Jesus as Messiah, Son of Man and the Baptism
Who Was the Messiah Supposed to Be?
At the time of Jesus, Jewish people in first-century Palestine were eagerly waiting for a Messiah. The Hebrew word means “anointed one” — the same concept as the Greek “Christ.” But expectations varied widely. Many Jews hoped for a warrior king like David who would overthrow Roman rule by military force. Others anticipated a priestly or prophetic figure. What almost nobody expected was a suffering Messiah who would die at the hands of the very oppressors he was meant to defeat.
One of the most important Old Testament passages Christians use to understand Jesus’s role is Isaiah 53. This text describes a “suffering servant” who is “despised and rejected” and who carries the people’s suffering in his own body. Early Christians read this passage and saw Jesus in it — the Messiah was not a conquering general but someone who fulfils God’s purposes through self-giving suffering. This is one reason why Mark’s Gospel, from its very opening lines, is so theologically charged.
Mark’s Gospel opens at Mark 1:1 with the declaration: “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Within the first eleven verses, Mark establishes Jesus as Messiah (Christ), Son of God, and the one who fulfils the prophecies of Isaiah. The Gospel then immediately goes on to announce Jesus’s baptism — his public commissioning as God’s chosen servant.
The Title ‘Son of Man’
One of the most unusual and distinctive titles Jesus uses for himself in Mark is Son of Man. Unlike “Messiah,” which carried powerful political overtones, “Son of Man” was more ambiguous and allowed Jesus to define his mission on his own terms. It has two layers of meaning.
The first layer comes from Daniel 7:13, which describes a heavenly figure “like a son of man” coming before God (“the Ancient of Days”) on clouds of glory and receiving “dominion and glory and a kingdom.” This apocalyptic figure has cosmic authority. When Jesus calls himself Son of Man, he is linking his identity to this heavenly ruler — a being with divine backing and an eternal kingdom.
The second layer is more human and vulnerable. Jesus also uses the title “Son of Man” when speaking of his coming suffering and death (for example when predicting his passion). This deliberate ambiguity is central to Mark’s portrayal of Jesus — he is simultaneously the exalted cosmic Lord of Daniel’s vision and the servant who must suffer. Scholars refer to this as the “hidden” nature of Jesus’s identity, and it runs throughout the whole Gospel.
At the time of Jesus, Jewish expectations of the Messiah were diverse. The Pharisees hoped for a teacher who would purify Jewish law. The Zealots wanted a military revolutionary. The Essenes (the community behind the Dead Sea Scrolls) anticipated a priestly Messiah from the tribe of Levi. Most of these groups would have been confused or even offended by Jesus, whose Messiah-ship centred on suffering, service and a cross rather than triumph.
Christians today see Isaiah 53 as proof that Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecy in an unexpected way — the “suffering servant” model reframes what messianic victory looks like. From a Humanist or atheist perspective, this reinterpretation is a post-hoc rationalisation: the early Christian community read its experience of Jesus’s death back into the Hebrew scriptures rather than fulfilling a genuine prediction.
The Baptism of Jesus (Mark 1:2–11)
Mark’s Gospel begins with extraordinary speed. There is no nativity story, no birth narrative, no genealogy. Mark immediately introduces John the Baptist, then launches straight into the baptism of Jesus (Mark 1:2–11). This reflects Mark’s breathless, urgent style — the word “immediately” appears over forty times in the Gospel.
In Mark 1:2–8, John the Baptist appears in the desert “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Mark describes him wearing camel’s hair and eating locusts and wild honey — evoking the prophet Elijah. John declares that the one coming after him is so much greater that John is not even worthy to untie his sandals. This prepares the reader for the arrival of Jesus.
The baptism itself (Mark 1:9–11) contains three theologically significant moments. First, as Jesus comes up out of the water, the heavens are “torn open” — a dramatic, even violent image of God breaking into the world. Second, the Holy Spirit descends “like a dove” on Jesus — marking him as the one on whom the Spirit rests, recalling Isaiah’s description of the Spirit-filled servant. Third, a voice from heaven declares: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” This is a divine commissioning — God publicly identifies Jesus at the very beginning of his public ministry.
The baptism passage (Mark 1:9–11) contains a Trinitarian moment: the Father speaks from heaven, the Son is baptised in the water, and the Holy Spirit descends as a dove. This is significant for Christian understanding of Jesus as divine — the Father himself confirms Jesus’s identity.
John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance — people went to be washed of their sins. This raises an obvious question for Christians: why did a sinless Jesus submit to it? Different Christian traditions offer different answers. Some say Jesus was baptised in solidarity with sinful humanity — identifying with the people he came to save. Others argue he was submitting to God’s plan to show that all righteousness should be fulfilled. Still others focus on the baptism as a public commissioning for ministry rather than a washing from sin.
From a non-religious perspective, the baptism narrative is a significant historical problem. John’s baptism implied that Jesus needed to repent, which contradicts the Christian claim that Jesus was sinless. Many historians consider the baptism to be one of the most historically reliable events in the Gospels precisely because the early Church would not have invented something so potentially embarrassing. This is known as the “criterion of embarrassment.”
Significance for Christians Today
The titles Messiah, Son of Man and Son of God remain central to Christian identity and worship. Christians affirm Jesus as the Christ at baptism, in creeds, and in prayer. The suffering-servant model of the Messiah shapes Christian ethics: if the Son of God came to serve and suffer rather than to dominate, then Christian life is called to the same pattern of self-giving. The baptism of Jesus is also foundational for Christian sacramental practice — most Christian denominations celebrate baptism as a sacrament of initiation, modelled on Jesus’s own.