Gospel of Mark Chapter 1 Vs.11

The Baptism of Jesus

 

Mark 1:11 “And there came a voice from heaven, [saying], Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Thou art my... Mat. 3:17; 17:5; John 12:28; Heb. 1:1-14.

Along with new access to heaven (verse 10), comes new information from heaven. Thou are a statement of fact. Thou are translated from an emphatic Greek personal pronoun stressing the identity of Jesus to the exclusion of all others. The force of this is, you alone, rather than any others, are uniquely My beloved Son.

Thou art my beloved son

The three synoptists give the saying in the same form: Thou art my son, the beloved.

The Father’s pronouncement would have reminded the audience of the messianic prophecies of (Psm. 2:7; Isa. 42:1).

The thing that stands out (in verses 10 and 11), more than anything else is the fullness of the God head here. We see Jesus (the second person), coming out of the water, we see the Father in the voice from heaven, and we see the Holy Spirit in the form of a Dove which descended from heaven. We in fact, see Father, Son, and Holy Spirit here at the baptism.

The heaven opened lets us know that these truly were from the throne of God in heaven. Remember, Jesus was from heaven Himself. His Spirit, which is His Life, is of God. His flesh was provided by Mary.

In (verse 10), it appears that all three personalities of God were cooperating in the ministry of Jesus here on the earth. Jesus’ body here, was touched by the Holy Spirit of God, as if anointing Jesus to carry out the work. Jesus’ Spirit needed no renewal. His Spirit is the God Spirit, without flaw.

The Spirit of God chose to come to earth and take on the form of man, so that He might save mortal man. The heavens opened shows also, the involvement of all of heaven in this earthly ministry of Jesus which officially began with this baptism. The Elohim God was present here, the very one present at creation.

These three also, give us a three-fold view of approval of the baptism. First of all, the Lord Jesus was the one baptized. The voice from heaven caused us to hear God’s approval; and thirdly, the dissention of the Dove gave physical evidence of God’s approval.

Many people wear little dove pins proclaiming that they have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. This voice leaves no doubt who Jesus is. He is the Son of God. Not only is He the Son of God, but God is very pleased with His Son. Just this voice alone should have left no doubt in anyone’s mind just who Jesus really is.

At the same time was heard a Voice from heaven. And the bearing of this passage upon the Trinity becomes clear, when we combine the manifestation of the Spirit in living Personality, and the Divine Voice, not from the Dove but from the heavens, with the announcement that Jesus is not merely beloved and well-pleasing, but a Son, and in this high sense the only Son, since the words are literally, Thou art the Son of Me, the beloved. And yet He is to bring many sons unto glory.

Is it consistent with due reverence to believe that this voice conveyed a message to our Lord Himself? Even so liberal a critic as Neander has denied this. But if we grasp the meaning of what we believe that He upon taking flesh emptied Himself, that He increased in wisdom during His youth, and that there was a day and hour which to the end of life He knew not, we need not suppose that His infancy was so unchildlike as the realization of His mysterious and awful Personality would make it. There must then have been a period when His perfect human development rose up into what Renan calls (more accurately than he knows) identification of Himself with the object of His devotion, carried to the utmost limit. Nor is this period quite undiscoverable, for when it arrived it would seem highly unnatural to postpone His public ministry further. Now this reasonable inference is entirely supported by the narrative. St. Matthew indeed regards the event from the Baptist’s point of vision. But St. Mark and St. Luke are agreed that to Jesus Himself it was also said, thou are My beloved Son. Now this is not the way to teach us that the testimony came only to John. And how solemn a thought is this, that the full certitude of His destiny expanded before the eyes of Jesus, just when He lifted them from those baptismal waters in which He stooped so low.

Third, Jesus heard a voice… from heaven (cf. Mark 9:7). The Father’s words, expressing His unqualified approval of Jesus and His mission, echoed three verses: Gen. 22:2; Psm. 2:7; Isa. 42:1.

In the first declaration, you are My Son, the words You are affirm Jesus’ unique son-ship with the Father. The significance of these words is found in Psm. 2:7 where God addressed the anointed King as His Son. At His baptism Jesus began His official role as God’s Anointed One (cf. 2Sam. 7:12-16; 89:26; Heb. 1:5).

The second clause, whom I love, is literally, the Beloved One (ho agapētos). This is either a title the Beloved or a descriptive adjective beloved Son. As a title it stresses the intensity of love between God the Father and the Son without losing its descriptive force. As an adjective, it can be understood in the Old Testament sense of an only Son (cf. Gen. 22:2, 22:12, 22:16; Jer. 6:26; Amos 8:10; Zec. 12:10), equivalent to the Greek adjective monogenēs (only, unique; cf. John 1:14, 1:18; Heb. 11:17). This more interpretive rendering points to Jesus’ preexistent sonship.

The words with You I am well pleased point to the kind of kingly Son Jesus was to be in His earthly mission. The verb eudokēsa is in the past tense (I was well pleased). Timeless in force, it is rendered in English in the present tense to indicate that God is pleased with His Son at all times. God’s delight never had a beginning and will never end.

These words come from Isa. 42:1 in which God addressed His Servant whom He had chosen, the One in whom He delights, and on whom He had put His Spirit. Isa. 42:1 begins the first of a series of four prophecies about the true Servant-Messiah in contrast with the disobedient servant-nation of Israel (cf. Isa. 42:1-9; 49:1-7; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12). The true Servant would suffer greatly in fulfilling God’s will. He would die as a guilt offering (Isa. 53:10), and He Himself would serve as the sacrificial Lamb (cf. Isa. 53:7-8; John 1:29-30). At His baptism Jesus began His role as the Lord’s suffering Servant. Mark gives prominence to this feature of Jesus’ messianic mission (Mark 8:31; 9:30-31; 10:32-34, 10:45; 15:33-39).

Jesus’ baptism did not change His divine status. He did not become the Son of God at His baptism (or at the transfiguration, Mark 9:7). Rather, His baptism showed the far-reaching significance of His acceptance of His messianic vocation as the suffering Servant of the Lord as well as the Davidic Messiah. Because He is the Son of God, the One approved by the Father and empowered by the Spirit, He is the Messiah not vice versa. All three Persons of the Trinity are involved.