Volume 2 Isaiah 42:1 : 1st Trailhead – 1st Trail – 1st Track – 2nd Checkpoint – 1st Path

We are now on the first path of Mark 1:9.   It is also set in the context of the unveiling of Jesus as the Promised Messiah and His identification with sinners to bear their sins through water baptism.

Mark 1:9 mentioned that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee. Why is the Bible so specific about where Jesus came from?

In the first century, Nazareth was a small town about 55 miles north of Jerusalem and it had a negative reputation among the Jews.  Galilee was generally looked down upon by Judeans.  Nazareth of Galilee was especially despised.  The Nazarenes were scorned by everyone.  This sentiment was most aptly represented by Nathanael when he asked this question as recorded in John 1:46, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  Jesus the Man came from the most despised town to become the most humiliated human being on the cross.  This was how lowly our Lord and Saviour came.

Taken as a whole, Mark 1:9 is about Jesus coming from the most despised town to be identified with sinners through water baptism. This points to Jesus identifying Himself with the lowly both physically and spiritually.  It also points to the truth that nobody is beyond hope of salvation.  Jesus has gone to the rock bottom of the abyss and has ascended to the most exalted place in the heavens to cover the entire spectrum of time, space and matter with His saving blood.  So if you think you have gone too far out, think again.  Nothing can ever separate you from the love of God that is in Christ as Romans 8:35 tells us.  Do not for a minute think that God loves only Christians.  God loved everybody as categorically stated in John 3:16.  We accept God’s love through Christ Jesus.  If Christ stands for love, then Christians would stand for the beloved of God in Christ.  I am inclined to believe that Christians are a testimony of how God loves a person despite all his failings.  And because God loves, He also disciplines.  The discipline aspect of that love is not readily seen as it is between God and that individual.  “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love for You” is God’s favourite song.