Companionship is what makes every journey enjoyable. Today, we continue our journey with Jesus. Join Scott Paulin as we make brief stops in the Gospel according to Mark. We trust you will enjoy the journey. And it came to pass. That's one of the great phrases of scripture. It implies the passing of time, the movement of history. Now, in Mark's gospel record, it passes very quickly. As a matter of fact, the little word straightway is used 41 times. And these chapters continue like a fast-moving drama with words like and, and immediately, and the straight way. It is a quick-moving stream in the gospel according to Mark. And as we make our journey with Jesus, we've come to one of those phrases in Mark 1, verse 9, where it says, And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came. I'm going to read the rest of the verse and the rest of the passage in just a moment, but I want to pause just a moment and point out those beautiful words. What an expression. Jesus came. The world was sitting in the darkness of sin and Jesus came. Men were blind and lost and destined for hell and Jesus came. People were looking to religious leaders who had no answer and to political leaders who were simply after their own good and gain. And Jesus came. Can I tell you that Jesus always comes? He comes right to where you are. He comes right on time. Wherever you are today, whatever is coming to pass in your life, Jesus is coming to you. He wants to come near you. He wants you to know Him. That's what the gospel records are all about. And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee. Let's pause again for a moment. Nazareth was a little obscure place, an obscure agricultural village of less than 300 people in the time of Christ. So despised and disdained that they would eventually say, can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Oh yes, my friend, not only a good thing, God came through Nazareth. You may be in some obscure setting today. You may be in some place or circumstance and think, this is awful. I would never choose this for myself. Nobody wants to live here. But I want you to know Jesus makes every place beautiful. Jesus puts every place on the map. And Jesus put Nazareth on the map because this is the place where God chose for His Son to live the first 30 years of His life. And we pass quickly through that 30 years, through those silent years, to this moment in history, to the beginning of his three and a half year earthly ministry. Listen to the verse again. And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized of John in Jordan. So we've come now to the baptism of Jesus Christ. Now let's read a little more of the story beginning in verse 10. And straightway coming up out of the water he saw the heavens open and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him. And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Now these are amazing verses. Verses about the baptism of Jesus Christ. There's been a great deal of discussion about why Jesus had to be baptized. I believe there are many reasons. One reason, of course, Jesus himself would later testify, was to fulfill all righteousness. In other words, this was God's plan. This was the Father's way. Let's just get to the bottom line. The bottom line is, it's the way the Father chose to begin the earthly ministry of His Son. And Jesus is simply being obedient. That's a beautiful truth and we'll come back to it in a moment. In addition to that, I believe there's honor placed on John the Baptist here. The Lord, of course, is demonstrating that this preaching John has done all these years about one coming after him was actually true. So there's an outward expression of that given in the baptism of Christ. And then practically, there's a beautiful example that the Lord Jesus gives for all who will follow him. He was baptized going down into the water, coming up out of the water. This is the same way we're baptized today. It's why we baptize by immersion, which is actually what the word baptism means, to dip, to immerse, to plunge. This was the way Jesus was baptized. And so, there are many things connected to the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ, but this is what I want to get to today. I want you to hear what God says about His Son. When He comes up out of the water, the Bible says that the heavens open and a voice comes from heaven saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. I believe this is the greatest testimony that could ever be given. that God was pleased. It was the testimony that Jesus had from his youth. Think about this. He's lived for 30 years in obscurity. What do we know about the early years of his life? One thing, we know that God was well pleased with him. He obeyed his earthly parents, the one chosen for him, the ones that he chose to submit to, Joseph and Mary. We know that in these 30 silent years, he obeyed his heavenly Father. that many people want to do right in public, but God sees us in private, when no one is watching but God, and God knew everything about the first 30 years of the Lord Jesus' life, and He said, I am well pleased. It's beautiful, isn't it? You see, the Lord Jesus had lived His entire life to this point for one thing, and that was for the Father's pleasure. We can't carry this out very long, but this was actually his entire life. If you come to John 8, verse 29, he said, I do always those things that please Him. And when he died, why did he die the way he died? Isaiah 53, verse 10, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. You see, all of Jesus' life was lived for one purpose, and that was to please the Heavenly Father. And I want to challenge you today to seek to live your life for one goal, and that is to please God and God alone. You can't make everybody else happy, and you shouldn't be living for your own pleasure. No, we were all created, Revelation chapter 4, verse number 11, for His pleasure. The real question is, is the Lord pleased with my life? Is the Lord pleased with my obedience? Am I honoring Him? Here's the beautiful truth. When you honor God with obedience, God honors you with blessing. Notice that it is as the Lord Jesus obeys the will of the Father, as He takes this step of obedience in public baptism that will inaugurate His ministry and announce that the Messiah has come, that the heavens open. Would you like the blessing of heaven open upon you today, my friend? It was there that the Holy Spirit descended upon him as a dove. What a beautiful picture of the peace of God, and the presence of God, and the purity of God. And I love this. The dove came and lighted upon the Lord Jesus. And that was symbolic, of course, of the power the Holy Spirit put upon him. But the reality is the Holy Spirit never left him. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit was given to him without measure. Friend, as you obey God, you are filled with the power and the peace and the beauty of the Holy Spirit of God upon your life. And God begins to speak and God begins to demonstrate His purpose in your life. Oh, my friend, we are to follow, in the words of Peter, we are to follow in His steps. John would write in 1 John that those who abide in Him are to walk even as He walked. And so, I want to challenge you today. There's only one Christ, but there are many followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you want to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ today, take the next step of obedience. What is that for you? Have you been baptized? That's a good starting point. That's where we are in the ministry of Christ. We begin with the first step of obedience, but don't stop there. Take the next step of obedience, and the next, and the next. Do it gladly. Do it willingly. And as you obey the Lord, God himself will be pleased. And God will put the divine pleasure upon your life. I tell you, it's the greatest testimony that could ever be given. It's not the one you give about you. It's not the one others give about you. It's the one God gives about you. Let's live our life today that the Lord would be well pleased with us. Thank you for traveling with us through God's Word. We would love to hear from you and share additional resources for enjoying the journey. Visit us online at scottpauley.org. May God bless you as you walk with Christ today. you. you