It’s great to be with you. Thank you for joining us as we study God’s Word. The Bible remains relevant and beneficial for all who study it. Even though it was written a long time ago, it has proven and continues to confirm that it is a timeless treasure. All who are willing to spend time on its pages won’t stay the same, and that is our goal today: may each of us become more like the author as we study together.
Last time was our first lesson from the book of Mark. J. Mark gave us the background and context to better understand this book. He mentioned the unique writing style of Mark, and I repeat it because it is an aspect of Mark we do well to keep in mind. “The word immediately, or straightway, depending on the version you use, along with its synonyms, is found about 40 times in this book! Mark’s goal seems to be conciseness and brevity. He omits the long discourses found in the other Gospels.” Keep this in mind as we study through Mark, he keeps things moving and doesn’t spend too much time on any one story.
Today, our lesson begins with John the Baptist and what he was doing to prepare the way for Christ. Turn to Mark 1, and we will start at the beginning with Pastor J. Mark Horst.
Preparation is a significant part of any task. When I have a task to fulfill, I want to know what’s expected of me. The Bible teaches us that preparations are essential to God, too. In 2 Timothy 1:9, Paul wrote that the preparations for our salvation were made before God created the world! Hebrews 11:7 says that Noah, “…prepared an ark for the saving of his household…”
In the opening of his Gospel, Mark describes the preparation God made before Jesus began His public ministry. The theme of preparation is repeated numerous times in our text. Because of this emphasis, I’ve titled my teaching “Preparing the Way.” Our text is Mark 1:1-8. Listen carefully for this theme as I read these verses from Holy Scripture.
1The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in the Prophets: “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
who will prepare Your way before You.”
3 “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.’”
4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
5 Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
7 And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.
8 I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
In this text, we find several essential ASPECTS of preparing the way for the Gospel. Although the historical situation is unique, these aspects remain relevant to us today.
The First Essential ASPECT (of preparing the way) is,
The Mandate
Mark begins his gospel with a statement of fact. He is sharing the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Gospel is the good news about Jesus Christ. The name “Jesus” is derived from the Hebrew “Yeshua.” It means “Yahweh is salvation.” It was a common name.
To that, Mark added Christ (Christos), or the Hebrew Mashiach. This is translated as the Messiah or the Anointed One. Mark further states that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, is the Son of God. In other words, Jesus Christ was God Himself in human form!
Mark acknowledges that Jesus didn’t burst onto the world scene without warning. He provides two quotes from different Old Testament prophets.
The first prophecy is a quote from Malachi 3:1: “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.” The second prophecy is from Isaiah 40:3. Mark exclaims, “A voice crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord…’” He adds the phrase “make his paths straight.”
The word paths means a track or road. The Roman roads of Mark’s time enabled royal messengers to carry the proclamations of the emperor or governor. So, the mandate for this prophetic messenger was to remove any obstacles that would hinder the proclamation of the gospel message. In both prophecies, a “way” is being prepared.
The coming of Jesus in human form was a one-time historical event, marking the sharing of the gospel. However, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is still our mandate. We are His messengers, tasked with removing obstacles to His message. What are those obstacles, and how can we remove them? We’ll delve into the details of that further as we progress through the text. For now, we should ponder the question: What am I doing to fulfill the mandate of preparation?
The Next Essential ASPECT (of preparing the way) is,
The Messenger
A message needs a messenger. Preparation involves a person or people. In preparing the way for Jesus and His message, that person was John, the “baptizing one.” That distinguishes him from many others with the same name who lived during that time. He came, just as the prophets had declared. His coming signaled the beginning of a new era, a new dispensation.
In Mark’s narrative, John the Baptist seems to emerge from nowhere, appearing suddenly on the scene. He appeared in the wilderness and began “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” For now, let’s bypass the message and focus on the messenger.
The response to this unusual messenger was exciting! Word of this unusual man and his ministry spread, and day after day, a steady stream of people from all over Judea and Jerusalem trekked into the wilderness to see him.
John’s rugged appearance and demeanor were a drawing factor. He was a prophet in the mold of Elijah. His clothing was made from the crudest kind of rough cloth of camel’s hair, secured around his waist with a leather belt.
The Judean wilderness is very barren; there’s not much to eat. However, Mark says that part of John’s diet consisted of locusts. Furthermore, due to the rugged terrain in this area, bees construct their nests in the crevices of the rocky cliffs. This honey was another part of John’s simple diet.
John was preaching. Incidentally, the word “preacher” means a messenger. We are the Lord’s messengers today. Like John, we will seem out of touch with modern sensibilities. Like him, we’ll need to take a stand for truth even if it endangers our possessions, our security, and even our physical lives. John’s refusal to compromise the truth about the permanence of marriage caused him to lose his head to Herod.
So, what kind of messenger are you? Do you understand the call of God on you? Are you willing to proclaim God’s Word despite the cost? Are you willing to forego the world’s approval and acclaim to have the approval of the One who sent you?
The Final Essential ASPECT (of preparing the way) is,
The Message
What was John’s message, and how does it apply to you and me today? The text says he was “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” A baptism for forgiveness? For John to preach “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” indicated that he was either a lunatic or a prophet from God. John was preparing the way for a new dispensation.
We know from New Testament teaching that baptism isn’t the means of salvation. It is, however, an essential part of obedience. John’s message was the need for repentance. Baptism was an outward expression of a genuinely repentant heart.
Verse five says those who were flocking out of Jerusalem and Judea to see this unusual prophet were being baptized and confessing their sins. Confession is agreeing with God about how He sees our sin. Our sin is ugly, and it separates us from Him. Confession is the evidence of repentance. No confession, no repentance.
A crucial aspect of this confession was that it was public. If sin is hidden, it grows and spreads. Public confession provides accountability. It was also a personal confession. Each one who came to John’s baptism acknowledged that their old way of living was unfit for the coming kingdom. Their sins obstructed the path to salvation. To prepare the way for the Lord, their sins needed to be removed.
Today we’re told, “Come to Jesus just as you are.” That’s true, but it’s not the whole truth. The whole truth is that you must confess your sins and agree with what God says about them. And that confession is motivated by repentance —a change of mind and a change of direction.
You can come to Jesus just as you are, but He loves you too much to let you stay that way. You can’t come to Jesus and continue living in rebellion against His commands. Genuine heart-change will give you a desire to obey Him, to live for His glory. You will also give Him the freedom to remove anything from your life that is displeasing to Him.
But there was more to John’s proclamation, his message preparing the way. He said, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
In the customs of the time, unloosing the sandals of a guest was a job that was assigned to the lowest slave in the household. Mark alone provides this detail regarding the loosening of the sandal strap. John the Baptist modeled the message he was proclaiming.
But John wasn’t finished. He said, “I have baptized you in water, but He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.” John’s baptism was both meaningful and symbolic. It pointed forward to something much more powerful and enduring – the presence of the Holy Spirit.
John’s mandate was given to him by God. You and I share the same mandate. We are called to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
John was a messenger to prepare the way for the Lord. While you may not have the same impact or visibility that John did, you, too, have been called to be a messenger for Him, as I have.
And finally, we have been given a message, a message that the world so desperately needs. It is the same message that the apostles preached.
John the Baptist came, preparing the way for the Messiah’s first coming. How are you and I preparing the way for Messiah’s return?
Thank you, J. Mark, for sharing the first lesson with us. I like how he ended by asking us how we are preparing for Christ’s second coming. Great question to think about, I believe one of the first things we must do is expect Him. Are we living with our eyes on the sky, looking for Him to come soon? If the answer is no, then you are not prepared for His return.
If you have any questions about today’s lesson or would like to contact us, please don’t hesitate. You can reach us by email or the internet. Our email address is hope@heraldsofhope.org, and our website is heraldsofhope.org. There, click on the “contact us” which is on the top right, and you can send a message directly to us. We’d love to hear from you, so please contact us in the way that works best for you.
Blessings as you prepare and look forward to the 2nd coming of our great King. He said it best when he said, “What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch.” When Jesus splits the sky, may He find you and me watching for Him.
