of water on dry ground with baptism will help us understand why John began baptizing at the Jordan River. If we do that, there is no reason to only consider the Red Sea as if it was the only analogy Paul could have used. If the miraculous crossing at the Red Sea was a baptism, why not also the miraculous crossing at the Jordan River? After all, the Israelites were actually circumcised when they crossed the Jordan River, which Paul elsewhere associates with baptism (Colossians 2:11-13). And then we have the water crossing between those two points, the brook Zered which marked the transition between the condemned generation and the new generation promised the Land.
The common factor in these three instances is that the water marks a boundary between the old and the new, the cursed-for-sin and the blessed-with-forgiveness. It is interesting that this corresponds to the layout of the Tabernacle and Temple: One could not enter God’s presence without first going by a laver of cleansing (Exodus 30:17ff) or a “bronze ocean” (First Kings 7:23ff). The Israelites passed through the Red Sea and then met with God on Mount Sinai. Once the Tabernacle was built, God’s presence dwelt in it, which the priests could only approach through the laver of cleansing. It isn’t too hard to see here a common theme: passing through water means moving closer to where God is, and typically involves repentance and abandonment of or deliverance from the old in order to receive the new. In all likelihood, the primal foundation for the significance of passing through water comes from the “waters above” which God placed under His throne in the heavens (Genesis 1:6-8; c.f. Rev. 4:6). Passing through the waters represents going to God’s throne from the earth.
As the place where God would dwell enthroned among His people, the Promised Land resembled the Heavens where God ruled among the angels. Thus Joshua and the Israelites entered the Land by miraculously passing through water and leaving the flesh of the old creation behind in circumcision, just as before Moses and the Israelites had passed through water on their way to God’s presence at Sinai, leaving the Egyptians and the plagues of Egypt behind (Exodus 15:26). Following this tradition, those many Judeans, who left their homes and traveled the long road to John the Baptist in order to be baptized at the Jordan River, were re-entering the Promised Land. They were confessing for themselves and their children that, even though they were geographically located in Israel, covenantally they were still in the wilderness. Something had gone horribly wrong and they once again needed God’s presence to come and lead them out of exile to a place of rest. Like Isaiah surprised by the presence of the Lord in His Temple, who confessed both that he was a man of unclean lips and a part of a people of unclean lips (Isaiah 6:5), those coming to John for baptism were confessing both that theirs was a sinful, adulterous, and unbelieving generation (Mark 8:38; 9:19), and that they personally had participated in it’s sin, adultery, and unbelief. They were admitting that they were still under bondage in Egypt, though Moses had led them out of it so many centuries ago.
Forgiveness
It is very important to realize that, though individual concerns were real in John’s ministry, his public proclamation of “the forgiveness of sins” had immense public consequences. It is quite easy for a person today to assume that his sins are his personal property which are no one’s business but his own and God’s. However, the Bible also acknowledges corporate sin both in the sense of institutionalized evil and in the sense of the punishment of society rather than only individual wrongdoers. Mark himself has reminded us of this by using Isaiah 40 verse 3 as a prophecy of the ministry of John the Baptist. For in the context of that quote, Isaiah promises blessings for Jerusalem as a city, saying
Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.
“Speak kindly to Jerusalem;
And call out to her, that her warfare has ended,
That her iniquity has been removed,
When we read that John was baptizing for “the forgiveness of sins,” we will be misunderstanding the text if don’t immediately think of national liberation as well as personal pardon. The Israelites journeying to the Jordan would have heard that idea in John’s proclamation, as would John himself. Mark makes the connection clear by using prophecies of Israel’s salvation from Egypt and exile to explain John’s vocation. Israel was under God’s judgment and John was telling them how it could be removed. Israel needed to be renewed and to repent.
Of course, everyone new that not everyone would repent. What was hoped was that God would come to Israel and renew her by removing the wicked from her. Mark’s citation of Malachi 3:1 underscores this because Malachi goes on to say
“Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien, and do not fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts.
By making the pilgrimage to the Jordan, those who believed John’s message showed that they wanted to be visibly separated from those under judgment when the Lord came. They wanted to be members of the future purified Israel. Undergoing John’s baptism helped them anticipate that they were not only God’s covenant people, but that they would remain in that covenant after God cast others out. In order to be assured that they would be included in the future forgiven Israel whose iniquity would be removed, they needed to repent and ask for personal forgiveness now.
What Mark implies by invoking Isaiah 40 in the context of John’s ministry, Luke later made explicit by recording some of John’s interaction with those who came to him.
He therefore began saying to the multitudes who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. And also the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” And the multitudes were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?” And he would answer and say to them, “Let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none; and let him who has food do likewise.” And some tax-gatherers also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” And some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages” (3:7-14).
Notice here that John is quoted as warning of “the wrath to come.” Mark’s use of Malachi 3 gives us the same understanding of John’s ministry. When God comes to His Temple, who can withstand the day of his coming? Notice also that issue is whether or not one is a member of the true Israel. It is not enough to be a descendant of Abraham because every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down. Thus, different groups of people ask John what they must do to be identifiable as the true Israel, the true children of Abraham.
By the way, just because John proclaims repentance, doesn’t mean he was excluding faith or preaching “legalism.” The issue is not whether one can be good enough to earn salvation. Rather, the issue for John and his hearers (and for us in our own situation) is whether or not we can rightfully identify ourselves as the people whom God will mercifully vindicate when He comes to judge the world. If we may behave in a way that God allows us to anticipate that we, to quote the Westminster Shorter Catechism, “shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment” (question 38), then our activity is not an attempt to earn anything from God or to save ourselves by our own efforts. Rather it is a demonstration that we trust God and thus can hope in him. As Paul told the Galatians, “we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.” Such a hope has nothing to do with our own merit; the only thing our merits can bring is fear. But that doesn’t mean that such a hope may be held by all apart from any conditions. We are required to believe or trust God as he has revealed Himself. Thus, the author of Hebrews writes about Moses
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin; considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward (11:24-26).
This is the kind of faith being demonstrated by those who respond to John’s proclamation. They believe what he says is true, that God is about to visit His people. They then act on their belief, knowing that God is going to both judge and save. May we do the same because we too trust God and believe His message.