Gospel of Mark Chapter 1 Vs. 4

 John the Baptist Prepares the Way

Mark 1:4 “John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.”

John did baptize... A common Jewish name in New Testament times, it is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name Johanan (2kgs. 25:23; 1Chr. 3:15; Jer. 40:8), meaning the Lord is gracious. John’s name was given by the angel Gabriel to his father Zacharias, during his time of priestly service in the temple (Luke 1:13).

John did baptize (ἐγένετο Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτίζων)

Lit., John came to pass or arose who baptized. Rev., John came who baptized.

His mother, Elizabeth, also a descendant of Aaron (Luke 1:5), was a relative of Mary the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:36).

As the last Old Testament prophet and the divinely ordained forerunner of the Messiah, John was the culmination of Old Testament history and prophecy (Luke 16:16), as well as the beginning of the historical record of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not surprisingly, Jesus designated John as the greatest man who had lived until his time (Mat. 1:11).

John the Baptist, breaks a centuries-long prophetic silence in Israel. Other Jewish groups practiced ritual water cleansing, but John called all Israel to repentance (verse 5).

Baptism being the distinctive mark of John’s ministry, his baptism differed from the ritual Jewish washings in that it was a one-time act. The Jews performed a similar one-time washing of Gentile proselytes, symbolizing their embracing of the true faith.

That Jews would participate in such a rite was a startling admission that they, although members of God’s covenant people, needed to come to God through repentance and faith just like Gentiles.

In the wilderness... The desolate, arid region between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea (see Mat. 3:1).

baptism of repentance... A baptism resulting from true repentance. John’s ministry was to call Israel to repentance in preparation for the coming of Messiah. Baptism did not produce repentance, but was its result (Mat. 3:7-8). Far more than a mere change of mind or remorse, repentance involves a turning from sin to God (1Thes. 1:9), which results in righteous living.

Baptism of repentance (βάπτισμα μετανοίας)

A baptism the characteristic of which was repentance; which involved an obligation to repent. We should rather expect Mark to put this in the more dramatic form used by Matthew: Saying, Repent ye!

Genuine repentance is a work of God in the human heart (Acts 11:18). For a discussion of the nature of repentance, see (2Cor. 7:9-12).

for the remission... John’s rite of baptism did not produce forgiveness of sin (see Acts 2:38; 22:16); it was only the outward confession and illustration of the true repentance that results in forgiveness (Luke 24:47; Acts 3:19; 5:31; 2Cor. 7:10).

John’s baptism was not regarded as equal to baptism in the name of the Trinity as a testimony to one’s personal trust in Christ. (See Acts 19:1-5). For here means with a view to, that is, in order to attain remission of sins. The Greek word order shows that it is not baptism but repentance that secures remission of sins.

We have discussed in our lessons on Matthew, that it was the custom to baptize for the remission of sins long before Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross. Even in the tabernacle in the wilderness, the washings were symbolic of baptism to wash away sins. This actually was different to the baptism we Christians do.

A Christian being baptized is actually performing Jesus’ burial and resurrection. We are baptized into a water grave, and we are following Jesus in His resurrection. We rise again to newness of life in Jesus.

He presently uses the word in a somewhat larger sense, telling how Jesus Himself, before the story of His life could possibly be unfolded, preached as the gospel of God that the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, and added (what St. Mark only has preserved for us), Repent, and believe in the gospel (Mar. 1:14-15). So too it is part of St. Paul’s gospel that God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ (Rom. 2:16). For this also is good news of God, the gospel of the kingdom. And like the gospel of Jesus Christ, it treats of His attitude toward us, more than ours toward Him, which latter is the result rather than the substance of it. That He rules, and not the devil; that we shall answer at last to Him and to none lower; that Satan lied when he claimed to possess all the kingdoms of the earth, and to dispose of them; that Christ has now received from far different hands all power on earth; this is a gospel which the world has not yet learned to welcome, nor the Church fully to proclaim.

John’s Activity As A Prophet

In fulfillment of the preceding prophecy, John came egeneto, appeared on the stage of history as the last Old Testament prophet (cf. Luke 7:24-28; 16:16), signaling a turning point in God’s dealings with mankind. John was baptizing in the desert region erēmō dry, uninhabited country and preaching a baptism of repentance. The word preaching (kēryssōn) could be rendered proclaiming as a herald, appropriate in light of the prediction in Mar. 1:2-3.

John’s baptism was no innovation since Jews required Gentiles wanting to be admitted into Judaism to be baptized by self-immersion. The startling new element was that John’s baptism was designed for God’s covenant people, the Jews, and it required their repentance in view of the coming Messiah (cf. Mat. 3:2).

This baptism is described as one relating to or expressive of repentance for (eis) the forgiveness of sins. The Greek preposition eis could be referential with reference to or purpose leading to but probably not cause on account of. Repentance metanoia occurs in Mark only here. It means a turnabout, a deliberate change of mind resulting in a change of direction in thought and behavior (cf. Mat. 3:8; 1Thes. 1:9).

Forgiveness aphesin means the removal or cancellation of an obligation or barrier of guilt. It refers to God’s gracious act whereby sins as a debt are canceled, based on Christ’s sacrificial death (cf. Mat. 26:28). Forgiveness was not conveyed by the outward rite of baptism, but baptism was a visible witness that one had repented and as a result had received God’s gracious forgiveness of sins (cf. Luke 3:3).