February 21, 2021
By Deacon Virgina Jenkins-Whatley sermon
Mark 1:9-15
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Amen
Today’s gospel covers a lot of ground in a few verses. Generally speaking, we hear of Jesus’s baptism on the First Sunday after Epiphany and we hear the account of the temptation on the First Sunday of Lent. This means that several weeks have gone by between the two accounts and we don’t always see the connection between them.
Before Jesus’s baptism by John the Baptist, John was encouraging baptism to his followers so that they would repent and change their ways. He said that they needed to be cleansed because the Messiah is coming and he will wash you with more than water. The Messiah will baptize you with the holy spirit.
When Jesus appeared before John, John knew that Jesus had no need of repentance and said, Jesus, I should not baptize you, rather you should baptize me. Just as the cross and the resurrection was on our behalf so was Jesus’ baptism on our behalf. Jesus saw Johns’ baptism as a way of putting Himself completely under the law. Jesus was crucified as if he was a sinner, and he was also baptized as if He were a sinner. 2Corinthians, “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. It was not a baptism of repentance of His sins but a baptism of repentance for my sins and yours.
John immersed Jesus into the Jordan and as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
In baptism God says definitely, clearly and eternally, “You are my child. I am pleased to have you in my family. My favor, my grace is upon you.” We know that we may stray from time to time but we have a loving and forgiving God that will always welcome us back with open arms.
One moment the Holy Spirit was descending on Jesus and the next moment that same Holy Spirit was driving Jesus out into the desert in order to confront the devil. All of this was before He did any teaching or miracles and called any disciples.
The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. It is as if the moment the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus as a dove. Jesus was in perfect agreement with the Holy Spirit and readily journeyed into the desert.
The idea is that this is an intentional confrontation with the devil. We should think of Jesus as eager to do battle for us and the Holy Spirit encouraging Him into that battle. The leading of the Holy Spirit teaches us that this was not some random encounter between enemies. instead the temptation was part of the intentional plan of God as Jesus begins his public ministry.
There are not many details of the actual temptation other than it was 40 days long and Jesus was friendly with the wild animals.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who carries away the sin of the world. It is said that he carried the sin of the world into the desert even though he himself never sinned. He endured and triumphed over every temptation of the devil. If the devil could have gotten Jesus to sin just once, he would no longer be able to carry our sins. Jesus took our sins to the cross. He is our substitute. He was tempted just as we are tempted. He also experienced our pain, our sorrow, our frustrations. He experienced it all except that He never sinned.
After enduring the temptations of the devil in the desert, He began proclaiming the Gospel. Because Jesus endured temptation without sin, His Gospel proclamation is just as valid for us today as it was at the time of today’s reading from the Gospel. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.
Amen