Up to this point we have seen that the “things” Jesus had taught and the “things” Jesus had done pointed to His divinity. Here, in verses 29-30 of Mark 11, Jesus points to the baptism of John as a third proof of His divinity as a means of further establishing His pre-em-i-nence over all.
In Mark 11.29-30 we read,
Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.”
By pointing back to the baptism of John, Jesus was staking His own authority entirely on this event. Jesus’ counter-question to the Jewish leaders contains the seeds of the truth that they wanted to know. If they want to know where Jesus’ authority comes from, they must reconsider the baptism of John. In order for us to answer the question posed by Jesus, we must look into Mark 1 to find the answer.
4 Reasons why John’s Baptism is Considered from Heaven
In Mark chapter 1 we discover three reasons why John’s baptism is considered from heaven, while observing 1 more in Mark 11.
In Mark 1, we see in verse 4 that John the Baptist fulfilled the prophecy spoken of by Isaiah a few hundred years in advance, which was cited in verses 2 and 3 of the same chapter. The question that we must consider at this point is this, “How do we know for certain that John himself fulfilled this prophecy?”
In verse 3 we see that the one who was to precede the LORD was to be preaching in the wilderness. From verse 4 of this chapter we see this is exactly where John was “crying out” from.
In verse 3 of Mark 1 we read that the messenger was to proclaim a message in the wilderness of preparation for the LORD. This is exactly what John the Baptist proclaimed. Nothing more and nothing less. In fact, in Luke 1.76 we read that John was assigned this task as one crying out in the wilderness even while he was still in his mother’s womb!
Finally, in Mark 11 we see that the people themselves considered John to have been a real prophet of God.
Final Thoughts
Since John the Baptist fulfilled the prophecy, as spoken of by Isaiah, we can conclude that his baptism was indeed from heaven, commissioned by God Himself. In the end, a decision about John is a decision about Jesus. If John’s baptism is “from heaven,” that is, from God, then Jesus’ authority to do the “things” that He has been doing comes from God because John’s testimony about Jesus is that He is God! In the end, we have another historical validation pointing to Jesus’ divinity, which further lends support to His pre-em-i-nence over all.
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