Essay for Christian Doctrines and Thought (I)

Prompt:

how might this passage have been understood as Christians of the first few centuries began to think carefully about Jesus’ relationship to God, and about the character of Jesus as a savior-figure? What does this passage seem most clearly to “put forth,” and what kinds of ideas and “pictures” of God or of Jesus might it combat or “rule out”?

I chose Mark 1:

Since this passage seems to be on the long side, I'm going to restrict myself to highlighting a few main ideas that jump out at me. Mark begins his Gospel proclaiming that it actually is not his Gospel, but rather that of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (v.1), so obviously the paper is not about some mere moral teacher as some might think, but rather someone who bears an intimate relationship with God, close enough to be called the Son of God. The title of Christ points directly to the messiah-ship that Jesus bore, that He was coming as savior and Lord. Certainly no one would argue that Jesus is a mere human.

In verse 2 and 3, Mark quotes Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3, which both prophesy of a messenger coming to "prepare the way of the Lord." Mark then immediately transitions from such a quotation into a passage on the ministry of John the Baptist. From other Gospels, we know that John considers himself the direct fulfillment of those passages (Matthew 3:1-3) and seeing Mark's direct transition from quoting that same passage to the ministry of John the Baptist, it becomes a necessary conclusion that John is the fulfillment of the same passage. As this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who is emphasized through the rest of the Gospel, our only possible conclusion is that John fulfilled his duty, preparing the way for the Lord. From that, we see that the identity of the Lord is in fact Jesus Christ. This demonstrates conclusively that Jesus was not just a human given God powers in being named the Son of God, but He actually was the Lord (YHWH in Isaiah 40:3, which is God's covenant name, given to Moses on Mount Sinai among other places, written as LORD). The divine title applied to God throughout the Old Testament is now applied to Jesus Christ by Mark, leaving us no doubt as to the identity of Jesus Christ. He is no mere mortal, but the LORD come in flesh.

In verse 7-8, John the Baptist declares that Jesus is greater than he is, and instead of baptizing with water, he will baptize with the Holy Spirit (which we see fulfilled in Acts 1:8 and Acts 2:1-4), signifying Christ's authority over the Holy Spirit, in the sense that He is able to baptize with it, as one does not send someone that is greater than himself, but rather one sends servants as representatives. Thus John the Baptist proclaims not only the divinity of Christ by calling people to prepare the way, but he also gives us an idea of an authority structure, with Jesus Christ (the LORD) as in authority over the Holy Spirit*.

The next episode is that of Jesus being baptized in verses 9-11. During this baptism, the heavens opened and the Spirit descended upon him like a dove with a voice coming from heaven, "you are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." Immediately we have a distinction in the persons of God. The Father speaks from heaven, declaring that Jesus is the His Son, while the Spirit descends (presumably from the Father) upon Him. And ba-bam , we have a distinction in the three persons of the Trinity. Jesus is declared fully God by Mark in verses 2-8, and then we see that there is a distinction between the Father, Son, and Spirit. We also see more of the authority structure within the Triune Godhead. The Holy Spirit descends from the Father upon the Son, and it is the Father who is well pleased with the Son, so the Father is over the Son (in authority) is over the Holy Spirit.

The previous asterisks are there because it actually isn't entirely true that Christ is in authority over the Holy Spirit, as that actually only happens after Christ dies and is raised to the right hand of God (Acts 2 is when he baptizes with the Holy Spirit, after His death and resurrection). In verse 12, we see this demonstrated, that Jesus is driven out into the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan. Who is he driven by? The Holy Spirit, immediately after his baptism. Once again,we see a distinction between the Holy Spirit and Christ, and in fact, we are also given the impression that Christ is subservient to the Holy Spirit. Which I think is the case while Christ lives on earth. But that's another point to make elsewhere.

The rest of chapter 1 is just a continued affirmation of all that was said above. Jesus declares that the time is at hand (v.14-15), fulfilling the prophecies that the Lord was coming and was ushering in the Kingdom of God. Jesus then proceeds to demonstrate his authority: Over people (v.16-20), over knowledge (v.21-22), over evil spirits (v.23-27), which proclaims that Christ is the Holy One of God, another claim of His deity, over health (v.29-31), over all things, all the while preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God (v.39).

What do we understand from this passage? Simply this, Mark did not understand Jesus as a mere man, but as God come in flesh, distinct from God the Father and the Holy Spirit, but closely related. Within this passage we see clear testimonies to the divinity of Christ and the doctrine of the Trinity, of one God existing in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with a hierarchy, Father, Son, then Spirit, though on earth it is Father, Spirit, then Son. And the call is the same for them as it is for us, repent for the Kingdom of God is here.

Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.