The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

As it is written in the Prophets:

"Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,

Who will prepare Your way before You."

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

'Prepare the way of the LORD;

Make His paths straight.'"

John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 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. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 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. I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.

- Mark 1:1-13

In yesterday's reading, we completed the Gospel of Luke. We read about Jesus' final visit to His followers, greeting them with "Peace to you." He showed them His hands and His feet, and ate with them. Then He proceeded to tell them about the Scriptures, and their fulfillment in Him and in His life. He said, ""Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." He gave them the Promise of His Father, the Spirit, and told them to wait at Jerusalem until they were "endued with power from on high." He went out to Bethany with them, the town that is home to His dear friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus (who was raised from the dead), and there His followers watched His Ascension. We're told, "And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen." See Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself.

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the Prophets: "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You." "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.'" The "gospel" here refers not to Mark's book specifically, but to the full story of Jesus as human and divine, His life, death and resurrection. As my study bible says, "the Good News of salvation in the Kingdom of God." It is the beginning of His ministry, and it begins with the fulfillment and reflection of prophecy. The first part of the quotation is from Malachi, the second from Isaiah.

John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 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. Now here is something extraordinary about the ways in which the Gospels work. Yesterday the lectionary gave us the final reading in Luke. And here we begin Mark's gospel. Note the order of the Books: Mark does not follow Luke in the Bible. But again, here we are in Judea near Jerusalem, and here we have the same words with which Jesus parted, that His followers should "preach repentance and remission of sins, beginning at Jerusalem." The lineage begins with John the Baptist, the meaning and purpose is clear, the message starts here, in continuity and consistency.

Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 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. I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." But what is the fullness of this continuity, and what is coming along in the preaching of the message, of the Good News? John is an ascetic and has lived all of his life this way. We know the Gospels mention that he is criticized for his difficult way of life, while Jesus will be criticized for eating and drinking with His disciples. But here's a great difference: the One who is to come will baptize with the Holy Spirit. Everything else is preparation for this! While John has many followers ("all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem") and is widely considered to be a holy man, there is one who is greater. John is a prophet of the Old Testament type, and considered the greatest of such. His clothing is similar to Elijah's, and suggests what Jesus will also announce, that John was the fulfillment of the return of Elijah. My study bible says that John "prepares the people of God for the Messiah's coming. Hearts are softened to receive the Light."

It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Jesus travels from Galilee to be baptized by John in the Jordan, and thus His ministry is born. This is an appearance of the Trinity: identification of Jesus as Son, the voice of the Father, and the Spirit "descending upon Him like a dove," as in an anointing -- the meaning of Christ ("Anointed One"). In Him the prophecy is fulfilled, so that He may begin the initiation of a new dispensation into the world. In the Baptism there is so much that has been seen by the Church Fathers: Jesus rising from the waters suggests His Ascension (again, which we read about yesterday), and the same Greek verb is used to refer to both events. They saw the whole world being lifted up with Him from the waters in this act. His anointing prepares us all for anointing -- and the remission or "letting go" of sin (just as we "let go" of trespasses in the Lord's Prayer) is preparation for this anointing, to receive Him. The dove is a sign of the presence of the Spirit -- but also a symbol of peace (my study bible says "purity, peace and wisdom") and we again recall the ending of Luke's Gospel and Jesus' final greeting to His followers: "Peace to you."

Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him. Jesus goes before us, into the wilderness of this world to be tempted. He is the new Adam, being ministered to by the angels, and He will live this life for us, so that we may follow His Way, and be a part of this new dispensation and share in all that He does and achieves for us. The forty days in the wilderness reflects Israel's forty years of wandering, and is the basis for our forty days of Lent. A note in my study bible adds, "The Church Fathers believed meditative seclusion is (1) conducive to freer communion with God and (2) effective preparation for great tasks ahead." As a practitioner of contemplative prayer, I can say that there has been no greater help to me than following this example.

There is so much to take in at the beginning of Mark's gospel: so much symbolism and so much is suggested that I don't have space to write about here in this blog. But one thing is certain: compacted into these thirteen verses for today is a monumental story, not only of salvation but of the reality of our cosmic unity with Christ and hence with His Father, with Adam and the Scriptures, and with the fulfillment of the Promise of the Father (as Luke wrote in yesterday's reading), the anointing of the Spirit for each of us. It is all here, and so much more. Christ will lead us out of something for a purpose, into union with Him. We empty in order to be fulfilled, "let go" in order to receive, and thus we take with us a picture of Jesus in the wilderness, in prayer -- being both tempted, and ministered to by the angels. My study bible says, "Even if we are subjected to evil, (the demons, the beasts,) God will never desert us as we struggle toward Him." The Scriptures give us so much in such a little space -- it's as if the energy of God and God's love is packed into every molecule of our lives, to be unpacked by us as we come to realize our faith. Let us take with us then, this great energy of love, packed into so much hidden in a few little verses, as we begin the Gospel of Mark. His is the earliest and shortest of the Gospels, and yet it tells us so extraordinarily much about the Servant who comes for us all, and who will share His anointing.