Second Sunday of Advent Year B ~ Mark 1:1-8
While the first verse of this week’s Gospel seems obvious, in fact, it constitutes a question and a biblical conundrum, “The beginning (Gk. ἀρχή) of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.” Intuitively you think that, of course, since this is the first verse that is what the word beginning refers to the outset, yet, the Greek word arche implies that what follows comes first and, so, it has priority. Mark insists that the beginning of the glad tidings of salvation is Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist. After this introduction of the Baptist, in the subsequent verses (Mk 1:9-11), Jesus simply appears, without explanation. Then, the heavens are torn open, the Spirit descends, and the heavenly voice says, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Prior to those introductory verses, Mark cites a passage from the prophet Malachi (Mal 3:1) about the “messenger (Gk. ἄγγελος) whom God will send before He comes. This messenger is later identified in Malachi as Elijah. Unlike the evangelist does for John the Baptist, Mark never describes anyone else in his gospel and this is the only physical description offered of anyone. Moreover, the description of the Baptist is lifted from the portrayal of Elijah (2 Kgs 1:8). Mark is anxious for us to see what Jesus will later tell the disciples explicitly (Mk 9:13), namely that John the Baptist is Elijah.
In what you could describe as Mark’s theological geography, Jesus heads from Galilee down to Judea to be baptized and, then, after a sojourn in the wilderness, returns to Galilee. He remains in the north, moving around the Sea of Galilee, going further north to Tyre and Sidon, coming a bit south to the Decapolis, but always staying basically in the north. The next time Jesus comes from Galilee to Judea is for His passion. So Jesus’ geographical movements seem to suggest that there is a parallel between the baptism and the passion. Mark notes the beginning of the gospel to be the Lord’s baptism because he wants us to see parallels to the passion.
Why are these parallels so important to him? It’s conceivable that the reason for this unique beginning lies in the first mention of the Holy Spirit in Mark’s Gospel, where John the Baptist speaks the only words attributed to him in the account, “I have baptized you with water, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately after we see Jesus immersed in the Holy Spirit, but we do not see the Lord baptize anyone else. We see Jesus cure the sick and cast out demons in the power of the Spirit, but we do not see Him immerse anyone in the Holy Spirit. When Mark says, on the lips of John the Baptist, that Jesus will baptize in the Holy Spirit, does John have in mind some future event such as Pentecost? Is this an allusion to the rest of the history of salvation or the part that comes after Mark’s gospel? Or does he introduce the baptism event with this verse because he wants us to see that Jesus does in fact baptize with the Holy Spirit within the confines of this incident?
In Mark 15:37, you’d read that “Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last.” Something was very striking about this final act, this loud death cry, “And when the centurion . . . saw that he thus breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was the Son of God!’” This final moment revealed Christ’s true identity as the Son of God. Why? Of course, it is strange and even miraculous that this Man spending His last drop of strength would be able to cry out loudly and that alone would attract a soldier’s attention. But Mark gives us one other clue: the verb for “breathed his last” is ek-pneó (Gk. ἐκπνέω) or literally “spirit out.” The Spirit, the pneuma, descended on Jesus at his baptism; now the dying Lord “spirits out,” or “out-Spirits,” in His final act. Scholars claim that this is the moment when Jesus baptizes the nations in the Holy Spirit. This is the moment when Jesus sends the Holy Spirit, at least, in Saint Mark’s view. It is the moment of salvation, and this is why Mark so badly wants us to see the baptism in parallel to the passion.
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Excerpted from Dr. Jeremy Holmes. “The Strange Beginning of Mark’s Gospel.” July 25, 2016.
Nature and dignity 