"Two Baptisms" Sermon: Mark 1:4-11 (manuscript)

 

“Two Baptisms”

[Mark 1:4-11]

January 10, 2021 YouTube

            The Gospel of Mark opens with an introduction to John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus.  In this section of text, we read about two different baptisms – both of which continue to be a part of the Christian life.

            First, John baptized for the repentance and forgiveness of sins.

“John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

Baptism was a part of Jewish tradition for bringing Gentiles – non-Jews – into Judaism. Gentile converts would receive a ceremonial washing as part of their reception into the Jewish faith, and they would repent of their sins and be forgiven of their sins through the sacrificial system – and, of course, by God.

Christians – converts to Christianity – are also baptized in a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  This is explained differently depending on whether the Christian tradition baptizes infants, but the point is the same:

Christians are baptized – symbolizing being washed in Jesus’ blood and buried and raised with Him.  So, the water of baptism does nothing in itself – it is a sign and a seal – first presenting the Gospel in a picture form – we must repent of our sins, be washed clean from our sins, be resurrected to newness of life, and live for and in belief of Christ and for Him by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Water baptism does not make a person right with God – no Jew or Gentile was washed with water and made right with God – it is symbolic of what God does in the person who believes in the Savior with a true heart-belief.

So, John’s baptism was a baptism of recognizing that you are a sinner – someone who has broken God’s Law and is at odds with God – in need of being reconciled to God. Modern baptism is the recognition that we are all sinners – we have broken God’s Law and must repent of it and become right with God to not suffer His Wrath.

Salvation – being made right with God – comes through belief in the Savior – in which forgiveness is granted. This can happen at any time in a person’s life – when God the Holy Spirt comes into a person and seals the symbol of baptism in the reality of salvation in them.

We will comment more on this in the second baptism.

But first we ought to recognize who John is and why what he is doing was scandalous.

“And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.”

Who is John baptizing at the Jordan?  The implication is that there are Jews being baptized by John.  Baptism was for converts to Judaism – not for people who are already Jews.

So, what is Johns saying? Why are Jews coming to be baptized by John?

John’s baptism tells us that everyone is a sinner.  Everyone is at odds with God.  Everyone needs to be washed clean of their sins – be forgiven and made right with God.  Gentiles and Jews need more than the sacrificial system – the sacrificial system only offered forgiveness for the moment the sacrifice was made.  As you sin again – you are back to square one – worse than that – the sacrificial system never removed a person’s sin nature – so no matter how many sacrifices a person offered, he would still be a sinner, under the Wrath of God.  In coming for John’s baptism, Jews – and Gentiles – admitted that they needed something – Someone – more than the sacrificial system to make them right with God eternally.

Why did they come to John?

“Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.”

John looked like a prophet and spoke like a prophet and ate like a prophet, so they received him as a prophet – which he was.  And he announces that Jesus and Jesus’ baptism are superior to his own:

Second, Jesus baptizes with God the Holy Spirit.

“And he preached, saying, ‘After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’”

            John – who the people are flocking to see, repenting, and crying out to God for deliverance – the first prophet in four hundred years – tells the people at the Jordan that Someone is coming Who is greater – Someone is coming Who is so great that he is unworthy to untie his filthy, animal waste spattered sandals.

            We will remember that people wore sandals or bare feet, so they would become filthy.  That is why foot washing was a custom of hospitality in those days.  If you were invited to someone’s home, someone would wash the guest’s feet as he entered the home.

            John, who was held in respect by the people, said that the One Who is coming is so much greater than he that it would be too high an honor for him to be allowed to untie His filthy sandals.

            One reason for this is that this One’s baptism is greater than John’s.  John’s baptism was for repentance for the forgiveness of sins – a washing with water – but the baptism that Jesus gives is the assurance of eternal forgiveness through the gifting of the indwelling of God.

            Jesus explains what this means:

            “But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

            “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

            “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:4-15, ESV).

            God the Father and God the Son sent God the Holy Spirit to indwell everyone who repents and believes in Jesus as God the Savior to guide us in all truth.  The Holy Spirit helps us to understand what is true and what is not – what the Scripture means – when we need to repent – because we continue to sin in this world – and He empowers us to do all the good that God has given us to do in this world.

            As God the Holy Spirit indwells us, He glorifies Jesus through us and declares – teaches – Christ – to us – and helps us to understand all that has been revealed about God and His salvation.

            The baptism of John is a conditional promise to all those who remain in the faith and have repented of all their sins.  The baptism of Jesus is the assurance of salvation and the gifting of guidance and power in this life from God Himself.

Why did Jesus go to John for baptism?

Jesus is sinless – He never had a sin nature – there was never any sin to forgive in Him.

            “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.”

            John knows this though Mark does not record it.

            Matthew tells us:

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he consented” (Matthew 3:13-15, ESV).

John understands that Jesus has no need for his baptism, but John needs to be forgiven eternally by God – by the Savior – and indwelled by God the Holy Spirit for the assurance of being made right with God.

            Jesus explains to John that – for Him to be the Savior – He must experience everything humans experience – except for sin.  So, for the sake of His mission – for the sake of His being the Savior and sending God the Holy Spirit to indwell all those who believe – He must be baptized – and John submits to His request.

            John baptizes Jesus. “And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’”

            As Jesus leaves the Jordan, the sky tears open – and John – and some others – but not all the people – see the Spirit descending upon Jesus like a dove.

            Just as we who believe are indwelled with God the Holy Spirit – Jesus, in His humanity, was indwelled by God the Holy Spirit.  But Jesus is seen with the Holy Spirit hovering – and descending – over Him, and the Holy Spirit appears as a dove.  Why?

            Sinclair Ferguson points out the reasons for these symbols – these parallels in Jesus’ baptism. (Ligonier teaching video.)

            We wil remember what we read of Creation:

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2, ESV).

Just as the Holy Spirit hovered over the first Creation, so He hovers over the new creation in us.  The world as we know it came to be through the ministrations of God the Holy Spirit on it, and so we become a new creation as God the Holy Spirit changes out our hearts and makes us into the Image of Jesus.

We find the symbol of the dove after the universal flood:

“Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore” (Genesis 8:8-12, ESV).

After the rain, in sending the dove from the Ark, the dove brings news of safety, news of assurance that the waters have receded and Noah and his family – all the people that God saved through the waters – and through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son – are assured salvation is provided.

In John’s baptism, we recognize that we are sinners and cannot save ourselves.  We repent of our sin and look to God for salvation.

In Jesus’ baptism, He becomes like us so He can be our Substitute and save us from the penalty due our sins.  He secures the promise of our salvation, and the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit that we would be purified and made into the Image of Jesus.

Let us glorify God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for His wisdom, salvation, and the assurance He gives us through the two baptisms that all those who have been saved by Jesus are eternally secure in Him – and have the guidance of the Holy Spirit now.

Let us pray:

Almighty God help us to be assured of our faith through baptism, Your work, and the work of the Holy Spirit.  Help us to understand the symbolism and rely on You Alone for our everlasting life.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.