Mark 1:4-8 - And so John the Baptist appeared in
the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of
sins. 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.
John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his
waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
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. I baptize you with[e] water, but he will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
As we said yesterday, Mark begins his gospel account with
the announcement that the Messiah would be preceded by another messenger who
will prepare the way. Immediately after
this announcement, we meet this messenger, John the Baptist, in the
wilderness. He is “preaching a
baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
This is not the baptism with which most modern-day
Christians are familiar. It is not an initiation rite. There is no such thing as a “Christian”
yet. As we will learn throughout his
gospel, Mark says plainly what he means.
This is a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” To repent literally means “to turn
away.” John pleads with those who come
to hear him to turn away from their sinful ways because the Messiah is
coming. John’s words come at the end of
a very spiritually dry period of a few hundred years where no prophet’s voice
is heard and God’s people have been oppressed my multiple empires. The suggestion here is that people had fallen
asleep spiritually. John is the alarm
bell piercing their slumber.
Mark uses John’s clothing to point out that this clarion call
is not coming from the comfortable religious establishment that quietly colludes
with Rome. No priest in Jerusalem would
be caught dead wearing camel’s hair or leather.
Neither would they dine on the bugs and honey you could find in the
wilderness. This message comes from one
who has himself repented of all the trappings of the religious establishment
before he asks anyone else to repent.
John is the son of a priest, but he sheds the priestly signs of comfort
and wealth. His message is “do what I
have done, because something amazing is about happen and you might just miss it.”
It's a message that’s hard to hear even today. We read about John and often picture him as
“a crazy old man in the woods.”
“Oh, that’s just John.
Pay no attention to him.”
People dismissed John two thousand years ago and people
still dismiss God’s messengers calling for change today. They misunderstood John back then and they
misunderstand still today. John is not
saying we need to change things; He’s
announcing that things are about to change whether we want them to or not. We can prepare ourselves for that or we can
miss what God is doing altogether.
Question: In what way is John’s message of “baptism
of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” a message for you today? For
the church today?
Prayer: Holy Spirit,
show us the ways in which we have grown too comfortable and content in our
faith. Wake us up with the news of what
you are about to do in us and in the world.
Song: Song of
Repentance – New Wine Worship
