The Identity of Jesus. Baptism of Jesus 1:2-11 This is the first occasion on which Jesus appears in...

The Identity of Jesus

Baptism of Jesus 1:2-11

This is the first occasion on which Jesus appears in Mark’s Gospel.

All 3 persons of the Trinity are present. God speaks to Jesus (v11) Voice from heaven says Jesus is the Son

of God The Holy Spirit has returned – many Jews

believed that the Spirit would come back with the Messiah.

Baptism of Jesus 1:2-11

In this passage Jesus is referred to as Son of God.

John the Baptist was preparing the way for Jesus.

John baptises people to cleanse them of their sin so that they were ready to welcome the Messiah

John was a great prophet and is linked to Elijah.

Baptism of Jesus 1: 1-13

Mark describes what John wore as he was dressed like Elijah; ‘clothes of camel hair and a leather belt around his waist.’

John was in the desert and Elijah spent a lot of time there.

If ‘Elijah’ has returned then it means that the Messiah was soon to arrive.

John was preparing the way, but Jesus would bring the real message.

Baptism of Jesus 1: 1-13

Jesus is given the title Son of God. ‘You are my own dear Son. I am pleased

with you.’ Mark tells his readers that the Kingdom

of God is about to arrive. Mark tells his readers that the Holy Spirit

has returned, which meant the Messiah would return.

Mark makes it clear that Jesus is the Son of God.

The Baptism of Jesus and Christians Today

Mark begins his Gospel with the account of the baptism of Jesus.

John the Baptist preaches ‘turn away from your sins and be baptised’.

John understood baptism as giving forgiveness to the person who repented and looked forward to the arrival of the Messiah.


One of the most difficult questions concerning Jesus’ baptism is:

Why did Jesus need to be baptised into a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins if he was, as Christians believe, sinless?


There have been many attempts to answer this question

1. Jesus was a sinner – for Christians this is an unacceptable.

2. Jesus was pretending to be a sinner in an attempt to identify himself with the work of John the Baptist who was preparing the way for the Messiah.


3. Some people have suggested that Jesus, by being baptised, was showing great humility in undergoing the act when he didn’t need to.

4. The baptism of Jesus is the moment when God confirms him as the Messiah‘You are my own dear Son. I am pleased with you’. (v11)

Caesarea Philippi (8:27-33)

People of the area were asking questions about the identity of Jesus.

Peter’s statement shows that the disciples already thought of Jesus as the Messiah.

Jesus tells Peter not to tell anyone that he is the Messiah shows that Jesus wanted him to keep the Messianic Secret until everyone really knew what type of Messiah he was.

Jesus did not wish to be thought of as the popular military leader who would free Israel from the Romans.


Although Jesus’ disciples recognise that he is the Messiah, Jesus wants them to see that he is not a military leader.

This is the first time that Jesus talks about what is going to happen to him.


Jesus calls himself the ‘Son of Man’ – although Peter has just called him the Messiah, Jesus prefers the title Son of Man.

Jesus says he must suffer and die – at the time of Jesus people expected a Messiah who would be a victorious warrior-king but Jesus’ idea of Messiah was completely different. The Messiah will suffer and die.


Jesus says that he will rise to life – although the Messiah will suffer, he will also conquer death. Jesus will rise from the dead.

Peter cannot understand what Jesus is saying – Peter expected Jesus to be a victorious king. So when Jesus talks about suffering Peter cannot bear it. He tries to tell Jesus off, to make him change his mind, but Jesus rebukes Peter and calls him Satan – the one who tempts people to do wrong.

Caesarea Philippi Matthew 16-13-20

Matthew tells Peter he is the foundation of the church.

Matthew’s version is particularly important to Roman Catholic Christians.

In fact most Christians are Roman Catholic (about 59%).

So why does this passage matter so much to them?

The Importance of Matthews account for Roman Catholics Today

We need to consider the leadership in the Church.

A leadership structure emerged early in Christian history – Bishops, Priests, Deacons. This structure was firmly in place by the second century.

The Roman Catholic Church has this structure.


Bishops run the Church in each diocese (Bishop Thomas).

The priests and deacons are assistants to the bishop.

The bishop is believed to be a successor to Jesus’ original twelve apostles.

Roman Catholics listen carefully to what their bishops teach.

The bishop of Rome is called the Pope (Benedict)


You are the rock on which I build my church – Peter = the first Pope / Bishop of Rome.

Every Pope since then is the successor of Peter himself.

The authority which Jesus gives to Peter is passed on to his successors too.

Jesus gives Peter the authority to make decisions, to bind and loose.

Roman Catholics believe that the Pope has this authority too.

Transfiguration 9: 1-10

Title: Jesus is the Son of God.This story shows the divine nature of

Jesus; Jesus is God.This is shown through the voice from

heaven ‘This is my own dear Son – listen to him!

and the transfiguring of Jesus’ clothes and body – shining white clothes.


Elijah and Moses are present at the transfiguration which once again links Jesus with the Messiah.

Jesus is continuing the line of Old Testament prophets and of Judaism, therefore he is the Messiah.

Jesus explains to his disciples that he must suffer; he is the Messiah who must suffer and die.

The disciples still don’t really understand as Peter wants to build tents for the prophets.

Jesus tells them not to tell anyone – again because they will not understand what type of Messiah he is.


Jesus is the Son of God Jesus takes his disciples up a mountain.

In the Old Testament God appears to people on a mountain.

A ‘change came over Jesus’ – his clothes became dazzling white. Things linked with heaven were often thought to be white in colour.

Peter and the disciples are frightened of God’s power.


The Father tells the disciples who Jesus is and that they must listen to him. The Father agrees with the Son; the son of God must suffer.

Transfiguration 9:1-10

Elijah and Moses appear and talk with Jesus. The Jewish law is represented by Moses The prophets are represented by Elijah Moses had said God would send a new prophet

whom the people should listen to. The OT predicted that Elijah would appear

before the Messiah. Early Christians believed that both these men

had something to do with the Messiah. Jesus is shown as continuing the line of OT

prophets.

The problem of the Transfiguration for some Christians Today

What really happened?A liberal view is that the account is

a myth – a story which did not happen, but which has a true meaning.

If the Transfiguration is a myth, it didn’t happen. But the story’s meaning is true.

Calming of the Storm 4:35-41

Jesus has power over nature and so he is behaving like God. Nature Miracle.

Disciples are afraid and this is ‘Fear of the Lord.’ Jesus is behaving like God and they are afraid because they are in God’s presence.

‘Who is this? Even the wind and waves obey him.’

Title: Son of God. Saviour (he saves the disciples from death).

Mark’s use of the Story

In the Old Testament the sea was the symbol of chaos and evil, which could only be overcome by God.

The question asked at the end of the miracle, ‘Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him’ (4:41) is left unanswered.

The answer is obvious – Jesus acting as God, is the one whom even the wind and sea obey.

The problem of the Calming of the Storm for some Christians Today

The storm could be seen as a symbol. It stands for the many troubles people

face in life. Mark is urging people in trouble to trust

Jesus. Jesus saved his disciples in the storm, and

Christians should trust Jesus to help them. But faith is not just for the bad times.

True faith focuses steadily on God, in good times and bad.

Feeding of the Five Thousand 6:39-44

Jesus shows power over nature. Nature miralce. Mark’s readers would have been reminded of the Last

Supper when they read this story. Mark is thinking of stories about feeding people in the Old Testament.

Jesus saves the people from their hunger. Jesus acts like God.

Jesus shares the food and this is a sign of what is to come – the Messianic Banquet in the Kingdom of God.

12 baskets of food – 12 tribes of Israel – Jesus feeds all the Jewish people.

Titles: Son of God. Saviour. Different interpretations of this story: was the miracle

that Jesus got people to share and not be selfish?

Mark’s Use of the Story

Mark saw Jesus as the Messiah.The Jews believed the reign of the

Messiah would begin with a banquet.

In this miracle there is a picture of the Messiah feeding his people.

The problem of the Feeding of the Five Thousand for some Christians Today

What really happened? Conservative View:

Jesus actually feed 5000 people with just 5 loaves and two fish.

Others have different ideas: The people only got a tiny scrap of bread each The people of the crowd saw that Jesus was

willing to share his food with them and they felt guilty. They shared their own food with each other.

Walking on the Sea 6: 45-52

Nature miracle Jesus behaves like he is God as he shows

power over nature. Mark is thinking of ideas about walking

across or through water in the Old Testament.

The disciples are afraid because Jesus is acting like God; ‘fear of the Lord.’

Different interpretations of this story but the miracle still shows that Mark believes that Jesus was Son of God.

Title: Son of God


As in the calming of the storm, Mark saw the sea as being an evil power over which Jesus had control.

Mark intends us to see Jesus in his divine sense, walking on the water as an example of divine authority.

The story tells us who Mark believes Jesus to be. He is God.

The problem of the Walking on Sea for some Christians Today

Lots of people find miracles like this hard to accept. We know people can’t walk on water. Why should Jesus be any different?

On the other hand, it could be said that he was different; he was unique; the Son of God.

Healing of Legion 5: 1-20

Healing and nature miracle Healing takes place in a Gentile area

(Decapolis). Jesus’ ministry is for Jews and Gentiles –

both are welcome into the Kingdom of God.

Jesus shows power over nature by sending the spirits into the herd of pigs; Jesus is behaving like God.

Jesus heals the man of evil spirits.


The man has been rejected by the people because they are afraid of him.

Jesus feels compassion even though the man might attack him.

The demons recognise who Jesus is as the man calls him ‘Son of the most high God.’

Jesus speaks to the demon and asks its name so that he could cast it out of the man. This was the usual method of exorcism.


The man has many demons which is what Legion or ‘Mob’ means.

Jesus sends the demons into the pigs which shows that the man is really healed of the demons.

There are different ways of understanding this story – some people think it’s not kind to pigs!

People are frightened; ‘fear of the Lord’. People were impressed by Jesus’ power to heal

this dangerous man; Gentile people impressed by the power of the Jewish God.

Title: Son of God


This miracle comes after the calming of the storm, where Mark hints at the disciples failure (4:40).

It is interesting that Legion a Gentile wants to be a disciple but Jesus told him to remain where he was in his own district and tell all the people ‘how much the Lord has done for you’ (5:19).

The story of Legion ends on a positive note for discipleship.

The problem of the healing of Legion for some Christians Today

Some Christians today have difficulty with this story.

Jesus seemed to have no respect for the livelihood of a Gentile pig farmer. He allowed the herd of pigs to be destroyed.

The problem of the healing of Legion for some Christians Today

There are three ways of explaining the difficulty: To accept it as being a contest between good and

evil; To treat the death of the pigs as a coincidence.

The commotion caused them to stampede. It has nothing at all to do with the cure of Legion;

The death of the pigs did not take place on the same occasion and has nothing to with the miracle. It became connected with the miracle because both events took place in the same village.

Jairus’ Daughter 5: 21-43

(Leave out the women who was bleeding.) Jesus raises the girl to life. Healing miracle. Jesus has power over death which means he is

acting like God. Jesus saves the girl from death. The girl is brought back to normal life and will

die again; Jesus is resurrection to a new life. Titles: Son of God. Saviour. Different interpretations of the story might

conclude that the girl was not really dead (5:39).

The problem of the raising of Jairus’ daughter for some Christians Today

The main problem with this miracle is the question of whether or not Mark meant it as a healing miracle or a raising from the dead miracle.

Jesus said ‘the child is only sleeping (5:39).

However, the early church saw this story as an illustration of the power of God to raise the dead.

The problem of the raising of Jairus’ daughter for some Christians Today

For Christians today the message of the miracle is that death is not the end.

Jesus has power over death and a new life comes after death.

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