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Scripture Reading: Mark 1:1, 4, 9-10
In the foregoing message we considered the significance of the phrase “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ” in 1:1. Let us now go on to consider the word “baptism” in verse 4.
Verse 4 says, “John the baptizer came in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins.” Here we see that John came forth to preach the baptism of repentance. To baptize a person is to bury him in water. Such a burial is a matter of termination. The best way for something to be terminated is for it to be buried. When those who came to John were baptized, they were buried, terminated.
John the Baptist preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Whoever came to John in genuine repentance would then be baptized by him. The repentant ones were buried in baptism by John.
In 1:1 we have a beginning, and in 1:4, a termination. If there is no termination, there cannot be a new beginning. Why were we baptized after we believed in the Lord Jesus? We were baptized in order to bury our old life, including ourselves. Whenever a person repents and believes in the Lord, we should terminate the old life and old self of that one by baptizing him, by burying him. This termination is for a new beginning.
Mark 1:9 speaks of the baptism of the Lord Jesus: “And it came about in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John.” The Lord Jesus was willing to be baptized; He was willing to be buried.
Why was the Lord Jesus baptized? Although in one sense with Him there was nothing that needed to be buried, in particular nothing old, the Lord was nevertheless a man, and as a man He was part of the old creation. If the Lord Jesus did not have anything to do with the old creation, how could He be the Savior of the old creation?
According to John 1:1 and 14, the Word, which was God, became flesh. The word “flesh” is a negative term in the Scriptures. God did not create a flesh; God created a man. Why, then, does the Gospel of John not say that the Word became man? John 1:14 clearly says not that the Word became a man, but that the Word became flesh. When Jesus came from Nazareth to John, He had a body of flesh.
Concerning this matter, Paul was very careful. In Romans 8:3 he says that Christ came in the likeness of the flesh of sin. Fallen man had become the flesh of sin. But the Lord Jesus had only the likeness of the flesh of sin; He did not have sin. Just as the brass serpent lifted up in the wilderness for the redemption of the fallen Israelites had only the likeness, the form, of a serpent but not the nature of a serpent, so the Lord Jesus had only the likeness of the flesh of sin, not the nature of the flesh of sin.
By the time the Lord Jesus became a man, mankind had fallen. However, within the Lord Jesus there was no sin. Although there was no sin in Him, yet His humanity was still in the likeness of the flesh of sin.
On the one hand, the Lord Jesus was the Son of God. This is a matter of His deity. On the other hand, He was the Son of Man. This is a matter of His humanity. With respect to His deity, there was no need for the Lord Jesus to be baptized. But with respect to His humanity, to His being a man among men, there was the need for Him to be baptized. The Lord Jesus as a man needed to be terminated, to be buried.
Of course, the Bible does not say that at the time of His baptism the Lord Jesus repented. Because He had nothing of which to repent, there was no need for Him to repent. The Lord did not have sin, and He never sinned. Because He had neither sin nor sins, He did not need to repent. Nevertheless, He had a humanity that was related to the old creation, and for this reason He needed to be baptized. In His baptism the Lord was willing to have Himself put aside.
Mark 1:10 tells us what happened when the Lord Jesus came up out of the water: “And immediately, coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens being parted, and the Spirit as a dove coming down to Him.” Before this time, the Lord Jesus already had God the Father within Him as the essence of His being. After His baptism, God the Spirit descended upon Him. Therefore, within Him the Lord Jesus had the divine essence, and upon Him He had the Spirit of God. As the One with the Father within Him as His essence and the Spirit upon Him as the power for His move and work, He began to minister. In His move, His work, the Lord Jesus was not a person merely of morality or ethics, and He was not a person of religion. Rather, the Lord Jesus was a person absolutely of God.
After His baptism, with the Spirit upon Him, the Lord Jesus was a person absolutely of God inwardly and outwardly. Inwardly He had God the Father as His essence; outwardly He had the Spirit of God as His power to move, act, minister, and preach. In this way He became not a person of culture, religion, or merely ethics or morality, but a person of God.
In His move on earth, what did the Lord Jesus do? Did He teach ethics or morality? Did He emphasize religion, culture, or education? Did He tell people to keep the Ten Commandments given by God? These are not the things the Lord Jesus did in His move. He was altogether in another kingdom, the kingdom of God. He was not in the kingdom of law, morality, ethics, religion, or culture. He was wholly in the kingdom of God.
What is the kingdom of God? We may be so bold as to say that the kingdom of God is actually God Himself. Let us use the animal kingdom as an illustration. The animal kingdom, of course, is composed of animals. If there were no animals, there would not be an animal kingdom. The principle is the same with the kingdom of man. The kingdom of man is mankind. In a similar way, the kingdom of God is God Himself.
The Lord Jesus was a man of God. Whatever He did, whatever He preached and taught, the way He behaved and ministered — everything was in the kingdom of God.
Confucius taught ethics, and he was in the kingdom of ethics. Ethics is good, but it is not the kingdom of God.
Moses emphasized the keeping of the law, and he was in the kingdom of law. This kingdom is also good, but it is not the kingdom of God.
Aaron the high priest taught the people the proper way to worship God. Thus, Aaron was in the kingdom of the priesthood. This too was good, but it is not the kingdom of God.
When the Lord Jesus came out to minister, He did not teach ethics, the keeping of the law, or the priestly service of God. He lived, moved, and acted in the kingdom of God. As we have seen, the kingdom of God is God Himself.
In 1:14-45 we see the contents of the Lord’s gospel service: preaching the gospel (vv. 14-20), teaching the truth (vv. 21-22), casting out demons (vv. 23-28), healing the sick (vv. 29-39), and cleansing the leper (vv. 40-45). These are not matters of ethics, morality, culture, philosophy, or religion. These are the ways the Lord Jesus served God. He served God by preaching the gospel, teaching the truth, casting out demons, healing the sick, and cleansing the leper.
The Bible does not say that the work of the Lord Jesus was to preach the gospel, teach the truth, cast out demons, heal the sick, and cleanse the leper. Instead, the New Testament indicates that this was His move. After He was baptized and after the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, He moved in the way of preaching, teaching, casting out demons, healing the sick, and cleansing the leper. When He moved into Galilee, He preached. When He came to Capernaum, He taught. He also cast out an unclean spirit, and later He healed Peter’s mother-in-law. Furthermore, in His move in His ministry He met a leper and cleansed him.
Was all this the Lord’s work, His move, or His life? Actually, it is difficult to say, for His life was His work, and His work was His move. The Lord Jesus was continually living, working, and moving. Day and night He lived, and day and night He worked and moved. His work was His living, and His move was His being. For this reason, we cannot say how much the Lord Jesus worked. He worked everywhere and all the time because His work was His life, His life was His move, and His move was His work. With Him there was no difference between His life, His work, and His move.
With the Lord Jesus every aspect of His life was the same. We, however, may divide up our life between work, school, family, and church. We can easily point out how many hours we work each day. But can you say how many hours the Lord Jesus worked every day? What time was set apart for His meals? The point here is that the Lord Jesus was always living, working, and moving. His preaching and teaching were part of His living. Casting out demons, healing the sick, and cleansing the leper were also part of the living of the Lord Jesus. With Him there is no distinction between life and work.
We may think that the Lord Jesus was able to live such a life, but we cannot. Today we all should live a life of preaching, teaching, casting out demons, healing the sick, and cleansing the lepers. The common practice of hiring preachers to work as professionals is not right according to the Scriptures. Every believer should live a life of preaching, teaching, casting out demons, and healing the sick. If we live in this way, wherever we go, our life will be our preaching, for we live a preaching life. Likewise, we shall also live a life of casting out demons. Many indulge in certain evil, worldly things because they have been possessed by demons.
My point in speaking concerning this is that the Lord Jesus lived a life of God, and this is a life of preaching, teaching, casting out demons, healing the sick, and cleansing the lepers. It is not a life of culture, religion, philosophy, or mere ethics or morality. The life that is the life of God automatically preaches, teaches, casts out demons, heals, and cleanses. If we all live this kind of life, the situation in our locality will be different after a period of time. However, the matter we are emphasizing is the life itself, the life of God fully according to and for His New Testament economy.
We have seen that the contents of the Lord’s gospel service include preaching the gospel, teaching the truth, casting out demons, healing the sick, and cleansing the leper. In 2:1—3:6 we see the ways of carrying out the gospel service: forgiving sins (2:1-12), feasting with sinners (2:13-17), causing His followers to be merry without fasting (2:18-22), caring for His followers’ hunger rather than for religion’s regulation (2:23-28), and caring for the relief of the suffering one rather than for the ritual of religion (3:1-6). All these matters should be found in our living as Christians today. If you live a life of God, after a period of time certain of your colleagues may experience the forgiveness of sins. Then these ones will enjoy the Lord as a feast, having the Lord Jesus as righteousness for their covering and as life for their filling and satisfaction. Then such ones will have freedom. Before you came in contact with them, they were under condemnation and had no real joy, satisfaction, or freedom. But as a result of your gospel preaching, not merely by words but by life, the truth shines into them and they have the forgiveness of sins. This is the result of our living a life fully according to the New Testament economy of God.
A life that is fully according to and for God’s New Testament economy is very different from religion, which emphasizes human effort. God’s economy is altogether a matter of life.
In 3:7-35 we see five auxiliary acts for the gospel service: avoiding the crowd’s pressing (vv. 7-12), appointing the apostles to preach (vv. 13-19), not eating because of urgent need (vv. 20-21), binding Satan and plundering his house by the Holy Spirit (vv. 22-30), and not remaining in the relationship of the natural life but of the spiritual life (vv. 31-35). If we live a life according to God’s New Testament economy, we shall stay away from the crowd and then pray in order to know God’s will concerning others’ living the way we are living. Furthermore, we shall care for God’s need, not for our eating. We shall also bind the enemy and plunder his house. At the same time, we shall deny the natural relationship and remain in the relationship of the spiritual life. All these are aspects not of a life of ethics, morality, religion, or culture, but of a life that is of God and according to God. Such a life is outside religion, culture, and ethics. This is a life that lives out God as everything.
We need to be impressed with the fact that the Gospel of Mark is not merely a book of stories or a biography. The Gospel of Mark is a book that presents a life of God, a life that lives God and expresses Him. This is a life fully according to and for the New Testament economy of God.
