Expert: Pastor Don Carpenter - 10/19/2011

Question
What is the meaning of Mark 1:9-11:

9And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.

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

11And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Answer
Hi Amelia,

Thank you so much for this great question.  There are many things we can learn from this passage, I will try to briefly give an overview of what is happening here and you can post follow up questions if you need to.

Mark 1:9–11 (AV)
9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. 10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: 11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.


1.  Jesus was Baptized.  He was serving as an example to all other believers.  He was not washing away sin, as some people imagine happens at baptism, He had no sin.  He was identifying with the message of John that the Messiah was coming.  The passage says he came up out of the water... Jesus was baptized by immersion, not sprinkling or pouring.

2.  The Holy Spirit came upon Jesus in a bodily form, looking like a dove.  Once again, our Savior giving us the example that before we can do service for God, we need the enduement of power from the Holy Spirit.  Even Jesus, who was God in the form of man, did His works through the power of the holy spirit.

3.  God the Father gave an audible endorsement of Jesus as His own Son.  This enforcement was the credibility given at the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry.

I hope that this gives you an overview of what happened here.  If you have further questions, please feel free to post them in a follow up.

In Christ
Pastor Don