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 

 

  The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  The word gospel is an English word which at its root means "good news" (from Old English godspel, "good news" or "good story").  It is a translation for the Greek word ευαγγελιον/evangelion which also literally means "good news" or "good tidings."  This Greek word was frequently in use for missives or announcements by the Emperor in the Roman Empire.  My study Bible says that "gospel" here refers not to Mark's writings per se, but rather to the story of the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ; it is the good news of our salvation.  Beginning, it says, points to the opening events of Christ's public ministry, and in particular here, the preparation by the one who we call Christ's forerunner, St. John the Baptist, and Christ's encounter with him. 

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.'"  Here St. Mark quotes from Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3.  When reading quotations from the Old Testament in the New, it's important to remember that they come from the Greek Septuagint version of the Bible; therefore translations may vary somewhat.

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."  My study Bible notes here that John is clothed in a manner which bears resemblance to Elijah (2 Kings 1:8), significant in that John fulfills the prophecy of the return of Elijah (Malachi 4:5-6), as we read clearly in Matthew 17:12-13.

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.   My study Bible asks us to note that the Spirit of God hovered over the water at the first creation (Genesis 1:2).  Here, the Holy Spirit descends like a dove to anoint the Messiah, the Son of God, at the beginning of the new creation.  Jesus does not become the Son of God on this day; but rather He is revealed to all as the Son of God, upon whom the Spirit has always rested.  The feast day of Epiphany (meaning manifestation or revelation) or Theophany (meaning a manifestation of God), celebrated in the East on January 6th, commemorates this day and points to the age to come.  In the early Church, and to the present day in the Armenian Apostolic Church, Christ's Nativity (Christmas) and Epiphany (Baptism) were celebrated together on January 6th.

Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  This is a quotation from Psalm 2:7, "You are My Son,/Today I have begotten You."   This event is often called Theophany, as it is a revelation of the Trinity:  the Father speaks, the Holy Spirit descends, and the Incarnate Son is baptized. 

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.  My study Bible notes that to be tempted is to be tested in fundamental areas of faith.  Note the powerful action of the Spirit, He is driven into the wilderness.  In the Greek, this word translated as drove is perhaps more accurately translated as "throws."  Jesus is "thrown" into the wilderness to be tested by a struggle with Satan, the devil.  My study Bible comments that we who are baptized in Christ need not be defeated by temptations because we also are aided by the Holy Spirit.  It says that the wilderness is a battleground, an image of the world, both the dwelling place of demons and a source of divine tranquility and victory. 

These last words from my study Bible are very intriguing:  that the world we live in is both the dwelling place of demons and a source of divine tranquility and victory.  Perhaps for many people, these days it seems like this contrast grows stronger and deeper.  We're challenged by yet new circumstances and seemingly bigger crises:  wars in various places and concerning powers with fearsome technological weapons, even massive fires we're witnessing today in Los Angeles which devastate beautiful and highly upscale historical neighborhoods and places cherished by people such as schools and churches, and cultural decadence which seems to strike hard at the heart of traditional Christian values with contempt.  But my study Bible is true to its words, the world yet remains also a place of divine tranquility and victory, regardless of how we're tempted to think about it.  There remains yet Christ present to us, and the Holy Spirit in our midst, and the kingdom of God within us (Luke 17:21).  We are created, as humans always were, to be worshipers and lovers of God, in communion with God, and that redemption of the soul -- to realize we are created as good -- is always there with us as possibility, right here and right now, no matter where we are and no matter our circumstances.  Christ has made sure of that in His Incarnation, and all that He Himself suffered and even in how He Himself was tempted by Satan.  One can read the details of those temptations, essentially seeking to get Him to abandon His faith in and obedience to the Father, His identity as Son of God, at Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13.  Today, of course, we all face the same kinds of temptations, things that seek to deter us from understanding and taking our place as children of God, those who are obedient to God in loving communion.  So often the distractions of the world, and its evil, seem to serve as false identity, taking us away from what we're created to become in relationship to God.  But if we are tempted to say that things are so bad that we don't find the place for divine tranquility and victory, we need to go back and read our Bibles a bit better again.  For Jesus was not just tempted by Satan, but tried at every turn, and we know how He died on the Cross.  Even in the midst of such a horrific event, nevertheless, Resurrection also took place, and for all of us.  In Psalm 110:2 we read, "The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies!"  That "rule in the midst of Your enemies" is a sign that it was always understood that God was present, even in a world beset by evil.  Christ was born into world with ruthless values of Empire and conquest, long before His influence curbed things which were common and accepted in the pagan world like infanticide and slavery.   Today, whatever we think we might see or encounter, these circumstances essentially remain the same for us.  We have Christ in our midst where two or three of us are gathered in His name (Matthew 18:20), and even through our prayers, we may find, as the Psalm says, that God prepares a table before us even in the presence of our enemies, even if we walk through "the valley of the shadow of death" (Psalm 23).  We must remember that Christ is always our option in life.  Whatever happens to our world, whatever we think we see happening around ourselves, He is always there waiting for us to pray and listen, and we, too, have the Holy Spirit indwelling (as my study Bible says), and angels who minister.  Let Christ, as always, be our example, and live as He did.  Perhaps for today's reading we should make John the Baptist the front and center of our focus, for he fulfilled his identity in being Christ's forerunner, playing his own part in the story of our salvation, in this beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  For like John the Baptist, and the Prophets before him, we are each called to play our own role in this yet unfolding story, and therein we find our joy.

 

 

 

 

But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet

 

 As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John:  "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed shaken by the wind?  But what did you go out to see?  A man clothed in soft garments?  Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.  But what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.  For this is he of whom it is written:

    'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,

    Who will prepare Your way before You.'

"Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.  For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.  And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

 

- Matthew 11:7-15 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus has been preparing the Twelve for their first apostolic mission (starting with Monday's reading).  Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.  And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:  The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."   

 

 As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John:  "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed shaken by the wind?  But what did you go out to see?  A man clothed in soft garments?  Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.  But what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.  For this is he of whom it is written:  'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.'"  Jesus is quoting from the prophesy of Malachi (Malachi 3:1).  It is to the prophesy of Malachi Jesus will also refer when He speaks of Elijah returned a little further along in today's reading.  Here Jesus seems to chastise the people for their expectations of John.  He was not an elegant or elite reed shaken by the wind, nor a man clothed in soft garments. Neither was he one who dwelt kings' houses but rather one who was shut up in a king's prison, as many of the prophets were before him.  

 

"Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."  My study Bible comments here that in terms of the Old Testament Law, John the Baptist is in fact the greatest prophet of them all.  The New Covenant is of such incomparable value, however, that those who share in the New Covenant are greater than John was without it.  

"And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force."  My study Bible claims that several interpretations have been given to the idea that the kingdom of heaven suffers violence.  It notes that some say that it refers to the Jewish opposition to the gospel. Still others have said it refers to the Kingdom breaking into the world "violently."  In other words, with great power and force.  Still others have said that the Kingdom of heaven refers to Christ Himself, who has been incarnate since the days of John the Baptist, and who will yet suffer the violence of the Cross.  My study Bible also cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who says that the violent who take the Kingdom by force are those with such an earnest desire for Christ that they let nothing stand between themselves and faith in Him.  

"For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.  And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"   The prophesy of Elijah's return before Christ is found in Malachi 4:5-6.  My study Bible comments that John does not ascribe to himself the role of Elijah (John 1:21), but Jesus does.  It notes that John fulfilled the mission of Elijah (Luke 1:17, 76) and his destiny was similar.  But John is honored over Elijah because John prepared the way for the advent of Christ Himself.  

At this time John the Baptist remains imprisoned by Herod Antipas, the "king" or tetrarch of Galilee.  The Gospel will tell us of his violent end in Matthew's 14th chapter.  But Jesus here seems to be chiding the people for what might be a negative opinion of John resulting from his imprisonment.  While John was widely revered as a holy man during his ministry, we know that he was far from being a slender "reed shaken by the wind" or one who wore "soft clothing."  John was known as one so totally dedicated to serving God that he cared for nothing of a worldly type of life.  His was a type of radical poverty in devotion to God's purposes alone.  In chapter 3 Matthew tells us that John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:4).  John himself would become the model for the early monastic life, those who went out into the desert for spiritual battle of the type we read of in Christ's forty days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11).   John's preaching and baptism took place also outside the cities, possibly at "Bethany beyond the Jordan" (John 1:28; see this UNESCO site).   When Jesus compares John to the ones who live in kings' houses, and asks the people what they went out to see, he seems to be addressing criticisms of John which would perhaps be expected within the context of the criticism we know Christ also experienced for His ministry.  Indeed, in our following reading, He will go on to compare both His and John's critics to those playing a children's game.  Possibly we might say these criticisms, like so much of what we will encounter in the Gospels, come from the religious leadership who now criticize John for his rigorous asceticism and rough life, and at the same time criticize Jesus for eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners (which will also be addressed by Jesus in the reading the follows, on Monday).  We might well ask ourselves the same.  What do we expect followers of Christ to be like?  How would we expect to find those who love Jesus?  Would they be simple people or elegant?  Complex and intellectual, or possibly those who work with their hands?  Of course we cannot prophesy what those people look like or will be like who love Christ, for that is a matter of the heart which is devoted to God, and those spiritual "ears to hear" that Jesus calls upon in us.  In truth, God chooses the vessels God uses, and so often in the Bible those are the least expected, defying common assumptions and judgments; for only God can judge the heart.   Both John and Jesus refer to spiritual fruits in their preaching, and it is only this that teaches us about the grace at work in people.  Perhaps the Gospels teach us, however, that sometimes we need spiritual eyes and ears even to perceive those fruits as well.