A certain man sat in his quiet house reading the gospels.  He’d read them all before, but this time it was as if he was hearing the stories for the first time.  He marveled his way through Matthew, and began the book of Mark.  He couldn’t quit.  He was captivated.  He was there.

He read about John whose calling was to prepare the way for the Savior of the world.  He read how “all the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem” all went to John to be “baptized of him in the river of Jordan.”  (Mark 1:5).

“How,” the man wondered, “did the practice of sprinkling get started?  All Judea and all Jerusalem went to Jordan where John had taken up residence.  It was a wild place and not an easy journey.  John obviously chose that place because of the water where he could immerse the people.  They all believed he was a prophet.  Even Herod knew that John was a just and holy man (Mark 6:20), although being as wicked and proud as he was, would not have presented himself for baptism.”

And then the man thought about Jesus, whose shoes John was not worthy enough “to stoop down and unloose.”  (Mark 1:7).  Jesus Himself had come all the way from Galilee to be baptized.  Why?  He’d never committed a sin.  He had nothing to repent of.  The trip from Nazareth to Bethabara was well over 70 miles—probably a hundred.  How long would that have taken on foot?  Why was His baptism so important?  Was He setting an example?  How far would I be willing to go for “the baptism of repentance for the remission of sin” (Mark 1:4) by one who had proper authority?  Why didn’t Jesus and all Judea just go to the rabbis and Pharisees to be baptized?

It was plain to the man why Jesus went not to the Pharisees.  He boldly called them hypocrites to their faces.  Imagine that, He, one lone man, didn’t hesitate to stand up to crowds of the most important men of the day and call them hypocrites!  How that must have stung, yet they had to take it because they knew it was true.

Jesus was courageous and unflinching.  Jesus was also kind to the humble and believing.  He touched the unclean leper (Mark 1:41) and healed him.  He sat at meat with publicans and sinners (2:15).  He went with “one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name” (5:22), and raised his 12-year-old daughter from the dead.  When he arrived at the house he found a tumult of people weeping and wailing.  He asked, “Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.  And they laughed him to scorn.”  (5:38-40).

And well they would, the man thought.  It was plain that the girl was dead.  I’d have probably laughed, too.—And I’d have been “astonished with a great astonishment,” just like they were.  (5:42).

Jesus taught, “and they were astonished at his doctrine:  for he taught them as one that had authority.”  (1:22).  He cast out devils, healed multitudes, was thronged by thousands of curious believers, fed 5,000 of them with five loaves and two fishes, walked on water, stilled storms, and commissioned the Twelve to go out and do the same.

This man was a God, the man thought excitedly, as he remembered the report his wife had given after attending an Easter service.  The Bermuda-shorts-clad minister had stood before his congregation and hesitatingly said, “I think I have come to the conclusion that Jesus was a God.”

How could the preacher have doubted? the man wondered.  Did he never read the gospels?  Has the Bible version that he uses been watered down to the point that the Lord’s divinity can be in question?

And this man baptizes! the man thought.  From whence came his authority?  And what does he preach?  Does he use the Bible?  Does he baptize unto repentance?  Does he ever use the word “repentance” in his sermons?  Why do these churches allow cohabiting men to pass the collection plate, and cohabiting women to be the organists?  Have they never read what Jesus had to say about adultery and the keeping of His commandments?  Do they read their Bibles?  How can they misunderstand?  Is there no such thing as sin any more?

It is a fact that most of the people in such congregations have never been baptized—by immersion, or sprinkling, either—so why do they think Jesus was baptized?  Why do they preach that baptism is optional?  How are they any different from the Pharisees that Jesus so roundly condemned?  He plainly told them that they were “laying aside the commandment(s) of God” (7:8), that they were worshiping in vain, “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (7:7), and “making the word of God of none effect through (their) tradition.”  (7:13).

The man marveled over the discrepancies he observed between what the Bible preaches and what the world practices.  As he read he was filled with joy and wonder.  He was filled with admiration and gratitude for the Savior Who had so plainly marked the way and shown how a life is to be lived.  He was filled with desire to follow Jesus and to be His disciple.  He was filled with love for his Redeemer and Savior, and for the Bible which so beautifully and compellingly explains the Lord’s teachings, commandments, and life.

The man was there, in Palestine, with his Savior as he immersed himself in the words of Mark.  Would that all men might read Mark’s words, and feel what he felt.