The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 154: The Baptism of Jesus (2023)

Episode Date: June 3, 2023

As we begin reading the Gospel of Mark, Fr. Mike points out several amazing details about the baptism of Jesus, as well as some important points about the healing of the paralytic. The readings are Mark 1-2 and Psalm 11. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 154. It is our second messianic checkpoint. We begin today. We're reading 154. It is our second Messianic Checkpoint. We begin today.

We're reading Mark chapters 1 and chapter 2. We're also praying Psalm 11. One little note about the Gospel of Mark after these words, the words that you've always heard, you hear every single day. We're reading, I'm reading from the Bible translation known as the Revised Standard Version, the Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com Transcription by CastingWords wherever you listen to podcasts. As I said, today we are starting the second Messianic checkpoint, Mark's gospel. Now, Mark is the shortest gospel. And so this is going to be a great experience. I just, I'm so excited. When we went through with gospel John, the gospel of John is one of the longer gospels, and we're going to the opposite, Mark, the shortest gospel. Now, not only are we kind of going to the opposite gospel, Mark, Matthew, and Luke are known as

the synoptic gospels, and that means that they will, they're very, very similar. In fact, St. John in the Gospel of John is completely unique from the other three gospels, but Mark, Matthew, and Luke are very similar to each other. One of the things that we note about this is that scholars have pointed out that the Gospel of Mark is probably the basis or the foundation for the gospels of Matthew and the gospels of Luke, that Matthew and Luke must have, or very, very likely, used Mark as one of their templates to tell their story about Jesus's life. And so we kind of have like the original, the OG gospel right here when it comes to Mark's

gospel. Another thing to kind of keep in mind is especially when it comes to contrasting Mark's gospel with John's gospel. If you remember way back in the day when we went through John's gospel, one of the things that happened was there was a lot of exposition. We have a lot of long teachings from Jesus. You know, that whole even high priestly prayer of Jesus and at the last supper went on for chapters and chapters of simply Jesus just talking. The gospel of Mark is the opposite. It's all action. It is an action movie with very little

dialogue. I mean, there's dialogue, but it is an action movie. And one of the things you'll note is that Mark's favorite word is the word immediately. And he consistently says immediately. When it's time to do this, immediately he got up. Immediately Jesus went over. Immediately he reached out his arm. That word immediately is a hallmark of Mark's gospel because what he's doing is he's bringing us into the reality, into the presence, into the immediacy, for lack of a better word, of what Jesus is doing and who Jesus is,

the mission of the Messiah and the mission of Christ on this earth. So keep that in mind. As we're reading through Mark's gospel, the whole thing, chapters one through chapter 16, keep your eyes open, or sorry, your ears open for that quickness. In fact, Mark, even last note, before we start reading, Mark also goes back and forth between past tense and present tense on a regular basis. In fact, he kind of does it in the same sentences even. I was reading in a commentary from Mark chapter 1, verse 40 to 44, we're going to hear that today, where the literal translation of Mark's gospel would read like this.

It says, a leper comes to him and kneeling down begs him and says, if you wish, you can make me clean. Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and he says to him, I do will it be made clean. The leprosy left him immediately and he was made clean. Then warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. Then he says to him, see that you tell no one anything. Now you can see how back and forth Mark is writing the gospel from past tense to present tense. And I think he does this in many ways to simply capture the fact that this is a gospel that is happening now. Yes, this happened in the past.

So he keeps mentioning the past tense. But what he's saying is, and then Jesus says to him such and such. And he's reminding us of the fact that while Jesus, yes, lived in the past and he acted like this in the past, Jesus lives now and forever and he acts in the present as well. And so as we are reading through the gospel, the modern translations have made it all consistent, right? So it's not alternating between past and present. It's just all going to be in the same tense, basically, as we begin.

Okay, gosh, that's a lot of intro words to begin our second Messianic Checkpoint, Mark's Gospel today, chapter 1 and 2, and then we're praying, Psalm 11. The Gospel According to Mark, the preaching of John the Baptist. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness,

preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem. And they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and had a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. The Baptism of Jesus In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove, and a voice came from heaven, You are my beloved Son. With you I am well pleased. The temptation of Jesus. The spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness and he was in the wilderness 40 days tempted by Satan and he was with the wild beasts and the angels ministered to him. Jesus preaches the gospel in Galilee. Now, after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe in the gospel. Jesus calls the first disciples. And passing along by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets.

And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him, the man with an unclean spirit. And they went into Capernaum and immediately on the Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and taught and they were astonished at his teaching for he taught them as one who had authority and not as the scribes. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, What is this? A new teaching! With authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him. And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. Healings at Simon's house And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and

Andrew with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever and immediately they told him of her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up and the fever left her and she served them. That evening at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons and the whole city was gathered together about the door. And he healed many who were sick Jesus preaches and heals throughout Galilee. And Simon and those who were with him followed him, and they found him and said to him, Everyone is searching for you. And he said to them, Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out. And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. Jesus cleanses a leper.

And a leper came to him, begging him, and kneeling, said to him, If you will, you can make me clean. Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, I will be clean. And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And he sternly charged him and sent him away at once and said to him, See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to the people. But he went out and began to talk freely about it and to spread the news so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in the country,

and people came to him from every quarter. Chapter 2. Jesus Heals a Paralytic. And when he had returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home, and many were gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even about the door, and he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him. And when they had made an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, child, your sins are forgiven. Now, some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts, Why does this man speak like this? It is blasphemy.

Who can forgive sins but God alone? And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they questioned like this within themselves, said to them, Why do you question like this in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Rise, take up your pallet and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he said to the paralytic, I say to you, Rise, take up your pallet and go home. And he rose and immediately took up the pallet and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, We never saw anything like this. Jesus calls Levi. He went out again

beside the sea, and all the crowd gathered about him, and he taught them. And as he passed on, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax office. And he said to him, follow me. And he rose and followed him. And as he sat at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were sitting with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. The question about fasting. Now John's disciples

and the Pharisees were fasting, and people came and said to him, Why did John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? And Jesus said to them, Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. No one sews a piece of untrunken cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wine skins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh skins. A teaching about the Sabbath. One Sabbath as he

was going through the grain fields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to him, Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath? And he said to them, Have you never read what David did? When he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him. How he entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the showbread, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him. And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. Psalm 11, Song of Trust in God, to the Choir Master of David. In the Lord I take refuge. How can you say to me, flee like a bird to the mountains? For behold, the wicked bend the bow, they have fitted their arrow to the string, to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes behold, his eyelids test the children of men. The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,

and his soul hates him that loves violence. On the wicked he will rain coals of fire and brimstone. A scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous. He loves righteous deeds. The upright shall behold his face. Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory. Thank you so much. Gosh, Lord, thank you so much for revealing your son to us. Thanks for giving your son to us. You so loved the world that you gave your only son, that all who believe in him might not perish, but might have eternal life. And so we thank you and we give you praise. Thank you for these next seven days.

Thank you for this day where we just get to hear the words of the gospel writer, Mark. And thank you so much for giving to us the good news, the opportunity to hear this good news. So please receive our praise. Help us to be converted. Call us to be your disciples, to follow after you with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love you with everything we are and everything we have. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. You probably noticed that so Mark doesn't waste any time. He kind of just jumps right in. He just goes for it. And from the very, very start of the gospel, he just begins. Bam, here's John the Baptist is appearing in the wilderness. Now, as we noted,

the word immediately, and I'm trying not to overemphasize the word immediately, but it is so prevalent. Now, pause for a moment. Let's go back to the top and say, ask the question. Okay, so here's Mark. Who's Mark? And there are some theories about who Mark is. I mean, it's pretty much the general consensus is that the gospel of Mark is the gospel of actually St. Peter, the apostle Peter.

Why? Because Mark traveled with Peter. He was one of his traveling companions. And so Peter, as he's preaching around all of the Middle East, as well as Rome, Mark is hearing basically the gospel or the good news according to Peter. He's hearing the story of Peter. And so we typically believe that Mark's gospel is Peter's experience of the gospel, that Mark's repeating what he heard Peter preaching again and again and again.

Now, Mark also was a travel companion. His Jewish name was John. And at one point, he was a travel companion with St. Paul. But at some point, something went down and Mark wanted to go home from this missionary journey. And there was a little bit of falling out between Paul and Barnabas because of that. So what happened was Paul and Barnabas and Mark are on the missionary journey, right? And at one point, Mark wants to go home. Okay, no problem. Go home, I guess. It was a little bit let downy

though for Paul because then when they went out again, Mark wanted to go with them and Barnabas took his side. Apparently they were related. And Paul and Barnabas had a little falling out because apparently Paul was maybe miffed that Mark had bailed on them earlier. Now, the great news is, actually, that's great news for us. The reality that when you're on mission, not everyone around you is perfect. This is just one of those things that is just really important. When we get to the Acts of the Apostles in a number of days, quite a few days from now, but when we get to the Acts of the Apostles, we're gonna hear that story and we're gonna hear about the reality. So just to prep your heart for this

is that when we're following after Christ, we can have people who are of goodwill. We can be surrounded by these people. You might even work in the church or volunteer in the church and you've encountered people who are tough to love. And maybe you are one of those people that is tough to love.

I know I am someone who is tough to love. And sometimes we can have conflict. Now, the great news is that here is Paul and Barnabas and Mark who had conflict. But also the great news is that Paul and Barnabas and Mark also had reconciliation. They had division. They had this big falling out, but they also had reconciliation, which is so good and what a gift. It's also believed that possible that Mark is the son of the woman who owned the upper room. So where they celebrated the last supper and where the apostles gathered, the disciples gathered after the Lord's crucifixion and resurrection, that that is where even Pentecost would have happened in the upper room there for the last supper, the upper room there

for Pentecost. And so that's a great connection that Mark would have had with the early, early church. Now, as he's writing this, one of the thoughts as well is that he's writing during the persecution of Nero. And so one of the themes, the realities is that here's what it is to be a disciple. We heard in the very first chapters here, the call of the first disciples, and they were called to become fishers of men. They're also called that we're going to get this later on. They were also called to pick up their cross with the Lord Jesus Christ and to trust in him, the one who was crucified for them and to not lose heart in the face of

difficulties, to not lose heart in the face of real suffering and real, true, genuine oppression. And so Mark is writing his gospel, you know, the gospel of St. Peter, to these persecuted Christians under the emperor Nero. Okay. So a couple notes. In chapter one, we have the baptism of Jesus. And one of the questions that almost is always asked about the baptism of Jesus is why did Jesus get baptized? I mean, there is no reason for Jesus to get baptized because John the Baptist was offering a baptism of repentance and there's nothing that Jesus needed to repent from. And so what is going on? Well, one of the things we recognize is that where Jesus leads the way, we are all called

to follow. And the waters didn't make him holy, but he made the waters holy. This is one of those key moments, one of those key teachings in the early church, is that Jesus wasn't baptized because he needed it. When he was baptized, he brought the holiness. Now, one of the things we heard when we were reading through the book of Leviticus, right, is that if something was unclean and it touched something clean, the unclean made the clean thing unclean. Does that make sense? So you have unclean, you have clean.

Unclean touching clean makes the clean thing unclean. Okay, that's really nice and confusing. But Jesus is going to reverse this. When Jesus, he encounters a leper in today's reading. And what happens? Well, if you touch a leper, you become unclean. The opposite happens when Jesus touches the leper. Instead of the unclean leper making Jesus unclean,

Jesus, the clean one, the holy one, he touches the leper and he extends his cleanness, he extends his righteousness, he extends his wholeness and his healing to the leper. And this is also what's happening in the baptism, is that Jesus is not being purified by the water, but he is sanctifying the water by his presence, by his touching the water, which is just is so, so powerful and so incredible. One note as well, when it comes to that baptism, it says he came up out of the water.

Immediately, he saw the heavens opened and the spirit descending upon him like a dove. Now, when it says open, that word open is actually the word torn. And it means the heavens are torn asunder. This is important for us because at the end of the gospel in Mark chapter 15, when Jesus is crucified and he hands over his spirit, see, and the spirit comes upon him. But here, when he hands over his spirit, the veil is torn in the temple from top to bottom. And it's the same, it's the same verb. It's the same Greek word that when he was baptized, the heavens were torn open. And when he was crucified, the veil in the temple was torn open, which is just so, so powerful. Here's the beginning and

the end of Christ's ministry on earth. Not only this, but a voice came from heaven saying, you are my beloved son, and with you I am well pleased. It's one of those sentences, it's one of those moments in scripture that I often personally pray with, where I just hear the voice of the father who speaks over his beloved son and says, you're my beloved son, with you I am well pleased. And there's something so powerful about this, to realize that the father speaks over Jesus the son. But also, if you've been baptized, you've been made a son or daughter of God,

then the father also speaks over you. And what does he say to Jesus? He says, basically, I'm proud of you. You're my beloved son. He claims him, and then he tells him, with you I'm well pleased. I'm proud of you. You're mine. And this

is what the father does at every baptism. This is what the father does every time you approach him in prayer. When you're right now, as you're listening to these words, what the father does, he's declaring over you the words he declared over Jesus because you've been adopted by him. He says, you're mine and I'm proud of you. And that's something so, so worth reflecting and worth praying about, worth allowing the father to declare those words over you. Because sometimes it is always important for us to remember that God loves us. It is something else to remember that God is proud of you. And that is, yeah, it's powerful. Speaking of power, what happens is the spirit immediately drove Jesus into the wilderness.

Why? What was he doing? He was in the wilderness 40 days, tempted by Satan, and he was with the wild beasts. One of the things we recognize is that Jesus, at this baptism, he's anointed, right? The Holy Spirit descends upon him like a dove. We might have mentioned this in the Gospel of John, but I'll mention it again. Jesus, immediately after he's baptized, after he's anointed, right? So the anointed one is the Messiah, right? That's what it means. That's what Messiah means.

It means anointed one. The Christ means anointed one. They're waiting for the new anointed one, the new David. Now we just have been listening about the life of David and then Solomon. We're the last number of days, but why? Because David is the prototype for the true anointed one, the new, the eternal anointed one, Jesus Christ, the great Messiah. But what's the prototype for the true anointed one, the new, the eternal anointed one, Jesus Christ, the great Messiah. But what's the role of the anointed one? Remember that David's role was he was anointed. Yep.

That doesn't just mean people serve you at your palace, on your throne. That means you've been anointed to go and fight for your people. This is exactly what Jesus does. He gets anointed by the Holy Spirit descending upon him. The Father claims him and says he's proud of him. And then immediately, immediately the Spirit drives him into the wilderness where he does battle with Satan. He does battle with Satan. And then, gosh, these keep reading. He gathers together the apostles, the first disciples, and then he keeps battling, right? He goes and does these exorcisms. And this

is one of the things, it's such a huge reality to have a biblical worldview. It means we do see things the way the Bible tells us that reality is. What's one of the ways that this world is under slavery to Satan. This world is under slavery to the evil one. And Jesus came not just to teach and not just to heal and not just to heal and not just to preach. He came to save us. He came to deliver us. He came to fight against the evil one, what scripture calls the strong man who has bound us. And he binds up the strong man. And this is exactly what Jesus does right away. He's the anointed one. He is the king. He is the Messiah. And what does he do? Immediately he begins to fight against what fights against us.

And so, yes, there is healing of physical ills. There's healing against mental illness. That actually gets its own credit here in the scriptures. And he also fights against demonic oppression. And this is absolutely important for all of us to receive this, because the biblical worldview is that the world is under bondage to the devil, but Jesus Christ has come to set us free. So we can either belong to the kingdom of darkness, right? That remains in bondage, or we can be transferred into the kingdom of light by belonging to Jesus.

One last note, one last note, because it's just so good. In chapter two, it says Jesus heals a paralytic. And so we have the four friends who have their one friend who's paralyzed on the mat. He comes to Capernaum. They try to get to the house. They can't because it's too packed. And so they go up on the roof. They do a little Chip and Joanna Gaines remodeling of the, make a skylight for whoever's house this is. And then they lower the man down. And what does Jesus do? He says, your sins are forgiven. Two things to note. One note, it says, seeing their faith,

he sees the faith of the four friends and someone else's faith is enough for Jesus to heal the one who needed healing. It's their faith that spoke for the man who was paralyzed. One of the reasons why in the Catholic church, at least in much of Christianity, we have this thing called baptism of infants and people who are, you know, human beings, infants who are not able to express faith on their own. But we believe that here in Mark chapter two, that it was the faith of the friends that spoke on behalf of the man who was paralyzed. Just like in a baptism, we have the faith of the parents and the faith of the godparents that speaks on behalf of the one to be baptized. And so that's one of the reasons why we believe that it is possible and actually even vital and essential that get baptized as soon as possible.

Even if this infant doesn't have faith on their own, it is the faith of the parents and the faith of the godparents that gets to speak for them, just like the faith of the friends spoke for the paralyzed man in Mark chapter two. Last note, when Jesus says, child, your sins are forgiven. Some of the scribes saying, wait a second, that's blasphemy. Who but God can forgive sins? This is one of the first claims we have in the gospels of Jesus to divinity. It's one of the first places that Jesus claims to be God in the gospels, because he's saying,

I can do what only God can do. And to prove that I can do what only God can do after he declares forgiveness of sins over the man, he then says, okay, I'll prove it to you and rise, pick up your pallet and walk. And he gives him full and complete healing, demonstrating that Jesus is who he says he is. He is claiming to be God, and then he proves that he actually is God, which is just bonkers and amazing and so, so good. So here we are, the very first chapters of Mark's gospel.

And we just started. We have another six days of this, and I'm so grateful and so honored and so privileged to be able to walk through Mark's gospel with you all. Pray for each other. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.