My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased

Invicta · August 4, 2015

My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased
Mark 1:9–13

Mark deals very briefly with the baptism and temptation of Jesus (see Matthew 3:13 to 4:11 for a more detailed account). Following his baptism, the Lord Jesus was driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, where he was tempted by Satan for forty days. Though weak in body through lack of food, he did not yield to the enticements of the devil. John baptized those who had repented of their sin (4). Why then did the Lord Jesus submit to baptism when he is sinless and has no need to repent?

•Baptism speaks of identification. When a believer is baptized, he is identified with Jesus in his death and resurrection (Romans 6:3–4). The sinless Lord Jesus took human flesh to identify himself with sinful mankind, being born under the law (Galatians 4:4). The law of God curses and condemns the sinner. Our sin was laid upon Jesus who has redeemed us from the curse of the law through his death at Calvary (Isaiah 53:6; Galatians 3:10–13). God the Father punished him for our sin, making him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him (2.Corinthians 5:21).

• Baptism also speaks of suffering. The baptism of Jesus not only symbolised his identification with us, but also his suffering and death to take away our sin. He spoke of a baptism which was a cup of suffering that he had to endure (10:38; Luke 12:50). The whole of the Trinity was involved in the baptism of Jesus. As the Son came up from the water, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove upon him and the Father spoke from heaven, ‘Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’ (11). The Father loves the Son (John 3:35) and has accepted him as the perfect substitute to die for sinners. All Christians are accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6). We are ‘in Christ’ and we are clothed with his righteousness. We are no longer
condemned for our sin (Romans 8:1,34). Let us rejoice and give thanks to God for our wonderful salvation/

Pastor Alec Taylor