Mark 1:4-8: "The Ministry of Preparation"

Introduction:

The ministry of John the Baptist was foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament.

As a matter of fact the last known prophecy in the OT regarding the coming of John the Baptist is seen in Malachi 4:5-6: 5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

This prophecy referring to John the Baptist is not up for debate is not for debate. We know it is about John because Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 11:4-15.

So John the Baptist is fulfillment of those OT preparation prophecies.

But John came baptizing in His ministry of preparation. And he understood this baptism to have spiritual implications for the coming of the Kingdom. Look at his current ministry in verses 4-5:

I. The Current Ministry of John (4-5).

John knew that his baptism was a baptism of repentance.

He was carrying out this ministry of baptism in the wilderness and not in the Temple nor in the Synagogues of his day.

And his baptism had to do with a purification ritual for the forgiveness of sins.

The term baptize from the OT when used in a religious context it usually did refer to ceremonial washings of purification.

Most of us are aware that John was born to older parents named Zacharia and Elizabeth.

Some scholars believe that Zacharia and Elizabeth died while John was young and that John was raised by the Essene monks who lived in the dessert around the Dead Sea area.

Those monks often took in orphans and raised them in their midst. And they also practiced purification baptisms as some of the archeology shows.

And their writings display that they had a profound awareness of the Kingdom coming in an immediate sense.

All you have to do to see this is to read their commentaries on the prophets. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain some of these commentaries.

It would not be surprising to me if John recieved much of his religious training in the Qumran community.

John was calling the people to repentance of their sin and to purification due to the immediate coming of the Kingdom.

But John knew that the Messiah in His Kingdom would exercise a superior ministry to his own. And John also proclaimed that as well. He set his ministry in contrast to the coming ministry of Messiah in verses 6-8:

II. The Coming Ministry of Messiah (6-8).

First of all we see that John knew that Messiah would be mightier than he was. And John puts it in perspective for us at the end of verse 7 by saying that he is not even worthy to stoop down and untie the sandals of the coming Messiah.

The Messiah would be of supreme greatness and John was aware of this.

Remember when Jesus spoke of John in Matthew 11:11: 11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

The identity and glory of Messiah is what makes His ministry effectual to transform His covenant people to Kingdom greatness of this magnitude. John knew at least to some degree that the Messiah would have a surpassing greatness to himself.

But the Messiah’s ministry of baptism would surpass John’s baptism as well. John says here in verse 8 that he uses the means and agency of water to baptize but the coming Messiah would use the means and agency of the Holy Spirit.

So John knew there was a distinction between the baptism that he administered and the coming baptism that the Messiah would administer. This is something that many people are confused about. They think that both baptisms are the same but they are not. And some like to make the single point that since Jesus was baptized we should be baptized too.

But did the Apostles believe that there was no distinction between the two baptisms? Look at Acts 19:1–7, it helps us understand: “1 And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all.”

Now if the baptisms were one in the same why would they need to consent to re-baptism? If getting the same baptism as Jesus is what is critical then why make the distinction to these twelve men who were disciples?

It would appear that the baptism of repentance that John administered pointed to Jesus as the coming Messiah in His Kingdom (Acts 19:4) but the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the actual power of Jesus Christ for regeneration and spiritual giftedness that the Kingdom is here and it is manifested by Christ in us as His covenant people.

Remember Christian that these are new covenant promises coming to bear upon us in the here and the now (Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36). The Holy Spirit is the effectual means by which the redemptive work of Christ gets applied to the covenant people of God. Remember Ezekiel 36:25–27: 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

This is the ministry of the coming ministry of Messiah that John is pointing everyone towards and it would be a ministry that would surpass his own ministry. But John wasn’t jealous. He knew that he must decrease but Christ must increase (John 3:30-35).

Christian without the ministry of the Messiah we would all be lost. We would be stuck in covenant cycles of temporal and external changes and over time cycle back into a life of sin and darkness leading to the judgement of God and repentance leading to the next cycle.

But now the Kingdom has come and the Holy Spirit is alive working in us and empowering us in our battle with sin and in the ministry of spiritual gifts. That is what life in the Spirit does. If you don’t like being convicted of sin by the Spirit don’t grieve the Spirit or blame the preacher, instead repent and walk in the Spirit.

People say that today pastor thing have changed in America and in this modern world in which we live. Christian I know that better than just about anybody. But life in the Kingdom of God under the supreme Lordship of Jesus Christ is the same as it was when those original Apostles turned the world upside down.

Christian it is so hard to be at home in the Kingdom when you are enjoying all the worldly comforts of Babylon. The Kingdom of God in Christ is greater and it surpasses anything that mere religion has to offer. The Kingdom of God in Christ goes further than merely an external and temporal change. It takes you from the dark kingdom of this fallen world and transforms you by internal transforming power as a manifestation of Kingdom glory.

Conclusion:

Have you tried to change? Jeremiah proposed the series of questions in Jeremiah 13:23 that get at the heart of what is really wrong with us: 23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.

You see the problem is that self asserted effort to change your actions in the end is short lived. Oh I know that people can manage sinful behavior by conditioning but in the end the result is that they embrace another one because the prideful motivation governing behavior is still there even though behavior modification is taking place.

Only life in the Kingdom can set you free because life in the Kingdom of God is life in Christ. Unbeliever you need a savior who can pay your debt and apply that payment in such a way that washes you clean in the fountain of grace to you. Believe the gospel!

Believer our life is in the Kingdom as the covenant people of God. In Christ is our status because of all that the Holy Spirit has applied to us and made effectual in us by sovereign grace. Come to Him and confess your sin. Let’s pray!