Baptism, Confession, & Time | Coffee & Commentary
Mark 1:1-15
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This isn't polished commentary or formal exegesis. These are simply informal observations, questions, and reflections that emerge during my daily study. I share these in the hope that someone somewhere might benefit.
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1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in the Prophets: “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.” 3 “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’” 4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. 8 I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” 9 It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. 11 Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 12 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. 13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him. 14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:1-15, NKJV)
Mark 1:3-4 and 8
Notice that John’s baptism is identified as a baptism of repentance, distinguishing it from other types of baptism — in this case, the one that was to come with Christ. This is testified to by John himself, who declares the difference between his baptism with water and Christ’s by the Holy Spirit. No doubt, the expectation was that the former would be followed by the latter — hence, in the Book of Acts the surprise when the Apostles encounter believers who know only the baptism of John.
John’s baptism was not for the remission of sins but toward remission of sins. Chrysostom himself notes this, observing that John did not bestow on the baptized remission of sins but only prepared these souls to receive the remission of sins from Christ. The point explains why (in verse 3) John’s ministry was ongoing — making his paths straight: The ministry was preparatory, an active work of preparation for something that was coming.
Mark 1:5
The people went out, confessing their sins. Notice, first, that this confession is not private, between the person and God, but in a sacramental context, as part of the baptismal rite. Second, notice that the confession was (quite likely) to one given the authority to administer the sacrament, namely, John. For they went out “to him” and were baptized “by him,” confessing their sins [before him].
Mark 1:6
John’s garb is plainly meant to call to mind Elijah, him being the Elijah who was to come, as Christ explains. But some fathers see in his garments something more. Ambrose of Milan sees a proclamation of Christ, one who would take upon himself our dying animal nature in order to heal and return it to God. Thus, even in his garb, John proclaims the one who is to come. This allegorical association of beasts with the animal nature of man that Christ took upon himself was common amongst the fathers. For example, some fathers see in the parable of the Good Samaritan, Christ who happens upon Fallen man, beaten and bloodied by the demons, and Christ puts man upon his beast — that is, his own flesh taken on for our sake — in order to bring him to the hospital of the Church and anoint his wounds with oil (chrismation at baptism) and wine (the Eucharist).
Mark 1:10-11
At Christ’s baptism, the heavens are torn open (σχιζόμενος) to make way for the proclamation of the Father and the descent of the Holy Spirit. Much of Mark’s gospel is focused on Christ’s liberation of humanity from the demonic powers. I cannot help but wonder if this language is indicative of this aspect of Christ’s ministry, which clears away the powers of the air — that is, the demons — and opens the way back to God, as Athanasius puts it. Here, we see it, where the heavens — in which the unclean aerial spirits dwell, holding man under demonic dominion, choking the way to God — is torn open (the same word used in reference to the tearing of the veil in the Temple) and what fills this opening is the voice of God, proclaiming His Son sending upon him the Spirit of Holiness.
This event, of course, is known as Theophany (God, θεός, appears, φαίνειν), since here, at the start of Christ’s ministry, we see the revelation — and therefore proclamation — of the Holy Trinity, Father (speaking from the heavens), Son (being baptized and proclaimed), and Holy Spirit (descending upon the Son). The event was the usual touch point by the fathers for refuting the Sabellians, who suggest that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are mere masks (πρόσωπα), for the one person, God. Or as the Eastern hymnody for the Feast of Theophany proclaims, When thou, O Christ, was baptized in the Jordan, the worship of the Trinity was made manifest. For the voice of the Father bore witness to thee, calling thee his beloved Son. And the Spirit, in the likeness of a dove, declared the truth of his words. O Christ, our God, who hath redeemed and enlightened the world, glory to thee.
Mark 1:12
Here we see the recapitulation that Irenaeus speaks of. Christ is declared to be God’s beloved Son (something also said of Israel), and after passing through the waters (as Israel did in the Exodus), he is hurled or cast into the wilderness by the Spirit (the destination of Israel after the Exodus). And while there, Christ is tempted by Satan, as no doubt Israel too was. Yet, Christ is cast into the wilderness, tempted, and neither grumbles nor sins.
Regarding his temptation, what we are told in Mark is sparse: He was tempted by Satan; he was with the wild beasts; the angels were ministering to him. No doubt, the specificity of the trio — Satan, beasts, and angels — is intentional. The beasts (as noted above) was often seen by the fathers as pointing to our fleshly nature that Christ took upon himself. And no doubt, this was the nature of the Devil’s temptation, to subordinate the higher nature and the things of God to the needs and desires of the flesh. But what of the angels? Here, we might see two things. The first concerns the recapitulation noted above — no doubt, angels ministered to Israel in the Wilderness. But we also see here something of Genesis. Man is a merger of the Heavens and the Earth, things mortal (earthly) and things immortal (celestial), and man’s choice — the fateful choice we call the Fall — was a testing by Satan, whereby Adam chose to subordinate his higher nature to his lower, choosing the life of beasts over the life of angels. Here in Eden, we see the same trio — the beastly, the angelic, and the tempter. But unlike the first Adam, the second Adam chooses the life of angels.
Mark 1:15
The Eastern fathers differentiate the terms chronos (χρόνος), kairos (καιρός), and aeon (αἰών). The first of these is used in reference to time proper, and the last of these is used for eternity. Now, within the Eastern fathers, eternity is neither static nor everlasting duration, nor is it the mere absence of time. Rather, eternity is a mode of being — a mode unique to spirits, as contrasted with the temporal mode of organic life. Hence, the angels are said (by Pseudo-Dionysios, for example) to be eternal, not because they were not created but because their mode of existence is spiritual in nature. Two further notes about eternity: The first is that it is not static but sequential — hence, the phrase, unto the ages of ages, and John of Damascus’ statement, as days are to time, so ages are to eternity. The second thing of note is that eternity is a divine energy. Hence, the angels are eternal by participating in God’s eternity, and the believer is invited to experience eternal life — not mere longevity, but a different mode of being. As for kairos, this is sometimes used to refer to something unique to God, to divine time, as it were. Eastern hymnody refers often to God as the “pre-eternal” (προαιώνιον) God. Hence, eternity is an energy that exudes from God, but he is essentially beyond even this. When speaking about God’s own time — and thus timing concerning his plans for the cosmos — the Eastern fathers speak of kairos.
The terms and their meanings are plainly taken from the New Testament. The opening of Paul’s letter to Titus, for example, uses all three words with a precision that matches this Eastern patristic understanding. And here, when speaking about Christ’s ministry, it speaks not of the fulfillment of “time” in the sense of days and hours but of kairos — the divine ordaining for the start to Christ’s ministry.