Introduction

The first readers of the Gospel of Mark were in constant danger. On any normal day, the authorities could come knocking at the door. “Do you believe in Jesus?”

This was the persecution under Emperor Nero. If you said “Yes, I believe in Jesus”, you would be taken away. And you would be thrown into an arena with lions, bears, wild dogs. Many of these Christians would rather be dragged off than deny Jesus. Mark’s Gospel gave them a reason to suffer and even die for Jesus.

So as we study this Gospel of Mark, may we inherit the faith of our Christian forefathers, who died in that arena in Rome 2000 years ago.

The baptism of the Son

Why does the Son of God need to be baptized?

Baptism in Greek is baptisma (βάπτισμα), which is a ceremony of washing with water. In the case of John the Baptist, his giving a baptism was for the washing away for sins. Mark 1:4

Jesus has no sins. So why did He get baptized? To fulfill all righteousness. Matthew 3:15.

The plan is for the suffering servant to take on the sins of God’s people. And by doing so, many will be accounted as righteous. Isaiah 53:11. And when does this happen? That’s where the baptism comes in.

Because at the Jordan River, Jesus united Himself with us. His baptism was Him standing in solidarity with us, taking on our place, our name, and our sins. And by doing so, He is able to wash our sins away by dying in our place. That’s why Jesus refers to His death on the cross as a baptism. Luke 12:50.

The delight of the Father

So what happens after Jesus is baptized?

Mark 1:10 – The heavens tears open, and the Spirit descends like a dove. These are from the book of Isaiah (Is. 64:1; 61:1). And they prove that Jesus is the Messiah, the one filled with the Holy Spirit, who would redeem and restore Israel back to God.

The word for tear open is schizo (σχίζω), which means “to rend” or “to tear apart.”

Mark 15:37–38 The temple curtain that guarded the most holy presence of God was torn in half, it means that the doors of heaven have been unlocked. For who? For whoever is baptized in Jesus’ name.

And after the heavens are torn and the Spirit descends, the Father speaks from heaven.

Mark 1:11 … “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

In the Bible, the title of “Son” is reserved only for Israel, and Israel’s king. When God sends Moses to Pharaoh, God says, “Israel is my firstborn son, let my son go.” (Exod. 4:22-23). But in Psalm 2:6-7, God shows David a vision of the King of Israel. This verse is talking about Jesus, who comes as the true King of Israel. And because He’s Israel’s King, He’s Israel’s representative before God.

These words “With you I am well pleased.”  are taken from Isaiah 42, where God expresses His pleasure and delight over the suffering servant who would redeem Israel.

As the suffering servant, Jesus brings forth justice to the nations. He’s the one who would redeem Israel and fulfill all righteousness. And He does so by being baptized into our place, to bear our sins as a guilt offering. Isaiah 53:10.

John the Baptist and the people of Israel had these great expectations for Jesus to be the chosen one. The one who would overturn the Roman regime and create a Jewish Utopia. But what happens after He’s baptized? Jesus goes immediately into the wilderness. And this takes us to the second half of today’s passage, in Mark 1:12-13.

Driven by the Holy Spirit

Mark 1:12–13 says the Holy Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. The word “drove” here is ekballo (ἐκβάλλω), meaning the Holy Spirit shoved Jesus into the wilderness.

Why the wilderness? In the Bible, the wilderness is a place of curse. It’s uninhabitable and desolate. It’s the result of Adam’s sin, the first representative of mankind. And now the Holy Spirit leads Jesus there as the second Adam, as our champion, to undo the curse.

And He stays there for 40 days. Why 40 days? Because the Israelites were in the wilderness for 40 years. And now Jesus is baptized into their name, and He goes to the wilderness in their name, to rewrite the story.

And if we zoom out and look at it from a bird’s eye view, Jesus’ journey actually goes the reverse direction of the Israelites’ journey. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt. They came out of Egypt, through the baptism of the Red Sea, through the wilderness, through the Jordan River, and into the promised land. The promised land represents heaven.

Jesus comes from Nazareth, which is in the promised land. He gets baptized in the Jordan. He goes into the wilderness, and into Egypt, where He is crucified. Revelation 11:8.

We were slaves to sin in Egypt. But He died a slave’s death in our place.

In other words, He came from heaven to earth so that we could go to heaven from earth.

Now, Mark records three details about Jesus’ time in the wilderness.

Mark 1:13 He was tempted by Satan, He was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to Him. What do these mean?

Tempted by Satan

What kind of temptations did Satan use to make Jesus stumble? They’re not recorded in Mark’s Gospel, because Mark’s emphasis is different. But we see it in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Matthew 4 and Luke 4 show us that Satan used three approaches.

• Turn these stones into bread.
• Throw yourself down from the temple roof and let the angels save you.
• Bow down and worship me, and I will give you all the kingdoms of the world.

What do you think is Satan’s goal in all of this?

Satan usually tempts us with the promise of reward. To gain a worldly reward through ungodly means. That’s His usual strategy. His plan A. But in this case, Satan uses a different tactic. Plan B. In this case, Satan’s goal is for Jesus not to suffer.

Because Satan knows that Jesus’ suffering would bring salvation to many. But Jesus said no. He chose the road of suffering to fulfil the Father’s will. He suffered so that we would be made righteous. Romans 5:18–19.

Many times, in countries with a strong economy, Satan uses plan B. To get us not to suffer for God’s mission. To get us to focus on the lives we want, our own goals, our own bucket lists. To keep our time, sweat, and money to ourselves.

Next is the wild animals that dwell in the wilderness. What does that mean?

The wild animals in the wilderness

From a spiritual perspective, the wild animals are people who don’t know God, whose hearts reject God.

When God created man, He formed man out of the dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7. The breath of life is the Holy Spirit. But because of sin, the Holy Spirit departed and man became like wild animals. Psalm 49:20.

And the hearts of such people don’t welcome God. To God, their hearts are like a wilderness. Uninhabitable. Unwelcoming. Jeremiah 17:5-6, John 1:11.

But these wild animals in the wilderness played a very important role in the Old Testament.

In the book of Leviticus, we see the instructions for the Day of Atonement, which fell on the 10th day of the 7th month. It was the most important day of the year. On that day, all the sins of Israel would be forgiven. It was a day of renewal, of having your sins erased and being made new again. And one of the biggest parts of this day involved a goat.

Leviticus 16:21–22 – The goat in this passage is called the Azazel goat. The scapegoat. And this goat was to take on all the sins of the people, and be driven out into the wilderness.

So what’s the role of the wild animals? Their job was to tear the Azazel goat apart. Where? In the wilderness.

And this is exactly what happened to Jesus. The Jews who rejected God, they were the wild animals who tore Him apart.

Strengthened by angels

The final detail that Mark records is that Jesus was ministered to by angels.

The word for “minister” is diakoneo (διακονέω) and it means to serve, to give assistance, or to wait on someone. In this context, we could say that Jesus was strengthened or encouraged by angels, perhaps in the same way as in the Garden of Gethsemane. Luke 22:43.

How did this angel strengthen Jesus? The Bible gives us a clue in the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 12:2 ESV looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

It says that Jesus endured the cross why? For the joy that was set before Him. What was that joy set before Him? The one thing that Jesus didn’t have, that would become His through the cross? That’s us. You and me.

From 9am to 3pm while Jesus was on the cross, Satan was doing his very best to get Jesus to come down from the cross; speaking through the mouths of the crowd, taunting Jesus and mocking Him. But He remained there until the last hour. He gave up His breath so that ours may be restored. And so through His death, we are wild animals no longer. That’s why Jesus’ baptism is the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

He was baptized in our name, unto our death, so that we could be baptized in His name, unto His life.

Conclusion

In conclusion, let us not live like wild animals anymore. What does that look like?

First, we should stop thinking like wild animals. Stop setting our minds on the things of the flesh. Romans 8:5.

Second, we should stop eating like wild animals to satisfy our appetites with the sinful pleasures of this world. 2 Peter 2:12–14.

As people with the breath of life, we should be constantly full with the Word of God, the bread of life. John 6:35.

Third, we should stop suffering like wild animals; being short-tempered and irritable when we’re suffering or in pain.

But there’s a secret to being joyful and thankful, even when we’re suffering. The secret is to follow Jesus wholeheartedly. To dedicate our lives to God’s glory and to fulfil His mission. If we live like this, then whatever sufferings we have are counted as part of our service to God.

The Apostle Peter also confessed the same thing in Acts 20:22–24 and Romans 8:17-18.

In the end, after giving their entire lives to the mission, the wild animals beheaded Paul and crucified Peter upside down. But God used their sacrifice to establish the church. We are here because they were there.

So let us follow their example in walking the path that Jesus walked. Let us put aside our own ambitions and comforts for the sake of the mission. For building up the church and fulfilling redemptive history.

Let us read this final passage together, believing in faith that we are wild animals no longer, but the redeemed sons of God whom God shall welcome with open arms at the last day.

Isaiah 35:9-10 ESV

No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.