Mark’s account of the Gospel gets to the point; it wastes no time telling us what it is about with these words: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). Jesus is identified as the Son of God; however, rather than relating the birth of Jesus as Matthew and Luke do, Mark begins by considering the baptism of Jesus to exhibit His Sonship. There the Father announced Jesus as His Son in whom He was well pleased (Mark 1:11). John, the baptizer, indeed pointed the way to one far greater than he (Mark 1:7). John was a messenger, a voice of one crying in the wilderness to prepare the way for the Lord Himself (Mark 1:2-3; cf. Isaiah 40:3). Thus, Jesus being the Son of God is more than His being conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, it signifies His unique relationship with the Father as part of the Godhead.
The Spirit descended on Jesus as a dove and the Father said Jesus is His Son in whom He is well pleased (Mark 1:10-11), a reminder of His words from Isaiah 42:1-4:
“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,
My Elect One in whom My soul delights!
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
He will not cry out, nor raise His voice,
Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench;
He will bring forth justice for truth.
He will not fail nor be discouraged,
Till He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”
Jesus was the one elected to serve in the capacity of bringing justice to all the nations. This section of Isaiah continues to talk about God’s servant and culminates in the song of the suffering servant (Isaiah 52:13-53:12). Jesus was not baptized by John because He was a sinner, rather He came to identify with sinners as a great high priest who can understand the plight of the ones He serves and would take their place in death (Heb. 2:9; 4:15). Jesus lived the life we should have lived, sinless before God. He died the death that we deserved so that we can stand justified before God. We can be thankful Jesus came into the world, but let us remember it was to die for our sins that He came. Hebrews 10:5-7 says, “Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: ‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—In the volume of the book it is written of Me—To do Your will, O God.’”
Jesus is the Son of God. He chose to serve by suffering for us to provide salvation. God Himself came into the world to die for you, and “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Hebrews 5:8-9). Will you obey Him?
-Mark Day
