Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight

Byzantine Museum - Athens, Greece

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, temped by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.

- Mark 1:1-13

Today we begin our Lenten readings for this year. The lectionary takes us to the Gospel of Mark. Mark is the shortest of the Gospels, and its style of language is simple in nature, as the story it tells us about Jesus progresses very swiftly. Mark the Apostle was also known as John Mark. His mother's house was a meeting place for Christians in Jerusalem. According to some Church Fathers, Mark wrote for the Christian community of Rome. Persecution began by Nero in A.D. 64, and there was an apocalyptic fervor occasioned by the Jewish war and the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. My study bible says, "Mark tells the story of Jesus so his readers may see their own suffering as a prelude to the glorious second Coming of Jesus, and may discern the reward of those who endure to the end. The suffering and the glory are equally real; this was true for Jesus and will be true for all believers."

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.'" Mark begins his gospel with the prophets. Here it is a combination of verses from Malachi and Isaiah. We are introduced to John the Baptist and his role in the story of the plan of salvation. He is introduced by the prophets, and as a prophet.

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. John baptizes for the remission or "letting go" of sins (as we can translate literally from the Greek word "afesin"). This word for "letting go" will be the same word used for forgiveness in the Lord's Prayer (as in "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors"). Repentance is "metanoia" in the Greek, an important and crucial concept for us as we enter into Lent. "Metanoia" means "change of mind" in the Greek. John's baptism is of repentance for the letting go of sins -- a preparation for the One who is to come. My study bible notes, "Later, in Christian baptism, God not only forgives our sins, letting them go, but He also brings us into union with Christ." John's ministry is widely known and accepted; he has a sweeping impact and is popularly known as a holy man. My study bible says that outside of official and rabbinic Judaism he is perhaps the leading religious figure.

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." In John's clothing, we read of his radical humility, but it also tells us what kind of a prophet he is. It is similar to the clothing worn by Elijah. The Gospels tell us that Jesus will say that in John is the return of the spirit of Elijah, the fulfillment of the prophecy of Elijah's return which would precede the Messiah. His humility is expressed in the way he teaches about himself in relation to the One who is coming. To be baptized with the Holy Spirit is a true anointing from God, with the power of God. The implication is that it is only Christ's to give.

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." My study bible says that "like a dove" does not mean that the Holy Spirit incarnated as a dove, but rather that it is a special sign indicating the presence of the Spirit. It says, "A dove symbolizes purity, peace and wisdom." These are qualities of the Spirit, the anointing we all hope for, that will make us children by adoption. Christ means the Anointed One. Christ's "coming up" from the water is the same word that will be used for His Ascension, His "rising up" so that the world is "lifted up" with Him. In the icon above, we can see all of creation symbolized in the creatures and the nature depicted. The voice of the Father, along with the Holy Spirit, makes Jesus' Baptism a manifestation of the Holy Trinity. The Father's voice tells a knowing audience who Jesus is. It is a combination of a verse from a messianic psalm with one from the first song of the Suffering Servant of the Lord.

Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, temped by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him. The forty days of Jesus' wilderness experience, faced with temptation and ministered to by the angels, echoes for the audience the forty years of Israel's temptations and ministry by the Spirit of God. These forty days became the basis for Great Lent in Christian tradition. My study bible says, "Being with the beasts and served by the angels suggests a relationship between Christ and Adam." The Church Fathers believed that meditative seclusion helps us to freer communication with God and in preparation for tasks ahead. We will see Jesus retreat for prayer throughout the Gospels at crucial points in His ministry.

My study bible has an interesting note which I think is pertinent to this time of Great Lent: "Even if we are subjected to evil (the demons, the beasts,) God will never desert us as we struggle toward Him." In Jesus' struggle, then, we can sometimes find our own. We live in a world beset with problems, with personal lives in which we all have problems to deal with. It is not a "perfect world" nor a "perfect life" into which we, and He, are born. But we have help to bear with it, to struggle through it. Through it all, we remember, the world and all of creation are His, and He lives His life as a human being to help us to be transfigured, anointed, adopted in the Spirit. Just as Israel was led through the wilderness, faced temptation, but was also offered the word of God, so are we in His Incarnation. We are invited into this work of love for the world. This Lent, invite the Spirit to help you through your own struggle and your own transfiguration, your own "letting go" of the things which are burdens -- within us and around us. He is here to help us to negotiate this world, our burdens, whatever they may be, for the life of the world.