Daily Devotion – January 5, 2021 – Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison
Mark 1:4-11
1:4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
1:5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
1:6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
1:7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.
1:8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
1:9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
1:10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.
1:11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
The sure-to-be-noticed figure of John the Baptist must have been a startling sight in the wilderness near Jerusalem. He was a relative of Jesus, so he may have looked a bit like him. He probably had a great voice for proclaiming, or had made it bigger and booming through practice for month upon month. His clothing and diet were not ordinary, to be sure. But it was his message and his sureness about what he was proclaiming and about his calling as a fore-runner and messenger that probably drew people to him.
Religious hermits and prophets were not unknown in Israel. History was full of them. In this case, John probably already knew the person he was proclaiming, his cousin Jesus. He was just doing this work, this vocation of his, to prime the pump, to start the fire, to boil the water. He was the prep chef, the opening act, the person SENT FROM GOD to get the people thinking about their relationship with God so that the ground would be ready to receive the seeds Jesus would come to plant.
So imagine the day John was out in the river, doing his baptizing with the people from town, when Jesus came and got into the baptism line. In other gospel accounts John at first shrinks from baptizing Jesus. He knows his place; he knows his calling. He is lesser, Jesus is greater. But Jesus insists that John must baptize him. So John baptizes Jesus, and as Jesus comes up out of the water, Jesus sees the heavens torn apart (the same expression Mark uses at the very moment of Jesus’s death when the curtain of the Temple is torn apart) and the Holy Spirit descending toward earth and landing on him. And then the voice comes: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” At that moment the Holy Trinity is one; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are joined.
Why did the Father do it? Tear open the curtain of heaven and speak to his son (please forgive the male nouns and pronouns here for God the Creator – just bear with me)? Why do these 2 verses in Mark exist? The verses do not say that the crowds saw this sign (perhaps they did). The verses say that Jesus saw and heard this sign. Did Jesus need this assurance as he began his ministry? Perhaps. But maybe God the Father needed to do it. Maybe this father needed to show his son he approved and stood with him, Holy Spirit and all. Think how important the words of approval and support of a parent are to a beloved child.
How might each of us deliver words of approval and support to our children, our friends, our neighbors, even strangers, at the start of this new season of life?
Gracious God, Thank you for loving us. Help us to help others see they are loved and supported as fellow beloved children of God. Help us give others this needed love for our own sake as well as theirs. Amen.
