SOURCES:
“Jesus in the Wilderness: Baptism, Fasting, and Temptations.” Richard Neitzel Holzapfel. The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ: From Bethlehem through the Sermon on the Mount. Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Thomas Wayment
The New Testament Made Harder by James E. Faulconer
The New Testament: A Translation for Latter-day Saints - Thomas A. Wayment
Bible Dictionary - ChurchofJesusChrist.Org
Mark 1:1-15
“Mark’s first fifteen verses demonstrate complete unity framed by the announcement of the “good news” (Mark 1:1) and Jesus’ arrival in Galilee to preach the “good news” (Mark 1:15). Between these two occurrences of the word gospel lie the events that form the basic underlying thesis of the whole Gospel narrative—Jesus is God’s Beloved Son; He is empowered by His Father, and He goes forth by the Spirit.”
JOHN THE BAPTIST
How long was John the Baptist’s mission? John’s public ministry presumably began at least six months prior to Jesus’s mission. Matthew 3, Mark 1, and Luke 3 record Jesus’s baptism when it occurred. On the other hand, the wording in John 1 indicates that the baptism had already occurred and that John the Baptist continued to teach and baptize others. John 3 moves John the Baptist from Bethabara to Aenon near Salim and says that he continued with his mission of baptizing, with the note that “John was not yet cast into prison” (John 3:24). Sometime after this, John was put into prison, during which time his disciples came and visited him. Quite possibly John was placed in prison sometime near the end of the first year of Jesus’s ministry and probably remained in prison for at least a year, maybe a little longer. Thus, John’s ministry could have lasted from one to two years
(J. Reuben Clark, Our Lord of the Gospels [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1968], 37, 62). https://rsc.byu.edu/vol-10-no-2-2009/john-baptist-miracle-mission
With very few words (Mark 1:2-8), Mark demonstrates how suddenly and radically John the Baptist alters the social, political, and religious landscape of first-century Judaism when he announces that the coming of the “one mightier” than any prophet has at long last arrived. (Mark 1:7)
“For Jesus, John the Baptist symbolized the final transition from the Old Testament (covenant) and the beginning of the New Testament (covenant). The time of the law and the prophets had passed, and the time of the Messiah had arrived. John the Baptist, the last legal administrator of the Mosaic covenant, had one foot in each dispensation.” (Footnote 11). Holzapfel: pg. 163
"Contrary to what we sometimes hear, the Pharisees were not, as such, the leaders of the Jews, though some of them were among the leaders of the Sanhedrin and other leaders. The Pharisees were more or less comparable to a modern political party or lobby group, influencing those who govern. The Pharisees’ answer to “Who’s in?” was “Those who have the right lineage and who keep the Law as we interpret it.” This difference over the question of lineage and over what obedience means makes more clear John the Baptist’s rebuke of the Pharisees: “Bring forth fruits meet for repentance: and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father” The Pharisees were preaching the Law and birthright rather than repentance. I think this also explains Jesus’s ministry to so many of those who were excluded: those the Pharisees had decreed to be sinners, Samaritans, and so on."
James E. Faulconer
Mark 1:4 Forgiveness for sin independent of the temple and the priests in Jerusalem, even though he was himself a priest ( Holzapfel pg. 165). This challenge did not go unnoticed.
REPENTANCE
Repentance - Bible Dictionary
The Greek word of which this is the translation denotes a change of mind, a fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world. Since we are born into conditions of mortality, repentance comes to mean a turning of the heart and will to God, and a renunciation of sin to which we are naturally inclined. Without this there can be no progress in the things of the soul’s salvation, for all accountable persons are stained by sin and must be cleansed in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Repentance is not optional for salvation; it is a commandment of God (D&C 18:9–22; 20:29; 133:16). The preaching of repentance by John the Baptist formed the preparation for the ministry of our Lord.
“Repent, Greek metanoeo, literally “to change one’s mind,” in the context of the preaching of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth, is actually a call for a radical transformation. Repentance is not just an intellectual change of mind but is a behaviorally centered change from the heart, in which the individual, because of faith, forsakes sin and returns to God. As a result, John’s message is not simply to inform but also to convert the reader to this radical transformation that brings gracious forgiveness that God continually offers men and women through the “one mightier than” prophet, Jesus Christ, who offers the “baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost” that can prevent a person from backsliding following the baptism of water.”
“Jesus in the Wilderness: Baptism, Fasting, and Temptations.” Richard Neitzel Holzapfel.
The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ: From Bethlehem through the Sermon on the Mount.
Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Thomas Wayment
Footnote 12. Pg. 163.
To repent is to return to God; it is to return to the covenant He made with Israel.
START OF JESUS' PUBLIC MINISTRY
“For nearly thirty years, Jesus lived an apparently quiet and slow-paced life in an obscure and out-of-the-way village, away from the gaze of crowds and the interest of political and religious leaders of His day.” Holzapfel pg. 169
Mark 1:11 - “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Much has been written about the meaning of the declaration—for some, He was always the Son of God; for others, He was the Son of God from the moment of conception; for another group, He was adopted as God’s Son at baptism; and for still another group, He became God’s Son at the resurrection.” pg. 170
“Jesus performed miracles in behalf of others over and over through the Gospels. Nowhere does He perform one in His own behalf. The temptations may explain the reason Jesus did not use His divine power for self-interest because doing so would have been a subtle, but significant, departure from a mission wholly dedicated to others—one that the devil tried to subvert by tempting Jesus to take care of His needs by using His power to satisfy His hunger for food, acceptance, and power.” Footnote 57, Holzapfel.
Clearly, the Gospel author believed that God actually did something to or for Jesus at the baptism. The nature of what He did is debated. Was Jesus anointed, elected, affirmed, identified, or declared at this time?
“ . . . More than the physical acts of baptism and fasting for forty days gave Jesus a sense of mission at this time. The experiences following the baptism—God’s voice and declaration, the devil’s challenges, and Jesus’ successful resistance to the temptations—are what provided Jesus the authority and power to begin His ministry.” Holzapfel pg. 171
THE ROLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
“For some reason not fully explained in the scriptures, the Holy Ghost did not operate in the fulness among the Jews during the years of Jesus’ mortal sojourn (John 7:39; 16:7). Statements to the effect that the Holy Ghost did not come until after Jesus was resurrected must of necessity refer to that particular dispensation only, for it is abundantly clear that the Holy Ghost was operative in earlier dispensations. Furthermore, it has reference only to the gift of the Holy Ghost not being present, since the power of the Holy Ghost was operative during the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus; otherwise, no one would have received a testimony of the truths that these men taught.” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bd/holy-ghost?lang=eng
As with the use of prayer in Jesus’ life, Luke makes it clearer than Mark that it was the Holy Ghost who descended on Jesus at baptism (see Luke 3:22).
(Side note: Thomas Wayment - Luke’s wording makes it clear that the Holy Spirit descended softly, as a dove would land, and that Jesus experienced a physical or bodily presence of the Holy Spirit. Luke’s wording differs from the other Gospels in his description (Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; John 1:32).
Joseph Smith stated, “The sign of the dove was instituted before the creation of the world, a witness for the Holy Ghost, and the devil cannot come in the sign of a dove. The Holy Ghost is a personage, and is in the form of a personage. It does not confine itself to the form of the dove, but in sign of the dove. The Holy Ghost cannot be transformed into a dove; but the sign of a dove was given to John to signify the truth of the deed, as the dove is an emblem or token of truth and innocence.”
Mark’s description is surprisingly strong: the Spirit driveth Him into the wilderness, led in Matthew and Luke, the JST is "took him". The Spirit falls upon Jesus when John baptizes Him in the wilderness, the Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness where He fasts for forty days and is tempted by the devil.
BraveLikeEve - Instagram - January 25, 2023
No comments:
Post a Comment