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*Mark 1:1-5…* The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send My messenger before you, who will prepare your way; 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’”
4 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
5 And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
*Commentary*
            The author of Mark’s Gospel, literally “good news,” was a man named John Mark.
He was an evangelistic companion of the Apostle Paul and a cousin of Barnabas who was also an evangelistic companion of Paul.
Mark, not one who walked with Christ on earth and, hence, not a true apostle, is believed to have received his entire account of Christ from the Apostle Peter.
The account of Jesus Christ in Mark’s Gospel is said to be the “beginning of the good news.”
After over 400 years of prophetic silence (the last prophet being Malachi in 430 BC) and with no word from God, the silence was broken with the coming of John the Baptizer.
In Malachi 3:1 the prophet said that God would send His messenger ahead of Him to clear His way.
The final words of Malachi the prophet were, “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord” (4:5).
Jesus himself would later confirm that John the Baptist was in fact Elijah who had come to prepare the way for him (Matt.
17:13).
So when Mark speaks of “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ” he speaks of the fact that God’s silence had ended.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God had come, and as proof that he was in fact the Messiah, Mark quotes not only from Malachi’s final prophetic words, he also quotes Isaiah 40:3 which speaks of the “voice of one crying in the wilderness” – one that “clears the way for the Lord and makes his paths straight.”
Ancient kings would always send a messenger before them to announce their coming.
They would sometimes even repair the streets where the king would travel.
John, in calling the Jews to repentance, prepared the way for Jesus.
Isaiah uses “Yahweh” to speak of the coming One, so in fulfilling his role John prepared the way for Jesus Christ who is actually one and the same as Yahweh – the One Holy God.
Verse 4 introduces John the Baptist immediately after quoting from Malachi and Isaiah, so it’s clear that Mark was showing how those prophecies were fulfilled in John.
He appeared in the wilderness, and he preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
First, it is noteworthy that Malachi’s prophecy spoke of a “messenger” who would prepare the way for Christ.
This word in the Greek text means “angel,” and angels, like preachers and prophets, are clearly messengers of God.
The second-century church father Tertullian commented, “It is not a novelty that the Holy Spirit would call those he has appointed ministers of His power ‘angels.’”
Second, John preached the repentance for sins.
Repentance simply means “to change one’s mind,” and John, preparing the way of the Lord, encouraged repentance from wicked ways.
This was the message of every OT prophet.
This baptism didn’t  save, it prepared the way for the Lord.
Multitudes came to John “the baptizer,” and he baptized them in the Jordan.
*Food for Thought*
            All obedient Christians are prophets if they boldly preach the necessity for repentance.
A person repents when they realize their lives, because of sin, are an abomination to God.
In the same way that John the Baptist prepared those of his day for the coming of the Lord Jesus through the call to repentance so too must we as modern-day believers prepare others for his return.
God does all the saving, and He even causes people to repent.
We must prepare the way!
*Mark 1:6-8…* And John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and wild honey.
7 And he was preaching, and saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals.
8 I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
*Commentary*
            In Mark 1:4 John is said to have “appeared.”
Eusebius, a third-century church historian, speaks of John’s sudden appearance: “He emerged from the desert clothed in a strange garment, refusing all ordinary social intercourse.
He did not even share their common food….
It is understandable that they should have been alarmed when they saw a man with the hair of a Nazarite of God, and a divine face, suddenly appearing from the lonely wilderness dressed in bizarre clothing.
Must they not have suspected that he was a little more than human?
And so they understood him to be a divine messenger, the very angel foretold by the prophet.”
The significance of John’s clothing and the belt he wore is seen in the fact that Elijah the prophet wore the same garb (cf. 2 Kings 1:8).
This distinguished him from all others of his day.
The fact that John looked just like Elijah is further proof that John was Elijah, and this is a fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy in 4:5… “Behold, I am going to send Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.”
Jesus even attested to the fact that John the Baptist was in fact Elijah who had come to prepare the way for him (Matt.
17:11-13).
The diet John chose was one of locusts and honey.
Those who lived in the desert in those days at such things, for they were simple foods that were oftentimes used as an outward protest against self-indulgence and luxuriant lifestyles.
Locusts were not only eatable they were also kosher (cf.
Lev.
11:21-22), so John was in keeping with his own Jewish upbringing.
But John’s upbringing is notable in that he was the son of Zecharias who was a priest.
So John gave up a life of high standing and honor in favor of humility and the more excellent priesthood in Christ.
As John preached repentance v. 7 reveals that he was indeed preparing the way of the Lord in predicting His coming.
He baptized the many who came to him, but he made it very clear in his preaching that his baptism was inferior to the One who would follow him.
He was only using water to baptize so as to prepare the hearts of those who would listen to the news of the coming Messiah who would baptize with the Holy Spirit.
Of course this is exactly what Jesus did following his resurrection from the dead and subsequent ascension into heaven.
He sent the Holy Spirit who baptized those who believed in him for salvation.
This is the same Holy Spirit that baptizes all believers in Christ at the moment they first believe (cf. 1 Cor.
12:13).
It is this very same Spirit that guarantees their future redemption and keeps them for eternity (Eph.
1:13-14).
John revealed his own humility in that even though he was a prophet foretold by the prophets of old, and even though Jesus would later comment on the fact that John was the greatest of those born of women (cf.
Luke 7:28), he himself did not even consider himself worthy to untie the thong of the sandals of the One whose way he paved in v. 7. His humility and obedience to God made him the greatest of men, and his example to all should be mimicked.
*Food for Thought*
            Humility is one of the most attractive qualities a person can possess.
Of course this is at odds with worldly the “wisdom” we see so often.
If you want to be great take a look at John the Baptist.
He was a Levite of the priestly line of Aaron, and he was prophesied as the one who would prepare the way for the Messiah.
But he protested against fame and fortune by living the life of a humble servant.
Jesus called him the greatest man who ever lived.
How about that?
*Mark 1:9-11…* And it came about in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
10 And immediately coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him; 11 and a voice came out of the heavens: “You are My beloved Son, in you I am well-pleased.”
*Commentary*
            Immediately after John the Baptist’s proclamation about his water baptism vs. the coming Messiah’s baptism with the Holy Spirit in v. 8, Jesus is introduced in v. 9.
It is clear from the text that Mark introduced John the Baptist, not only as the voice crying in the wilderness from Isaiah 40:3, and not only as the messenger to be sent ahead of the coming Messiah from Malachi 3:1, but as Elijah (Mal.
4:5) who would precede the coming Christ.
So it lines up perfectly that Jesus would be introduced in v. 9 as the One whose way had been successfully paved by John.
It is said in v. 9 that a man named Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee to place where John was and was baptized in the Jordan River.
Mark’s gospel account excludes the birth narrative of Jesus, but Matthew and Luke reveal that Jesus grew up in Nazareth of Galilee after being born in Bethlehem of Judea.
It is a known fact that Jesus grew up as a carpenter’s son, and the fact that he grew up in Nazareth only solidifies his humble origins.
Nazareth was somewhat of a hick town, and a first-century Jewish Rabbi once wrote concerning Galilee: “Galilee, Galilee you hate the Torah, and your end will be seizure by the Romans.”
When the Jewish Sanhedrin later realized that Jesus had come from Galilee they despised him even more, for they believed the Messiah would come from a more noble district.
In other words, Jesus’ hometown was as humble an origin as the feeding trough (manger) in which he was placed at his birth.
Jesus’ baptism by John was questioned by John himself (cf.
Matt.
3:13-15), but Jesus told him in Matthew’s gospel that it was in route to fulfilling all righteousness (3:15).
Basically, Jesus’ baptism was a public proclamation that he was officially set apart and sanctioned by God.
Verse 10 reveals that after being baptized Jesus came up immediately out of the water, and the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him “like a dove.”
If that wasn’t enough, God the Father’s voice from heaven, in v. 11, cried out, “You are My beloved Son, in you I am well-pleased.”
It’s not known if anyone but Jesus and John actually heard the voice, but if it was heard by all at the Jordan that day there would be no question in their minds that Jesus was in fact the Messiah.
All three members of the Trinity were there in one accord: God the Father sanctioning, God the Son obeying the Father’s command, and God the Spirit anointing.
So Jesus’ baptism not only fulfilled all righteousness, it also worked as a public announcement of Jesus’ ministry that followed John who paved his way.
Also, one might conclude that Jesus’ baptism identified him completely with man’s sin – the original sin that all men are born with as a result of Adam’s fall in Eden.
Of course Jesus had no need to repent of sins because he was born sinless and lived sinless.
But he identified himself with man through baptism so as to become our eventual substitute sacrifice on the cross for the remission of sins.
*Food for Thought*
            When the heavens (literally the “sky”) opened after Jesus’ baptism man’s communion with God was opened.
Jesus Christ came to make all things new.
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