Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight

 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

Yesterday we read that while the disciples were telling one another about the appearances Jesus had made to them, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you."  But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.  And He said to them, "Why are you troubled?  And why do doubts arise in your hearts?  Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself.  Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."  When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.  But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, "Have you any food here?"  So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.  And He took it and ate in their presence.  Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."  And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.  Then He said to them, "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.  And you are witnesses of these things.  Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."  And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.  Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up to heaven.  And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God.  Amen.

 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.   Gospel (Greek εὐαγγέλιον/evangelion) literally means "good news" or "good tidings."  My study bible says that gospel doesn't necessarily refer to Mark's writings per se, but rather to the story of the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  That is, it is the good news of our salvation and redemption.  In the beginning points to these opening events of Christ's public ministry; that is, the preparation by His forerunner, St. John the Baptist, and of Jesus' encounter with him.  Mark quotes from the prophets Malachi and Isaiah to introduce us to the time and its fulfillment in the figure of John the Baptist, who is the one who will "prepare Your way before You."  His baptism and confession of sin is a preparation of the people for the manifestation of the Christ.

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 another sign of the time, and of the role of John, he is clothed in a way similar to that of Elijah (2 Kings 1:8).  This helps to show that he fulfills the prophecy of Elijah's return (Malachi 4:5-6).  John's life reflects that of the most dedicated prophets in his radical poverty, an expression of a life lived wholly for the word of God.  His humility reflects a sense that all glory is from God.  Here He prophesies the ministry of Christ.  In one of the infinite ways that the poetry of the Gospels always connects us to a communion, this beginning of Mark, and John's prophecy of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, is fulfilled in Christ's words at the Ascension -- which we read yesterday in the ending of Luke's Gospel (above), when Christ tells the disciples that He will send "the Promise of My Father upon you"; that is, 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."   Jesus' baptism is a momentous event, but given simply these verses in Mark.  The Holy Spirit does not descend as a gift to Christ, but rather as a revelation that it the Holy Spirit is Christ's to give as gift to the world, which Christ called "the Promise of My Father" at the Ascension (see yesterday's reading from Luke, above).  The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one in communion; therefore this is a manifestation and revelation of the Holy Trinity to the world.

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.  And again, Mark's Gospel gives us the simplest of statements in referring to these two key events of the beginning of Christ's ministry:  His baptism by John and His temptation by Satan, in the wilderness (see also Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13).   We note His place during temptation:  He is with the while beasts, and ministered to by the angels.  It is a kind of image of our place in the world as human beings.

In this story of the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as written by Mark the Evangelist, Christ's ministry and presence seems to simply break in upon the world.  Although it has been prophesied for centuries before this appearance of Christ, the Son, Mark's Gospel introduces us to its manifestation as a kind of sudden event.  All of the events in Mark's Gospel tend to appear quickly, and Jesus' ministry unfolds at a rather rapid pace (indeed, Mark's Gospel itself is not lengthy, and is the shortest of the Gospels).  But the rapid pace that we experience in Mark, and in its simplicity, we should not mistake brevity for a lack of depth or message.  In fact, in its very directness and fast pace, Mark gives us a sense of how the kingdom of God "breaks in" upon the world, and how it can suddenly manifest and make its appearance to us, breaking in upon our own lives.  In this light, we notice how frequently the word "immediately" appears in our reading, and in the entirety of Mark's Gospel.  For hundreds of years, this hope of the Messiah has been watched for in Israel, but these events break in suddenly in the Gospel.  There are times when we call upon God -- we may pray many times for a particular kind of help, for understanding, for the courage to break through a particular kind of barrier in life, even for a resolution to a long-standing problem -- and we think we have no answer.  But illumination or enlightenment can break in upon us suddenly.  We'll wake up from a dream and find ourselves resolved in one sense or another.  In the midst of prayer, we receive an answer we didn't expect, but were only being prepared to take in, such as St. Paul's famous answer to a repeated prayer to be relieved of a "thorn in the flesh":  "And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.'  Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-10).  The appearance or manifestation of the Lord in our lives can be paradoxical, unexpected, giving us answers we doubt or would at least have an impulse to deny.  Like the appearance of the Holy Trinity in today's reading, a manifestation of God may break in suddenly -- and just like that, change our entire perspective on the spiritual life and just Who God is and how God is at work in our lives.  Most often, as it is in today's reading if we but think a little bit about it, it is the revelation and expansion of our understanding of God's love that happens suddenly.  We get an answer or have an experience we didn't expect.  We go through our own times of trial and are torn between "the wild beasts" and the ministrations of the angels is our temptations.  There will always be "good reasons" why we should give in to the temptations!  There will always be a seeming strangeness in our refusal to do so.  This is part of the temptation.  When we're called to resist, we're called to stand up for something, to make an effort, and to say No.  To give in to temptation is always the easy and apparently less troublesome route, making fewer "waves" in our immediate circumstance.  But the Lord will call us where the Lord will, breaking in upon our own lives through an expression of love and care for us that surpasses what we know, and teaching us the power and importance to care for ourselves, for our own valuable soul.  Let us consider how the Kingdom breaks through.  Our lives may be simple and we may consider them unimportant.  Great issues may happen to others, while our concerns seem petty and small although they loom large and can be overwhelming.  But that is another part of the temptation.  Trust to God in prayer, ask for help and guidance, even when the answers don't seem to come.  They break in when we stand up and make the choices we need to, and it is always God's love we really need and what we want -- even when the answers are neither easy nor simple, and like St. Paul, may be the last thing we thought we wanted to hear.   In today's reading, one who dedicates his whole life to God's purpose and mission comes teaching us to prepare the way of the Lord.  His message is still what we need to hear, and what we need to do.