Our Scripture reading this morning comes from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 1. Since we had a bit of an advertisement for the other Sunday school class, I think it's only fair if I give a little bit of advertisement for the other Sunday school class. There's a Sunday school class which meets here in the sanctuary after worship, and we We are studying the gospel of Mark together, and any of you who'd like to join that class are most welcome. So, our Scripture reading begins at Mark 1, verse 1, and we'll read down through verse 15. Let us hear God's own Word. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, Behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 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. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 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. In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when He came up out of the water, immediately He saw the heavens being torn open and the Holy Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, You are my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan, and he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. Now, after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel. So far the reading of God's Word. Mark takes just three verses to describe the baptism of Jesus. It's a very brief, simple description, and one, therefore, that we might read over quickly and not pause to reflect on and meditate on. But Mark in a variety of ways shows us that this little story of the baptism of Jesus is a very, very important one. He wants us to think about it carefully. The baptism of Jesus is referred to in all four of the Gospels, showing that each of the evangelists thought that baptism was important. In Mark's Gospel, the baptism of Jesus stands at the very center of this first section of the Gospel, a way in which ancient writers would highlight something of particular importance. And then Mark uses powerful language to draw our attention to this event. I don't know if you've noticed this before. I don't think I had ever really paused to think about it until I was working on this sermon. It was that working on sermons can have some profit, So I commend that to all of you, to study the Bible with a view of thinking, how might I teach this to others, because it's a great way to teach yourself. But I had never really been struck by what we read in verse 10 of Mark chapter 1, and when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open. I don't know that I'd ever really noticed that word torn before. Only Mark uses it. Matthew and Luke just talk about the heavens being opened, and the word that Matthew and Luke use is a word for opening a door, and that's the way I've always sort of thought about this moment, that heaven's just kind of open like a door opening or like a curtain in a window opening, and suddenly something was seen that hadn't been seen before. But Mark wants us to know that this was really a much more dramatic event than that. It's not just that a door opened, but that there was a rending, a tearing apart of heaven so that the Holy Spirit would come down. And I think Mark is very intentionally alluding to that word of prophecy in Isaiah 64, where the prophet had said, oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down. For God to come to earth is a dramatic thing to happen. One might almost say a violent thing to happen, a changing of the order. And that's what's happening here in this baptism of Jesus. it's not just a nice little story. It's not just an event in the life of Jesus. It's one of the really important highlights of what Mark is telling us because it reveals so much about Jesus and his ministry to us. And that's what we want to look at this morning. why is the baptism of Jesus important? Some theologians, after all, have said through the years, it's really a mystery that Jesus would be baptized at all. What was baptism for? It was for the confession of sin. It was for the forgiveness of sin. But Jesus wasn't a sinner. So why did He need to be baptized? Well, these are the kind of questions that theologians raised and sometimes don't answer all so well. But it's an important question, it's an important issue, and it's an important moment in the life of Jesus. What does the baptism of Jesus really mean? Why does He undergo this? Why does Mark focus almost like a spotlight our attention on this event? What does He want to teach us? And you'll be surprised to learn, I think He wants to teach us three things. I think in the first place, the baptism of Jesus wants to teach us that Jesus confirms the ministry of John. Jesus wants us to know that He approves and validates the ministry of John the Baptist. Jesus believes that John is really sent as a prophet from God, that John is really doing the Lord's work, and so Jesus wants to identify with John in that way. And it's interesting the way Mark wants us to see that. He says there in verse 9, in those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee. And if we don't pause to think about that, we might just think to ourselves, of course he comes from Nazareth, that's where he lives. And of course he comes from Galilee because Nazareth is in Galilee. But if we pause a minute and think about this, we see that Mark has told us John is baptizing in the Jordan and all of Judea and Jerusalem has gone out to him. That means that most likely John is baptizing in the southern part of the Jordan River down towards Jerusalem. And that means for Jesus to go to John is a journey probably of about 60 or 70 miles. Now, today with our cars, we don't think a journey of 60 or 70 miles amounts to much, do we? But if we had to walk it, I cringe to think about it, if we had to walk it, we'd have to think a lot more about it, wouldn't we? To undertake a walking journey of 60 or 70 miles means you have to be pretty committed to the enterprise. You have to be pretty persuaded that this is really important, And that, it seems to me, is exactly what Jesus is doing here. He's saying, I'm willing to give days of walking and energy to connect with John because I think what John is doing is so important. John is the prophet that God has sent. John is the voice crying in the wilderness. John is the man who is preparing the way of the Lord. He is fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah. And so it is so very important that I identify with John, that I validate his work, that I say what John is saying is true. I used for our call to worship this morning Isaiah 62. And it's interesting that the whole section of Isaiah 61 through 64 seems to be in the background of Mark's mind as he's writing about this baptism. Isaiah 64 talks about rending the heavens. And in that call to worship, Isaiah 62 verses 10 through 12, we have those words that speak of John's ministry, don't they? Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way for the people, build up, build up the highway, clear it of stones, lift up a signal for the peoples. What is the signal lifted up? Well, it's baptism. It's baptism in the Jordan River. It's that truth that Jesus wants to validate. And Jesus also wants to validate the message of John that the great need of the people is repentance and forgiveness. Jesus wants to say that is what we need as the people of God, repentance and forgiveness. The Pharisees didn't think John was right. Herod didn't think John was right. They didn't think they needed a call to repentance. They didn't think they needed to be cleansed of sin. They rejected the baptism of John, we're told in the Scriptures. They believed that they, at least the Pharisees believed, that they were living lives that on their own allowed them to fulfill the law of God. They were not sinners. and Jesus has come to say, John's exactly right. He's saying at the same time, John is the one who understands what God said through His prophets of old. John is the one who really understands what the law of God means. John really understands that the law was given to teach us that we are sinners. And so Jesus comes to identify with John, to accept baptism as a way of saying God's people need a new beginning. Isn't it interesting that John baptizes in the Jordan? It's not just because there was a fair amount of water in the Jordan. It's because John is symbolically saying, we as a people who once passed through the Jordan, We've just been hearing preaching about that. We are a people who once passed through the Jordan, and symbolically, we really need a new pass through. We need a new beginning. We need a new orientation. That's what John is saying, and Jesus is saying, John is right. And Jesus is still teaching us that it's John's way of reading the Old Testament, what we might call later the apostolic way of reading the Old Testament, that we have to hold to, and we have to hold to the message that John brought, that our deepest need is the forgiveness of our sins. Our deepest need is the forgiveness of our sins. We're now living in a period of elections. Now, some of us who are really ancient, like me can remember a day in America when the election season was maybe two weeks or a month. Now it seems we live in a perpetual election season, so to say we're living an election season in America almost doesn't seem to say anything. But we're going to have all sorts of candidates saying what we need, what we need in terms of the economy, what we need on all sorts of other issues. And I dare say there won't be one of them who says what we most need is the forgiveness of our sins. And so we need the testimony of John that Jesus validates for us, that the very deepest need, not the only need, there are other needs in life, but the very most critical need, the most foundational need, is that we might have the forgiveness of our sins. Secondly, Jesus is baptized to connect with sinners in their need. Jesus' baptism is His way of identifying with sinners. He's not saying He is a sinner, but He's saying He stands one with sinners, that He's in solidarity with sinners. He came not to be separated from sinners the way the Pharisees saw themselves as separated and superior to sinners, but He came for sinners. He came to help sinners. He came to identify with sinners. Paul expressed that, didn't he, so powerfully in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, where he wrote, For our sake, God made Jesus to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in Jesus we might become the righteousness of God. What an amazing statement that is. God made Jesus to be sin. Paul doesn't mean by that that Jesus was polluted by sin or that Jesus committed sin. In fact, Paul makes that very clear, doesn't he, saying Jesus knew no sin. But he's saying, Jesus took our sin upon Himself. Jesus bore our sin, and He bore our sin not only on the cross, but He bore it in baptism. I was reading Ursinus' commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism. If you haven't done that, I commend it to you. It's great reading. Read it at night before you go to sleep. It'll either keep you up all night writing a sermon or it will put you right to sleep. But it is absolutely fascinating. And Ursinus addresses this question, if Jesus is sinless, why does he need to be baptized? And one of the great answers, he gives a number of great answers, but one of the great answers he gives is, well, he needed to be baptized for the same reason that he needed to be circumcised. Have you ever thought about that? I'd never thought about that. Israel was circumcised as a sign of its sin and its sign of a new beginning. And Jesus was circumcised just as he was baptized to identify with sinners, to say, I'm one of the people of God, one of the sinful people of God that God is redeeming. I stand with you. I stand for you. I do not stand afar off critically ignoring you we read that don't we wonderfully in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14 since therefore the children share in flesh and blood he himself likewise partook of the same things that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. He entered into our lives. He took our nature so that He might be able to redeem us. Our Heidelberg Catechism expresses that so wonderfully in questions 15 through 18. One of the questions is, why do we have to have a mediator who is true man? And the answer is because only man can pay the debt that man owes. And so God became man to pay that debt in our place. And so we have a great high priest who sympathizes with us, who cares for us. And the baptism of Jesus shows us that in His identifying with us in our need. The baptism of Jesus shows a covenant solidarity with us. Isaiah 61 says, I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Here is the everlasting covenant being made with His people, fulfilled for our redemption. And a few verses later in Isaiah 61, the people respond to God's promise of an everlasting covenant. They say, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness. What a wonderful picture of what God's saving work does for us, takes away our filthy rags and covers us with the robes of righteousness. So, Jesus in His baptism confirms the ministry of John. Jesus in His baptism connects with the need of sinners. And Jesus, in His baptism, communicates salvation's character to us. It's interesting how this section of Mark…we'll be talking about this more in Sunday school. It's interesting how this section of Mark begins in verse 1 with a statement, This is the beginning of the gospel, and this section ends in Mark 1, 15 with the statement, believe the gospel, and we might ask, well, what exactly is the gospel? And I think Jesus' baptism shows us exactly what the gospel is. What does it mean to have the water of baptism touch you? Well, it means several things. First of all, it means it communicates a picture of cleansing, doesn't it? That's one of the ways we talk about baptism, a washing away, a symbolic washing away of sin. It is a picture of our need to be washed, to be cleansed, to be renewed. And Jesus is giving us that gospel picture that He has come to wash us, to make us new. But secondly, it is also a picture of death and resurrection. Jesus goes down into the waters of baptism and comes up out of them. A water is often in the Old Testament a picture of judgment and of death. That's why in our baptismal form we make reference to Noah and the flood where the waters were judgment and only those in the ark passed through the water and lived. That's why in our baptismal form we refer to Israel passing through the Red Sea. Only God's people passed safely through the Red Sea, but Pharaoh and his host were drowned. And so the waters of baptism speak of death and drowning unless you come up out of them. And that's what Jesus is picturing for us here. He goes into the waters of baptism, picturing his death, and he comes up out of them, picturing his resurrection. Paul summarizes that for us in Colossians 2, verse 12, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God. Baptism is our dying to the old life and our rising to newness of life in Christ. As we study Mark's gospel together that I mentioned in adult Sunday school, we will see any number of what I call mini-resurrections, allusions to the resurrection, pointing to the resurrection, because what is the gospel? The gospel is that Jesus dies for sinners and rises to give them life. And when Jesus says, do you believe the gospel? He's really asking, do you believe that I died for sinners and that I rose to give you life? That's what the gospel is all about. Now, John had prophesied that after him would come one mightier than John. And I think this tearing open of heaven is a work that Jesus does. He's the mighty one in his resurrection. He opens heaven for us in his life. Do you know that Mark uses this word of torn apart only one other time in his gospel? He uses it only in Mark 15, verse 38, where we read that the curtain of the temple when Jesus died was torn apart from top to bottom. And we know when Jesus died, He opened the temple, that is, He opened the way to God. but he didn't do that just at the end of his life. He does it here for us at the beginning of his ministry, where he comes out of the water, the mighty man of life, and opens heaven for us so that the Holy Spirit can come down to give life to his people. Isaiah 63 verse 1 says, it is I speaking in righteousness, mighty to save. That's the Jesus who's revealed to us in His baptism, and what a remarkable thing that is. What a remarkable promise it is. What a wonderful blessing it is. And so this picture of Jesus' baptism is a picture to us of what our salvation is, what the gospel He preaches is. He comes to forgive. He comes to give life. He comes to bless. What a great God we have. What a great Savior we have. And as He comes up out of that water, He hears the voice of His Father, doesn't He? He hears the voice of his father saying, You are my son, my beloved. You are my son, my beloved. The father loves the son. And then he says, In the beloved, I am well pleased. In the beloved, I am well pleased. The Father accepts the work of the Son. The Father accepts His teaching as true. The Father accepts His work as saving. The Father promises that as we are in Jesus, as we believe in Him, we become the children of God. We become the beloved of God. We can have the confidence that at the last day, our Heavenly Father will say to us, well done, good and faithful servant. Because we're in Jesus, He will be well pleased with us. He will love us. He will call us His children. What a wonderful gospel. How greatly Jesus teaches that gospel at the very beginning of His ministry and His baptism. and how when we think about the baptism of Jesus and when we think about our own baptisms as participations in that eternal covenant, we should rejoice in such a Savior. May God grant that every one of us here has that confidence and assurance that Jesus has come and saved us from our sins. Amen. Let us pray. Lord, our God, how great you are, how good you are, how faithful you are to your Word, and how gracious you are to have provided for us such a great salvation. Fill our hearts evermore with thanksgiving for our Savior, and grant us all faith and life in Him. Hear us, for we pray in His name. Amen.