Gospel of Mark Chapter 1 Vs. 10

 The Baptism of Jesus

Mark 1:10 “And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:

straightway coming up... Greek: eutheos, used 80 times; 40 times in Mark and 40 times by all other writers. Translated straightway, immediately, forthwith, as soon as, anon, by and by, and shortly. In keeping with His fast-paced narrative style, Mark used this adverb more than the other 3 gospel writers combined. This first occurrence sets the stage for the audible and visible signs that followed Jesus’ baptism.

out of the... How could a person come up out of the water if He was not down in the water? Furthermore, would two men do this only to get a cup of water to sprinkle or pour on one of them?

he saw the... Six men saw the heavens opened:

1. Ezekiel (Eze. 1:1)

2. Jesus (Mark 1:10)

3. Nathanael (John 1:51)

4. Stephen (Acts 7:56)

5. Peter (Acts 10:11)

6. John (Rev. 4:1; 11:19; 19:11)

Opened (σχιζομένους)

Lit., as Rev., rent asunder: much stronger than Matthew's and Luke's ἀνεῴχθησαν, were opened.

the Spirit like... This was most likely symbolic of Jesus’ empowerment for ministry (Isa. 61:1; Would such statements as out of the water (Mar. 1:10), they went down both into the water ... they were come up out of the water (Acts8:38-39), and others express baptism by burial or by sprinkling? Mat. 3:16-17).

dove descending upon... As a dove (ὡσεί περιστερὰν)

In the form of a dove, and not, as some interpret, referring merely to the manner of the descent - swiftly and gently as a dove (compare Luke3:22 In a bodily form, as a dove). The dove was an ancient symbol of purity and innocence, adopted by our Lord in Mat. 10:16. It was the only bird allowed to be offered in sacrifice by the Levitical law. In Christian art it is the symbol of the Holy Spirit, and that in his Old Testament manifestations as well as in those of the New Testament. From a very early date the dove brooding over the waters was the type of the opening words of Genesis. An odd fresco on the choir-walls of the Cathedral of Monreale, near Palermo, represents a waste of waters, and Christ above, leaning forward from the circle of heaven with extended arms. From beneath him issues the divine ray along which the dove is descending upon the waters. So Milton:

“Thou from the first

Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread

Dove-like sat'st brooding on the vast abyss

And mad'st it pregnant.”

In art, the double-headed dove is the peculiar attribute of the prophet Elisha. A window in Lincoln College, Oxford, represents him with the double-headed dove perched upon his shoulder. The symbol is explained by Elisha's prayer that a double portion of Elijah's spirit might rest upon him.

It has been asserted that, among the Jews, the Holy Spirit was presented under the symbol of a dove, and a passage is cited from the Talmud; The Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters like a dove. Dr. Edersheim (Life and Times of Jesus the Messia) vigorously contradicts this, and says that the passage treats of the supposed distance between the upper and the lower waters, which was only three finger-breadths. This is proved by Gen. 1:2, where the Spirit of God is said to brood over the face of the waters, just as a dove broodeth over her young without touching them. Thus the comparison is not between the Spirit and the dove, but between the closeness with which a dove broods over her young without touching them, and the supposed proximity of the Spirit to the lower waters without touching them. He goes on to say that the dove was not the symbol of the Holy Spirit, but of Israel. If, therefore, rabbinic illustration of' the descent of the Holy Spirit with the visible appearance of a dove must be sought for, it would lie in the acknowledgment of Jesus as the ideal typical Israelite, the representative of his people. Mat. 3:16; Luke 3:21.

Mark uses a somewhat violent verb in Greek; opened can be rendered being torn apart. Jesus witnesses heaven, closed to sinners, being torn open. This signifies that God is now accessible to penitent seekers. God’s Spirit empowers Jesus for His coming service.

So, too, the phrase which John used, when predicting that Jesus should baptize with the Holy Ghost, slightly though it differs from what is here, implies [2] that only a portion is to be given, not the fullness. And the angel who foretold to Zacharias that John himself should be filled with the Holy Ghost, conveyed the same limitation in his words. John received all that he was able to receive: he was filled. But how should mortal capacity exhaust the fullness of Deity? And Who is this, upon Whom, while John is but an awe-stricken beholder, the Spirit of God descends in all completeness, a living organic unity, like a dove? Only the Infinite is capable of receiving such a gift, and this is He in Whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. No wonder then that in bodily form as a dove, the Spirit of God descended upon Him alone. Henceforward He became the great Dispenser, and the Spirit emanated from Him as perfume from the rose when it has opened.

The Divine Response from Heaven

Mark used the Greek adverb euthys (immediately, at once) here for the first of 42 occurrences in his Gospel (the NIV omits it here). Its meaning varies from the sense of immediacy (as here) to that of logical order (in due course, then; cf. Mark 1:21 [when]; Mark 11:3 [shortly]).

Three things set Jesus apart from all others who had been baptized. First, He saw heaven being torn open. The forceful verb, being torn open (schizomenous, split) reflects a metaphor for God’s breaking into human experience to deliver His people (cf. Psm. 18:9, 18:16-19; 144:5-8; Isa. 64:1-5).

Second, He saw the Spirit descending on Him like a dove, in a visible dove like form, not in a dove like way (cf. Luke 3:22). The dove imagery probably symbolized the Spirit’s creative activity (cf. Gen. 1:2). In Old Testament times the Spirit came on certain people to empower them for service (e.g., Exo. 31:3; Jdg. 3:10; 11:29; 1Sam. 19:20, 19:23). The coming of the Spirit on Jesus empowered Him for His messianic mission (cf. Acts 10:38) and the task of baptizing others with the Spirit, as John predicted (Mark 1:8).