Mark 1:1-8

Okay I already have to back up and tell you that John was a disciple of Christ. Matter of fact, he was the "disciple who Jesus loved. " These are things that make me wonder if I should do this, at the same time, I am learning right along with anyone who reads this and maybe you didn't know these things either.

Okay here we go. Mark 1:1-8(NIV)

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

First of all, Gospel comes from the word "godspel," which means good news or good story which as we all know is the good news that God provided salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Mark begins though by cutting to the chase, skipping the birth and growing up years of Christ to talking about John the Baptist. Then, to make sure people know John the Baptist was legit, he refers back to the prophet Isaiah in Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3 who foretold that there would be a messenger to come and prepare God's people for the coming of the Messiah.

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”— (Malachi 3:1)
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”(Is. 40:3)

4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

A baptism of repentance, which involves a deliberate turning from sin to righteousness. According to the NIV study bible, the emphasis John placed on repentance recalls the preaching of the prophets. God always grants forgiveness when there is true repentance.

5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

When he says the "whole" Judean countryside, he was indicating that John had a huge following. They had not had a prophet for centuries, so they were looking for a messenger of God. A personal note, I was able to visit the Jordan River and Buddy baptized people from our church for the first time as a ordained minister. It was a special moment.

6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.

I did a little research on this. When we visited the holy land, they showed us a tree that was called a locust tree and told us that the plant is actually what John ate, not the insect. However, when I looked it up in my study bible, they referred me to Leviticus 11:21-22 where the law indicates that it is okay to eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper. So the next time you see any chocolate covered grasshoppers or locusts, go ahead, God said it was okay to eat them. So glad we are no longer under the law, aren't you? I think there is a good chance that John was actually eating locusts, the bugs! I also wondered why we are given a description of the camel's hair and the leather belt, it was another reference to the fact he was a prophet because Elijah and other prophets wore these same things.

7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

How it applies to me today? In relation to repentance and forgiveness, I believe we live in a society who confuses tolerance with forgiveness. Christians are said to be judgmental and unforgiving of those who are not living the way we think they should. This is not true of most of us and I hate it when we are lumped into the same category as some extremist who says or does something Jesus would have never done. Jesus preached forgiveness and showed us by example to forgive because He forgave us. But our society wants us to tolerate sin, to accept it and not tell them that the Bible teaches that it is sin. Christ teaches us to hate sin, but to love all, even our enemies, and I am sure, because we are human, we are guilty of getting that line confused sometimes, but to ask us to say that people are "born this way" or "its not a life" or "God is a loving God and this is okay" is inaccurate. Repentance is required for God to forgive the sin, including our own sin.

However, the beautiful statement is that God always grants forgiveness when there is repentance. So we must stand strong on requiring repentance, but we must also love and go to extremes to help those who are trapped in a way of life that satan has deceived them into believing is okay.

The truth is, in relation to verses 7-8, if John the Baptist was unworthy to stoop down and untie Jesus' shoelaces, so much more am I unworthy of the gift He granted to me. I did come to a place of repentance for my sin and made Him Lord of my life, I have been baptized with water, and baptized with the Holy Spirit, who makes me aware when I need to come back to repentance for things I have done wrong. That includes the soul sins that no one really wants to talk about of pride, selfishness, unforgiveness, etc. We have no right to hold unforgiveness over anyone's head, that is God's job as our righteous judge. We are supposed to be like John the Baptist, preparing the way of the Lord into people's hearts so that He can transform them.