Day 154: The Baptism of Jesus

Today's readings: Mark 1-2 and Psalm 11.

I. Mark 1 quickly establishes Jesus' authority over His disciples, doctrine, demons, disease, and ritual uncleanness, which is inseparable from His relationship with the Father. We meet John the Baptist, and Jesus is baptized, with an incredible theophany from heaven. Then Jesus faced testing in the desert by the devil. John is arrested after this; the Apostles are called to follow Him, and Jesus begins His public ministry, teaching with authority unlike the scribes. That authority is displayed when He miraculously calls out an unclean spirit from a man. Miracles are again shown in the healing of Peter's mother-in-law, and the chapter ends with His healing of a leper.

In the next chapter, Jesus shows that He has divine authority, which sparks a growing conflict with religious leaders. He forgives a paralytic of his sins in Capernaum, which angers religious leaders as blasphemy. Jesus then healed the man, showing that He does indeed have such authority. He later calls on Matthew to follow Him, and then eats dinner with him. This scandalizes the scribes and Pharisees, but He shows that He is the Divine Physician who heals sinners. When asked about fasting, He describes Himself as the Bridegroom while He is on earth. Finally, the Pharisees accuse Him of breaking the Law when His Apostles pluck grain to eat, showing that He is the Lord of the Sabbath.

The BIY Companion, Vol II, has some good commentary on this:

Scripture tells us that, due to sin, the world is in slavery to the Devil. So Jesus comes not only to teach and heal us but to save us. We can either choose to belong to the kingdom of darkness by remaining in bondage to sin or we can be transferred by the grace of Christ into the kingdom of light. When Jesus tells the paralytic that his sins are forgiven, the scribes present claim that this is blasphemy because only God can forgive sins. Here we see in the Gospels that Jesus claims to be God. (p. 72)

II. Psalm 11 is, as the Ignatius Bible notes:

A psalm of trust. The speaker is hunted by wicked men yet refuses to flee to the mountains, despite the urging of others who are concerned for his life. Instead, he seeks the Lord as his refuge, confident that God sees all things from heaven and judges all men according to their deeds. (pp. 839-40)

That's all for today!