(Sermon preached at Providence Church in Caro, MI on January 10th, 2021, Feast of the Baptism of Christ Light modifications have been made.)
On this day, January 10, in 49BC, Julius Caesar set in motion the Roman Civil War. He had been governor over a region of Gaul and, when his term had ended, was to return to Rome. Instead, he lead his army across the shallow Rubicon River, a clear declaration of war on the Roman Senate. “Crossing the Rubicon” has, ever since, meant crossing a point of no return, taking a definitive and clear step of war, whether literal or metaphorical.
In our text this morning (Mark 1:4-11,) we see Jesus, in His Baptism, at a river-crossing event. Jesus is at the Jordan River, not the Rubicon, but the symbolism is just as powerful. And in fact Jesus’ “Rubicon crossing” in the Jordan is no less a declaration of war.a
Good News
We began our reading in verse 4, but just a few verses prior to that, Mark opens the book with this line: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” There is a lot going on in just that short sentence. Like in John’s Gospel, Mark recalls the beginning and signals there is a new beginning, a new creation, at work in Jesus. Mark is telling the beginning of the gospel (good news, glad tidings.) As we saw during Advent, the theme of good news picks up on the words of Israel’s prophets, especially Isaiah. But what I want us to notice this morning is not only the biblical allusions and fulfillment, but also the cultural context in which Mark writes, and into which Jesus enters. “Gospel” was not an empty, vague term in 1st century context. “Gospel” meant an announcement of victory, particularly military victory (TDTNT.) The birth of a new emperor, for instance, was announced as “gospel,” as was his accession to the throne, and, most significantly, his military conquests. Mark is announcing a new gospel, the Gospel of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. And now, at the Jordan River, Jesus takes the definitive step in His Kingdom conquest.
John the Baptizer
John is in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He is baptizing in the Jordan, signaling that repentance is the true way back into the Land, into covenant blessing. John is leading the people in a new exodus event. He is the transition figure from the Old Covenant to the New. He is calling dead, idolatrous Israel to repentance and to faith in the true God Who is now coming to them in the person of His Son.
John speaks of the One Who comes after him, “the strap of Whose sandal [John] is not worthy to stoop down and untie… He will baptize… with the Holy Spirit.” Now, when Jesus comes to be baptized by John, His baptism is unique. “When he came up out of the water,” Mark says, “ immediately” the heavens were torn open, the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove, and the Father spoke over Him.
You Are My Beloved Son
Consider, specifically, the voice of the Father heard at Jesus’ Baptism: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Jesus’ baptism is the revelation to Israel, and to the world, of His identity as the Divine Son. There are a couple of Old Testament passages being alluded to here that help shed light on what’s taking place.
The first is Psalm 2. The psalm speaks of the nations of the world plotting together against Yahweh, the rulers of the earth conspiring to overthrow the Lord’s Anointed. The Lord responds from the heavens with laughter; He has set His King on His holy hill. God declares to Him, “You are my Son; today I have begotten You.” When Mark reports the Father’s declaration over Jesus, “You are my beloved Son,” it’s clear Psalm 2 is being fulfilled. And what do we hear of the Son in Psalm 2? He is set over all the nations of the earth:
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
He is the judge of the nations. Jesus is entering into warfare against the rulers of the earth. Jesus is established as the Ruler, the King, over all the nations of the earth, and He brings judgment against the wicked rulers who conspire against the Lord. He will break them with a rod of iron, dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel!
Mark quotes the Father saying this is His beloved Son, “with You I am well pleased,” alluding to Isaiah 42:1:
Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
This portion of Isaiah speaks of the Suffering Servant, Israel in One Person, Who bears our griefs, Who is wounded for our transgressions, by Whose stripes we are healed. This One is He in Whom the Father delights.
Binding the Strong Man – Jesus at War
Jesus is baptized for war, He crosses the “Rubicon,” and what do we see Him then do? Well, we don’t find Him taking up arms and going to war with Caesar, or with Herod. He doesn’t initiate a military revolt against the empire, but it’s not because Jesus is a pacifist. No, Jesus knows who the real enemy is.
Right after His Baptism, “the Spirit immediately drove Him into the wilderness” to do combat with Satan for forty days. He conquers Satan in the wilderness, remaining faithful in the face of temptation. He then goes to the synagogue in Capernaum on the Sabbath and there He’s confronted with an unclean spirit. As we’ll see as we move through Mark’s gospel this year, finding demon-possessed people in a synagogue is not an anomaly in Jesus’ ministry. What Jesus is up to here, it seems, is not just excorcising this individual of a demon, but rather Jesus is setting out to cast out the unclean spirits from demon-possessed Israel. Jesus comes, as He says in ch. 3, to “bind the strong man,” to conquer Satan in order to free His people. He continues throughout Mark to combat demons, the forces of darkness, and cast them out. It becomes clear that these demons, Satan’s minions, are the forces behind the wickedness and rebellion of the nation. To be clear, that’s not removing complicity from Israel (especially Israel’s leaders,) but rather acknowledging with whom the rebellious people are in league. The idolatry of the nation is in fact their bowing to demonic powers.
So when Jesus is baptized in the Jordan, when He “crosses the Rubicon,” He sets out on the warpath against Satan, against the forces of sin and death itself. And He wins the victory! He defeats death and the devil by the power of His Word as He casts out Satan from Israel, and He proclaims the Kingdom; but ultimately He defeats death by His own death. The Cross looks like Jesus’ defeat. It looks like Jesus, Who’s gone to war with Satan and the demonic forces, has finally been conquered. But the truth is His death is their defeat. The Righteous One enters into death for us and conquers death through the power of His indestructible life (Heb. 7:16.)
Crossing the Rubicon with Jesus
As we’ve talked about before, Jesus’ Baptism is our baptism. His Baptism is the one baptism in which we all participate. When we are baptized, we join Jesus in the baptismal waters of the Jordan. And so our baptism is, likewise, an entrance into warfare!
But, like Jesus, our warfare is not against flesh and blood. Our Christian warfare is not a taking up of arms to overthrow the government, and to go to combat with our political enemies.
We find ourselves in turbulent days. Not just the past year, but the past week has seen significant events and changes that we’ll be sure to look back on for years to come. We are, in our nation, under a ruling class- both political and corporate- that hates God and seeks to overthrow His Anointed King. And really, as crazy as this past year and this past week have felt, this isn’t anything new. For decades, our society has put the legal stamp of approval on the slaughter of the unborn. We’ve celebrated sexual perversion, encouraged lust, indulged in violence, and incentivized sloth. What we’re seeing now is the fruit of our societal rebellion, a nation unravelling.
How do we respond? Do we take up arms against the liberals? Do we work to oust the corrupt GOP? Storm the Capitol? What do we do when our society is collapsing?
The answer is to follow in the warpath of our Savior and fight the powers of darkness possessing the world around us. Our world is possessed by demonic powers. We saw a clear example of that this week, when a session of Congress was opened in prayer to “the monotheistic god, Brahma, and god known by many names by many different faiths. Amen and awoman.” We can laugh at that (really, we can- God laughs at it!) but when we pray to gods like that, they hear and answer. Just days later, the Capitol was overtaken by a mob, made a mockery by men dressed in pagan garb. Our society has followed the forces of darkness for quite some time, and we are called to take up arms against those forces. Paul tells us,
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
We can often mistakenly read this passage as a call to a sort of spiritual retreat. “Don’t worry about the real world around you, the battle is in another realm,” we might think. But that’s not what Paul is saying. It’s precisely through these means- through clinging to the truth of God’s Word, to walking in the righteousness of Christ granted by the Spirit, through living in the peace won by Christ on the Cross, walking in faith, guarded by the Word of God- that we overcome the world. Through His people battling the principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this age, with the weapons of the Spirit, God turns the will upside down and brings His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
And there is comfort in the battle. Did you know, children of God, that your Heavenly Father is well pleased with you? That God delights in you? In union with Christ, we are objects of God’s fatherly delight. As we follow Jesus in baptismal warfare, we, in Christ, are always under the loving care and delight of our heavenly Father. We who are baptized into Christ fight by faith because we know that we share in the victory of the Son in Whom God is well pleased, the One Who defeated death by His own death and resurrection for us.
- Thanks for Chad Bird for pointing out, in a recent video, the historical and thematic connection of Jesus’ Baptism and the Rubicon Crossing. (back)
