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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mar_1:9-11
9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; 11and a voice came out of the heavens: "You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased."
Mar_1:9 "Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee" Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, lived a few years in Egypt, and then settled in Nazareth, the hometown of Joseph and Mary, which was a small, new settlement of Judeans in the north. Jesus' early ministry was in this northern area around the Sea of Galilee, which fulfills the prophecy of Isa_9:1.
▣ "Jesus. . .was baptized" The Gospels differ in their early chronologies of Jesus' ministries in Galilee and Judea. It seems that there was an early Judean ministry and a later one, but all four Gospels' chronologies must be harmonized in order to see this early Judean visit (i.e., Joh_2:13 to Joh_4:3).
Why Jesus was baptized has always been a concern for believers because John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. Jesus did not need forgiveness for He was sinless (cf. 2Co_5:21; Heb_4:15; Heb_7:26; 1Pe_2:22; 1Jn_3:5).
The theories have been:
1. it was an example for believers to follow
2. it was His identification with believers' need
3. it was His ordination and equipping for ministry
4. it was a symbol of His redemptive task
5. it was His approval of the ministry and message of John the Baptist
6. it was a prophetic foreshadowing of His death, burial, and resurrection (cf. Rom_6:4; Col_2:12).
Whatever the reason, this was a defining moment in Jesus' life. Although it does not imply that Jesus became the Messiah at this point, which is the early heresy of adoptionism (cf. The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture by Bart D. Ehrman, pp. 47-118), it held great significance for Him.
Mar_1:10
NASB, NKJV "immediately"
NRSV "just as"
TEV "as soon as"
NJB "at once"
This is a very common term in Mark. It characterizes his Gospel. Here euthus is translated "immediately" or "straightway" (cf. Mar_1:10; Mar_1:12; Mar_1:18; Mar_1:20-21; Mar_1:20; Mar_1:28; Mar_1:42; Mar_2:2; Mar_2:8; Mar_2:12; Mar_3:6; Mar_4:5; Mar_4:15-17; Mar_4:29; Mar_5:5; Mar_5:29; Mar_5:42; Mar_6:25; Mar_6:27; Mar_6:45; Mar_6:50; Mar_6:54; Mar_7:35; Mar_8:10; Mar_9:15; Mar_9:20; Mar_9:24; Mar_10:52; Mar_11:3; Mar_14:43; Mar_14:45; Mar_15:1).
This is the term that gives the Gospel of Mark its fast-paced, action-oriented feel, which would have appealed to Romans. This word group is used about 47 times in Mark (cf. A Translator's Handbook on the Gospel of Mark by Robert Bratcher and Eugene Nida, p. 29).
▣ "coming up out of the water" This may be an allusion to Isa_63:11, where it originally would have referred to the Red Sea (i.e., a new exodus in Jesus, who would soon be tempted for forty days as Israel was for forty years). This verse cannot be used as a proof-text for immersion. In context it may imply coming out of the river, not coming from under the water.
▣ "He saw" This may imply that only Jesus saw and heard this Messianic affirmation. If so, this would fit into the recurrent theme of Mark's Messianic Secret. However, the other Gospels also record this event in a similar way (cf. Mat_3:13-17; Luk_3:21-22).
▣ "heavens opening" This may be an allusion to Isa_64:1. This term means to rip open, which would have been a metaphor for tearing open the canopy above the earth (cf. Gen_1:6).
▣ "the Spirit like a dove" The origin of this metaphor may be
1. the Spirit brooding over the water in Gen_1:2
2. the birds Noah sent out of the Ark in Gen_8:6-12
3. the rabbis' use of it as a symbol of the nation of Israel (cf. Psa_68:13; Psa_74:19)
4. a symbol of gentleness and peace (cf. Mat_10:16)
One reason I personally am so committed to the historical-grammatical method of biblical interpretation, which focuses on authorial intent as expressed in the literary context, is the tricky or clever way ancient interpreters (as well as modern ones) manipulated the text to fit their preset theological structure. By adding the numerical value of the letters of the Greek word "dove" (peristera), which equals 801, one gets the same numerical value of the Greek words alpha (equals 1) and omega (equals 800), so the dove equals the eternal Christ Spirit. This is so clever, but it is isogetic, not exegetic!
▣ "upon Him" This is the preposition eis which means "into." It is not meant to imply that Jesus did not already have the Holy Spirit, but this was a special visible sign of the Spirit's empowerment for His assigned Messianic task. This may also be an allusion to fulfilled prophecy (cf. Isa_63:11).
Mark uses the preposition "into" (eis), but Matthew and Luke use "upon" (epi). This is because Mark's Gospel, which has none of the birth narratives or visitations, begins Jesus' ministry with the baptismal event. This brevity was used by the heretical groups, Adoptionists and Gnostics, to assert that Jesus, a normal human, was supernaturally empowered with "the Christ Spirit" at this juncture and thereafter was able to do the miraculous. Later scribes, therefore, changed the preposition to "to" (pros).
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Mar_1:11 "a voice came out of the heavens" The rabbis called the heavenly voice a Bath Kol (cf. Mar_9:7), which was the method of affirming God's will during the interbiblical period when there was no prophet. This would have been a powerful divine affirmation to those familiar with rabbinical Judaism.
▣ "'You are My beloved Son'" These two titles unite the royal aspect of the Messiah (Psa_2:7) to the Suffering Servant of Isaiah (Isa_42:1). The term "son" in the OT could refer to (1) the nation of Israel; (2) the King of Israel; or (3) the coming Davidic Messianic King. See Special Topic at Mar_3:16.
Notice the three persons of the Trinity in Mar_1:11 : the Spirit, the voice from heaven, and the Son, the recipient of both.
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▣ "My beloved" This phrase is either (1) a title for the Messiah as in the NRSV, NJB, and Williams translations or (2) a descriptive phrase as in the NASB, NKJV, and TEV. In the Greek translation of the OT, the Septuagint, this would be understood as "favorite" or even "only," similar to Joh_3:16.
▣ "'in You I am well-pleased'" This descriptive phrase is paralleled in Mat_3:17; Mat_17:5 (the Transfiguration). However, the descriptive phrase is missing in Mar_9:7 and Luk_9:35.