Just the Beginning

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

JUST THE BEGINNING

Mark 1:9-11

9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

NIV

One of the greatest statements in all the scriptures is right here. It is one of the best proofs of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. It would be difficult to even imagine what those who were actually witnesses to this event felt. For them to actually see the Holy Spirit descend out of heaven, much less to actually see the heaven being torn open must have been a frightening yet wonderful experience. Then if that wasn’t awesome they heard the voice of God declaring Jesus to be his Son. Talk about instant fame, who wouldn’t immediately follow him? Yet with all that going for him there were people who said no thanks, I think I will stick with the old ways. We cannot be certain how many of all the people in Jerusalem were there that particular day or how many of the people from the Judea countryside, but we can assume there were still a lot of witnesses to this awe inspiring, once in a lifetime event. We have it recorded for us so that we can share in that experience. Sure we cannot travel back in time in the physical but we can travel there spiritually. We can experience this incredible truth for our own selves. We merely, after reading it need to close our eyes, sit quietly and feel the presence of the Holy Spirit as he gives us assurance of this events wonderful truth. But like with everything else there are those who cannot, or refuse to accept this event as actually happening. All those people have to live in Missouri because they want to be shown it before they will believe it, or they will only believe what they can see, which means they actually live in misery not Missouri. But here it is for all to read and believe, God the Father torn open the heavens, not sure how that would look like, but it had to be awesome, and the Holy Spirit came soaring down gently, in the way a dove does, and landed on Jesus right there in the Jordon river and then, again not sure if it was a booming, or a soft and gentle voice, God declares Jesus is his Son, that he loves him, and is so well please with him. It just doesn’t get any better than that. And this is just the beginning.