ABC:Mark 1

Verse 12

Jim Meritt of Infidels.org states a contradiction exists here, asking "Where was Jesus three days after his baptism?"

“ Mark 1:12 And immediately the spirit driveth him into the wilderness.

John 1:35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;

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Admittedly this actually stumped me at first, as the chronology in John 1 at first glance does seem to contradict Mark 1 as to what happened in the days after Jesus' baptism. However, as aptly pointed out by Mickey at ThyWordIsTrue.com:

“ "No contradiction. First the baptism occurred, (as Matthew and Luke also agree), then Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days (Mark 1:12-13), and it was after that he briefly returned to see John for two days before going to Nazareth, and then Galilee. So in John 1:29 we have John the Baptist seeing Jesus after he returned from the wilderness and John recalls the vision of the dove which he had witnessed descend on Jesus several weeks before when he was baptised."

-Mickey at Thy Word Is True

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What many, myself included, failed to notice is that John 1 never states Jesus' baptism was occurring, only that John was bearing witness that he had done so in the past. John 1:15-36 never says the baptism itself is taking place, only that John the Baptist sees Jesus coming and professes that the events of Matthew 3:13-17 and Mark 1:9-10 had occurred.