Mark the evangelist has just amazed his readers with his introduction of Jesus whose way is prepared by John who in turn does what Malachi the prophet (3:1; 4:5) had promised; and a new age is announced as “at hand” (Mark 1:15). We are taken “behind the scenes” to a “heavenly world” from which a bird descends and a voice speaks. The dove is a symbol of the Spirit’s activity which had long been dormant in Israel; the voice is the Father’s, announcing that Jesus is none