Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Holy Party

Mark 1:10-11
(10)  And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
(11)  And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."


(10)  καὶ εὐθὺς ἀναβαίνων ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος εἶδεν σχιζομένους τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα ὡς περιστερὰν καταβαῖνον εἰς αὐτόν· 

(11)  καὶ φωνὴ ἐγένετο ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν, Σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, ἐν σοὶ εὐδόκησα.

There are a couple of striking things about this passage.  First, note the phrase  καὶ εὐθὺς.  That is Mark's calling card.  We see this as he transitions from one part of the narrative to another.  Taken most literally, this means "and immediately."  There is a sense of urgency and action to this.  I kind of picture the last 10 minutes of an episode of "24" in a way.  You get the image of Jesus hurrying from one activity to another.  This is also why Mark 1:35 stands out so starkly to me.

More importantly from a doctrinal perspective, this is one of the passages where you see all three members of the Trinity in the same place at the same time.  You have God the Son coming out of the water, God the Holy Spirit descending on Him like a dove, and God the Father speaking from heaven.  I would not take this passage by itself as an ironclad proof for the doctrine of the Trinity, but it is very compelling to me and certainly complements other such passages.

Is the Trinity mysterious?  Absolutely.  However, I would also submit that if we can completely understand God then He is not much of a God.

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