Look who's talking!

If you watch Television or read newspapers or magazines you can’t help but have noticed that we live in an age of celebrity endorsements. It doesn’t matter what the product is there is always someone vaguely famous to tell us that this product is the one that we need, this is the one that we want. So, you have Pop stars like P Diddy telling us what perfume to buy, footballers like Joey Barton telling us to buy Nike trainers, TV presenters like Richard Hammond telling us to shop at Morrisons and cricketers like Ian Botham telling us that shredded wheat is good for our hearts. If there is a product to sell then there will be someone to tell us that this is the one for us. But, the extent to which this advertising works is entirely dependent on the person giving the endorsement.

For example, take Fern Britten, a very popular host of daytime television who for two years told us that we needed to eat Ryvita if we wanted to lose weight. Unfortunately, at the same time she went and had a gastric band fitted – so now when she tells people to eat Ryvita, no-one believes her. As all advertisers know, the value of the product is determined by the one giving the endorsement.

With that in mind we need to give some very serious consideration to what Mark has to say in chapter 1, for he has lined up three extraordinary endorsements. The first is an itinerant preacher named John. He would have been something of a celebrity with his wild clothes and strange lifestyle, just the kind of person you would expect today to be invited into the jungle for I’m a celebrity, or into the Big Brother house. But you’d never see him there, because he was on a mission from God: a voice of one calling in the desert, prepare the way for the Lord.

So, John is our first celebrity endorser, but its not a product he is promoting, but a person. And let’s not forget that this comes from the person whom Jesus described as the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets. This is someone whose birth was announced by an Angel, someone who spoke for God. And he says about Jesus, “after me will come one more powerful than I whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.”

That’s our first endorsement, and the second is to be found in verse 10.

Now, in verse 9 Mark tells us that Jesus came from Nazareth to be baptised by John in the Jordan river. I wonder if you can picture the scene? There would have been quite a crowd by the edge of the river Jordan, both John and Jesus already had followers, and there would have been quite a stir as Jesus approached, and particularly as they went into the water together.
Up until this point, as fascinating as it would have been for those who were there, it was just like any other baptism, but then everything changed.

Mark tells us in verse 10, “as Jesus was coming up out of the water he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending upon him like a Dove.” Now, the faithful Jews there would have known that at significant times in Israel’s history God had physically made himself known to his people. Whether in the form of a pillar of fire or a visiting angel; a thunder cloud or a burning bush. They would have known that to see even a glimpse of God at work in the world meant that something extraordinary was happening. And at the Baptism of Jesus it was no different. God, by his Holy Spirit, was visibly endorsing Jesus.

What an incredible thing that must have been to have seen, the Spirit of God descending on Jesus. But that’s not the end of the endorsements, nor is it the most dramatic. For as the Holy Spirit was seen to come down on Jesus so also God the Father spoke, verse 11, “a voice came from heaven: You are my Son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased.”

Now this really is the ultimate in endorsements. It’s a bit like Kevin Francis being awarded the Queens Gallantry medal in the New Year’s honours. Did you hear about that? He was on board a light aircraft that crashed on take off, and despite the fact that it was on fire he managed to rescue one of the pilots. Prior to the award his heroism was well known and recognised, by friends, colleagues and many in his area, but now he has royal approval, he is a national figure: after all, he even gets a mention on my blog!

And it’s the same for Jesus. Its great to be endorsed by John – the last and greatest of the prophets; its remarkable that the Holy Spirit should visibly endorse Jesus; but now he has been given Royal approval. God the Father has looked down from heaven at Jesus’ baptism and said, "that’s my Son."

If the value of the product is determined by those giving their endorsement then we need to sit up and listen, because John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit and God the Father have all given their endorsement to Jesus. And the message that each of these witnesses wants us to understand about Jesus is that He is the one, and there is no other.