Mark 1:1-8
1 The beginning of the
good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in the prophet
Isaiah, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare
your way; 3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: "Prepare the
way of the Lord, make his paths straight,' " 4 John the baptizer appeared
in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of
sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of
Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan,
confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather
belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed,
"The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy
to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with
water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
John
the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins.
·
The
wilderness…
·
It almost
like a character in the story rather than the setting. The messenger cries out
in the wilderness: "Prepare
the way of the Lord, make his paths straight" The wilderness
is the place, but the message might not be able to come from anywhere else.
·
There is a
special reason for that. At this past week’s Bible Study, we briefly discussed
what made up a wilderness and where they were in our world today. There ARE
still wilderness areas around… and not just those places without decent
internet connections or a Tim Horton’s nearby.
·
The far
north of our country and even our province is still wilderness to a great
extent. It’s hard to get there and hard to survive there. There are people who
live there, but they have had to adapt to the environment, because it won’t
adapt for them.
·
The Far
North of Canada, Alaska, Lapland, and Siberia… the Sahara and the deserts of
the western United States and Mexico… the whole continent of Antarctica… these
are the wilderness areas that still come to mind and there are many others.
These places were not known to the people of Israel or to Mark when he wrote
his gospel. To them the “wilderness” was the Negev and the desert areas east of
Judea, the land between the Jordan and the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This
was the wilderness that John the Baptizer walked out of with his message of
repentance.
·
This action
doesn’t really tell of the importance of the wilderness to the Jewish people of
the time. True, the wilderness was seen as a wild place, populated by wild
animals and strange people and possibly demons. It was a mysterious and
terrible place.
·
It was also
more than that. The people of Israel were formed by the wilderness, the
wilderness they encountered after crossing the Red Sea as they followed Moses
and the promise of freedom and of a promised land.
·
Although
they suffered privation and confusion in the wilderness, they were sure of one
thing in their wanderings: God was with them. They followed a column of cloud
by day and a pillar of fire by night and God was with them. They rebelled and
sinned and complained and were sometimes punished and God was with them.
·
The
wilderness as it’s seen in the Scripture is always a place of danger and
temptation and chaos. The story of the Exodus shows that very clearly.
·
However,
the wilderness is also a place for solitude, of nourishment, and for revelation
from God. The prophets often received their revelation of God and God’s message
in a wilderness setting. For the entire people of Israel, the wilderness might
be seen as the place of their failure and of God’s success… for God remained
faithful to God’s people despite all they did or didn’t do. It was God who
remained faithful and continues to be faithful. In our own day, this wilderness
time is remembered by the Jewish people in the festival of Sukkot, the “Feast of Booths” which reminds the Jewish
people of their dependence of the will and mercy of God.
·
John and
his message comes out of the wilderness to proclaim a baptism of repentance and
to prepare the way of the One- Who-Is-To-Come, the one who will baptize with
the Holy Spirit. The God who remained faithful all through wilderness
wanderings of God’s people still remains faithful and the wonderful, powerful,
earth-shaking news comes in a voice from the wilderness.
·
So where is
our wilderness? Where are the places where we must depend on God and God alone?
We could go into some wild and dangerous place to hear the Word of God and
there are some who have done just that. Some have gone to the deserts of the
world and some others have gone
·
Yet there
are still deserts and wild places in ourselves, some that require leveling or
straightening and some that long for soothing and healing. John the Baptizer,
John the Messenger calls out the Good News to those places and from those places,
reminding us that God remains faithful and God remains active in leveling and
straightening, in soothing and healing. The odd thing, the odd and beautiful
thing is this: were we to look at those wild and wounded places, it would not
be a case of bringing God there, because were we to look at those wild and
wounded places, we would uncover God already there. The grace of God is still a
surprise and always will be, just as was John and his message of God’s fidelity
to God’s promises.
John
the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins.
W
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