When reading Mark, there are three perspectives to keep in mind. The first is that this is about the things Jesus said and did. Second, Mark isn’t writing to disciples, he is writing to Romans so he has to write in a way that the people of Rome would understand. Finally, we have to ask how does this text speak to us.
NET Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way, 3 the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make his paths straight.’”
Jesus was about 30 when He was baptized and that is where Mark makes the decision to jump in. There are no wise men, no Bethlehem star and no Mary. We don’t have an original copy of Mark but there are scholars who spend their whole lives studying manuscripts looking for differences and what they have found is great consistency among the texts that we have.
Mark starts by taking three Old Testament ideas and then woven them together.
Malachi 3:1 “Look, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, look, he comes.” says the LORD of hosts. NHEB
Isaiah 40:3 The voice of one who calls out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the LORD. Make his roads straight…..5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, And all humanity will see the salvation of God together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” NHEB
Exodus 23: 20 “I am going to send an angel before you to protect you as you journey and to bring you into the place that I have prepared. NET
In Malachi, God isn’t happy as He has exiled them to Babylon then restored them yet they still resort to their old ways. The last thing written is that the Jews won’t hear from God until the Messiah shows up and they will know that day is coming because there will be a prophet who is like Elijah that will come and prepare the way. Mark references the prophecy of a prophet coming ahead of the Messiah and identifies that person as John the Baptist.
So why would Romans care about John the Baptist? After all, the Jews are a nuisance and Palestine is a backwater yet Mark decides to start with this seemingly obscure (to them) Jewish prophecy. In the Sistine Chapel ceiling, there are four pillars holding up creation which are depicted as the Old Testament prophets. Interspersed are five women representing the Sibyls of Greek mythology whose position in that mythology was that of giving prophecies. It is interesting that Michelangelo elevated them to equality with the Old Testament prophets. His point in the painting is that both the Jewish and Greek world looked to a better time and there were voices that spoke to that better time. Romans couldn’t care less about Isaiah but they did care about people who knew the future. So Mark gives them a prophecy.
Mark 1:4 In the wilderness John the baptizer began preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 People from the whole Judean countryside and all of Jerusalem were going out to him, and he was baptizing them in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. NET
Wilderness in verse 3 ties to the same word in verse 4 to show that John is the person who fulfilled the prophecy. (Note that some translations will call it the prophets of old rather than Isaiah). When John shows up, the language makes sense to Jews. Although repentance is linked to every ritual purification in Judaism and Christianity, John’s baptism isn’t just about the desire to become clean and cast off sins. It is also pointing toward something that is about to happen.
John the Baptist’s impact was so powerful that the authorities decide to question him (see Gospel of John) but despite his significance, we need to remember that John’s baptism is not a Christian baptism. We see this pretty clearly in Acts 19, where Paul finally gets to Ephesus and runs into some John the Baptist people who hadn’t heard about Jesus nor the Holy Spirit. Since they were in Asia Minor far from Jerusalem, perhaps they could have been people who got baptized while on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and then went home afterward. Paul baptizes them in the name of Christ and they receive the Holy Spirit.
Mark 1:6 John wore a garment made of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. NET
This is almost a verbatim description of Elijah so Mark is telling us that John the Baptist is the person described in Malachi. Locusts and grasshoppers are okay to eat under the Old Testament law (but there is also a locust tree that produces carob (a chocolate substitute for some). While his diet sounds rather exotic, it isn’t like there is a lot to eat around the Dead Sea.
John stands in stark contrast to the San Hedrin and Jewish leadership who ate fancy food and dressed nicely. The Qumran community was an insult to them because it consisted of people who had rejected their teachings and went instead to the wilderness so they could prepare for the Messiah. Although there are many similarities, there is debate as to whether John was part of the community or if he simply lived there as there are differences in what he taught versus what the Qumran community believed.
Mark 1: 7 He proclaimed, “One more powerful than I am is coming after me; I am not worthy to bend down and untie the strap of his sandals. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” NET
Now we get to part of John’s preaching. John is aware of who he is and of his mission but he also knows that there is someone coming. All of this discussion is to setup the baptism of Jesus. Since Hebrews tells us He is sinless and John’s Gospel calls him the lamb (which in Judaism means an unblemished lamb), we might ask why is Jesus being baptized? Two answers to that question (or might be better stated as one answer with two parts). First is that He is baptized for our sins. Second is that this is part of incarnation, i.e., He is one of us.
Isaiah 53:11 After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities. BSB
Matthew 13:13 At that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” 15 “Let it be so now,” Jesus replied. “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness in this way.” Then John permitted Him. 16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!” BSB
While Jesus had no need of repentance, we certainly do as our righteousness is fulfilled by this act of baptism by Jesus. After the baptism, God confirms that Jesus is that righteous Servant and that He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.
2Corinthians 5: 21 God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God. NET