baptism

Here comes Jesus

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“In those days Jesus came…”

Our world today relies on chaos to explain itself. There is no order and no design that cannot be explained in terms of chance or randomness. But in God’s universe, there are certain events that are definitely ordered and set in motion for a purpose. And once started, nothing can stop them from accomplishing their purpose at precisely the right time.

I like to think of it as The Inevitability of Prophecy. What God says will happen, will happen. Look at the progression of events that Mark depicts in quick, bold strokes: the beginning of the gospel of Jesus > the prophesied messenger > John the Baptist appears > there comes one after me > Jesus comes! The details are overshadowed by the dramatic sequence of events. In fact, many teachers rely on the other gospels to fill in the gaps that Mark leaves wide open.

And it continues. Jesus is baptized by John in the Jordan River. Want more details? You’ll need to look elsewhere. This is followed by a matter-of-fact recounting of a voice from heaven saying “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Wait! I need to stop and catch my breath – things like this don’t happen every day! But Mark marches on – “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.”

Obviously, Jesus didn’t need a push to start his mission. But perhaps it was best to get him on the move before the crowd gathered their wits and began to besiege him with questions and requests for favors. That will come soon enough. But first Jesus has an unlikely appointment to keep with the devil himself. Satan may not have realized it then, but he had just lost the game when Jesus failed to succumb to his temptations.

The gospel has now begun.

For more, see Mark 1:9-13

P.S. When I took the above photo, I was surprised to see that the entire line of dominoes I set up fell in about a second, maybe less. I had to fire the shutter before I saw the dominoes falling. If I hesitated even for a moment, the image showed only fallen dominoes. It took several tries to capture the fall in progress. (I’ll leave the personal application for you to figure out)

Copyright 2019 David J. Cooley

Down by the river side

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John appeared. First, Mark tells us of a promised messenger. Then John the Baptist appears. Simple and direct. No further explanation is required – the messenger has arrived.

Mark doesn’t tell us much about him save for a brief description of his rough clothing and peculiar diet. It wasn’t unusual for people who lived in the desert, but a source of great curiosity for city folks. But not great enough to draw them to John’s wilderness.

What got their attention was his preaching. He had two simple, straight-forward messages. First, repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Second, Someone is coming who is greater than I, who won’t be baptizing with mere water, but with the Holy Spirit.

Speculation must have run rampant about this coming Someone. Could it be at long last that God was about to visit them? Could the troubled times they lived in be coming to an end? And with these thoughts, a sense of uncleanness, of sin and shame, came as well. If God is coming, will I meet his expectations? Will I be worthy?

The short answer is no. Neither I nor anyone else can meet God’s expectations of holiness. The only course of action is to repent, change my ways and seek his forgiveness. John was preparing God’s people to meet their savior. His message continues to speak to us today. Will we take a moment to visit the wilderness, the wild areas of our lives where man can not rule and control, and present ourselves humbly to the One who does?

For more, see Mark 1:4-8

Copyright 2019 David J. Cooley

God’s business

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“…he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison…”

Why do those supermarket tabloids always grab our attention? We easily see through their outrageous headlines and pasted-together photos… yet we still want to see what’s inside.

We can be just as easily drawn to spiritual nonsense, too, and this passage has more than it’s share of proponents for wild explanations and sensational revelations. How can you keep from being taken in? A good rule of thumb is to look at the context, both in the same paragraph and from the greater context of the entire Bible.

What is the context here? It’s something we see scattered throughout Scripture. God has been continually at work for the salvation of human souls. Peter brings it up here since he has been speaking of the suffering we encounter in our lives. He wants to emphasize that Jesus suffered as well, but for a far greater purpose. His suffering was for our sins that he might bring us to God.

It doesn’t help that the language here is somewhat less than crystal clear. We must be careful not to make inferences that cannot be supported by the clear teaching found elsewhere in the Bible. The best explanations I’ve read about this passage are also the least sensational and appealing to our thirst for “secret” knowledge. In the days of Noah, Jesus, being part of the Godhead with the Father and the Spirit, preached to the people through Noah. Those people are now dead, or imprisoned, since they did not heed the message.

The main takeaway is that the eight people who trusted God were brought safely through the water. The obvious comparison is to baptism. It’s not about soap and water and scrubbing behind your ears, but about dying to sin and being raised to newness of life. Jesus was resurrected from the dead and is now in heaven, where all angels, authorities and powers are subjected to him. And nothing can stop Him from bringing us along.

For more details, see 1 Peter 3:18-22. No UFO’s. I promise.

Copyright 2019 David J. Cooley