Have you ever put a lot of work into preparing a dinner or an event, but no one (or almost nobody) showed up? Been there, done that? Or, maybe you’ve always been popular, and never ran into that problem.
The good news, though, is that when God had John the Baptist prepare the way for the Messiah, Jesus’ arrival was imminent. God’s timing is always perfect, of course, and the gospel of Mark confirms that.
At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
Mark 1:9-10 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/mrk.1.9-10.NIV
I get the impression that Mark didn’t want to wait very long to start talking about Jesus! While we can learn more from Matthew and Luke about what happened around when Jesus was born, those are not aspects of Jesus’ life that Mark’s gospel dwells upon.
And, after Mark shared that Jesus was from Galilee, specifically Nazareth (where his family had settled down after returning from Egypt – see Matthew 2:13-23), the first thing that Mark records about Him is that Jesus was baptized by John.
Now, I don’t want to get too tangled up in a lot of baptism debate here (because I think that there’s something more important going on), but this is a good time to pause and mention a couple of things.
First, John was baptizing people who confessed their sins and were repenting of their sins so that they could be forgiven, but Jesus didn’t need any of that. Since Jesus was sinless, we might ask why He chose to be baptized? If you’d like to learn more about that, I encourage you to study Matthew 3:13-17, to learn a little more about this event. It was still the right thing to do, even though not only was Jesus sinless, but also – as John had been teaching – Jesus was greater than John.
Secondly, let’s ask the harder question: when John said that Jesus would baptize (or “immerse”) them with the Holy Spirit, does that mean that we don’t need to be baptized in water?
For what it’s worth, it seems to me [and to commentator Black, p.42-43] that John’s baptism and Christian baptism are from different contexts, even if, 1) they were both performed by a second party immersing a disciple in water, and 2) they both have symbolic elements. John’s baptism was in anticipation of a coming Messiah, while Christian baptism is parallel to Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.
However, being a little tongue-in-cheek, I’m reluctant to accept Holy Spirit baptism as the only baptism that a Christian should pursue, as some do, since Matthew 3:11 (referring to baptism of the Holy Spirit, in another gospel’s account of John the Baptist’s message) also mentions being baptized with fire! Even if that just refers to burning away the sinful or wasteful parts of our lives, or separating out those who remain in sin from those who repent and accept righteousness from Jesus, it doesn’t sound very pleasant!
Personally, while understanding doctrine is certainly valuable, I feel that arguing excessively about whether or not one needs to be baptized in water to be saved is kind of pointless, since there are enough examples in the New Testament that more than confirm to me that we should be baptized in water when we choose to follow Jesus. In the first century, when those who were personally taught by Jesus were leading with the help of God the Holy Spirit, the examples I see in the Bible indicate to me that water baptism was natural, expected, and consistent for those who turned to Jesus.
So, why get tangled up about the specific role that baptism plays in salvation (and here, I mean arguments like trying to determine the exact instant when salvation occurs, or debating edge cases and corner conditions)? Instead, let’s just follow what Jesus taught and what He modeled – including baptism – and live confidently in our relationship with Him.
Having said that, allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and to direct our lives without resisting Him is also a part of following Jesus. So, don’t let being baptized with the Holy Spirit exclude your following Jesus’ example in water baptism, nor the other way around. Don’t let your walk with Jesus be an “either/or” situation, where you try to do the absolute minimum required to “sneak into heaven”. Instead, let your life demonstrate a “both/and” decision, where you seek to do everything possible to walk in Jesus’ footsteps and live your life completely sold out to Him.
We could get so caught up in talking about baptism here, though, that we miss another important point: Right after Jesus was baptized, God the Holy Spirit came down from the heavens to Jesus, and (as expanded upon in Matthew 3:13-17) God the Father testified about Jesus’ favor with Him. Let’s not miss that: We might look forward to God saying “Well done, good and faithful servant” to us someday, but Jesus received a similar affirmation early on. God attested to Jesus’ identity, knowing not only what Jesus had done up to that point, but what Jesus would do over the rest of His ministry and His saving sacrifice.
In this light, if we weren’t sure that things like teaching and baptizing are still applicable in the church age, we only need to turn back a few verses into the last chapter of Matthew (the gospel previous to Mark in most Bible arrangements), and read what we know of as the Great Commission. Let’s return to our day with Jesus’ words to His disciples (which I believe also apply to us), and read Matthew 28:18-20.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for August 31, 2025
References:
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – Mark, by Allen Black. © 1995 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 