He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

Mark 1:1-28 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. ² As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way;
³ The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight.’”

⁴ John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. ⁶ John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and wild honey. ⁷ And he was preaching, and saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. ⁸ I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; ¹¹ and a voice came out of the heavens: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

¹² Immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness. ¹³ And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.

¹⁴ Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

¹⁶ As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” ¹⁸ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. ¹⁹ Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. ²⁰ Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.

²¹ They went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach. ²² They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. ²³ Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, ²⁴ saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” ²⁵ And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” ²⁶ Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. ²⁷ They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” ²⁸ Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.

The Gospel of Mark will provide us with many of the same accounts as Matthew. Mark’s recounting of the events will often be much more direct and factual, with less background. Some people try to point to the discrepancies in the words or the chronology of some of the accounts to attempt to disprove or discredit the Bible. They consider these things contradictions, when in reality they are simply told from a different perspective. It is not unlike when there are several eyewitnesses to an accident. Each one will have seen and heard things from their perspective. The accounts, while similar, will also have some differing details. That does not make them invalid. It simply requires that we use all the information from every perspective to gain the best understanding of all that happened. Additionally, with the gospel accounts, each writer may have targeted a specific audience, causing them to highlight things that were most important to inform that group of people. Rather than seeking out what might be different in accounts or even differing Biblical principles, we should view all of scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, as a the account of God’s plan and His will for man and for creation. We should view all scripture in the light of the rest of scripture, not as isolated verses or sound bites, looking at its continuity not contradiction. 2 Timothy 3:16 says:   All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.   This characterization of scripture eliminates the argument of some that it is not God’s word because it was written and interpreted by men. If we allow that it is inspired by God, through the Holy Spirit, then we also can read and understand all scripture by the inspiration of that same Spirit.

In Ephesians 4:1-6 Paul says: I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.    In the same way that the writers of the gospels may relate the accounts differently based on their perspective and their priorities, we may also interpret some portions of scripture differently. We should not allow this to become divisive, but rather as one body, we should focus on the things we agree on. When we focus on disagreement we increase the divide between ourselves. If we focus instead on what we agree on, we see how close we are rather than how far apart. We can expect that the world will point to the difference to discredit scripture. But, as believers, we should look toward unity and love for each other. In John 13:35, Jesus says:  "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."   One of the greatest hindrances to the testimony of the church in our time is not that the word is not valid. It is that the world sees so much division in believers that they don’t know who the disciples of Jesus are.   

In today’s text, it says:  John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins… And he was preaching, and saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; and a voice came out of the heavens: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.” Immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness. We see in these eight verses the importance of the Holy Spirit in Jesus own life and ministry.

The text continues:  As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.    What was it that these men saw that caused them to leave everything and follow Jesus? It wasn’t financial opportunity or fame. They saw not in the natural, but rather through the Spirit. They were drawn to Jesus by the Father, through the Holy Spirit.  

The text ends saying:  He entered the synagogue and began to teach. They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.  Both the people and the unclean spirit recognized the Holy Spirit in Jesus and His authority. In Acts 1:8 Jesus says: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”  Like Jesus, we are to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, a power and authority that will be recognized both by people and evil spirits. If we want the world to know Jesus, it must begin with us, as believers, being unified in the Spirit, that the world will know we are His disciples and His witnesses in power.

I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. Amen.