Into the Jaws of Hell

The good news about Jesus, according to the Gospel of Mark, starts in the water with Jesus being baptized by John. Baptized? The word spells controversy. Do we dip, pour or dunk? Is a sprinkling OK? Even given that we get it right, what in the world does baptism mean?

Strangely, for Mark, questions like these held no interest. The baptism of Jesus told the world only one thing - that the greatest king who ever lived was being crowned. Forget that it was the Jordan River or that it happened under the reign of Tiberius Caesar or that the circumstances there in the desert were about as far from royal protocol as you could imagine. This was the greatest coronation ever.

Here’s what Mark had to say about it:

One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and he was baptized by John in the Jordan River. And when Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens split open and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven saying, "You are my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with you."

Immediately the Holy Spirit compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness. He was there for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was out among the wild animals, and angels took care of him. (Mark 1:9-13)

Mark tells us that as soon as Jesus came up out of the water the Holy Spirit of God descended on him and the voice of the Father declared Jesus to be his beloved Son. Did others see it? Hear it? None of the Gospel writers give us a clue. It's not important that we know every detail, because Jesus both saw and heard it. Later he was to describe the event as his anointing, like that of the kings of old, only more so, because this was the anointing of the eternal Son.

What did it mean? First, that Jesus was recognized for who he was after being unknown for twenty-seven years or more – God in human flesh. His baptism didn't turn him into God, because he already was that. But now his Father could reveal who he was, say it flat out.

Second, his baptism sent him straight into the jaws of hell. It put him into conflict with the worst evil forces that could be found anywhere. There's a big contradiction here. Jesus had just been crowned, crowned like no king ever before – with a voice from Heaven. He'd just been declared very Son of the eternal Father, thus himself God along with the Father and the Holy Spirit. How could the same scenario throw him into battle with the powers of evil?

The answer is that his Kingdom is like nothing else on earth. The kings of this world wallow in their power. They flaunt their authority and use it and take every advantage to buy or steal the best that life has to offer. But when Ruler of the eternal Kingdom, Jesus, comes to do fierce and painful battle with the forces of darkness, he is wounded by them, killed by them, because this is the only way to triumph over them