Untitled Sermon
The Gospel of Mark is a vivid account of the life of Jesus. This is the shortest of the four Gospels we have in the New Testament, and many scholars think it was the first to be written.
Mark tells us about the life and death of Jesus—the Messiah who is truly the Son of God. Jesus teaches and heals with astonishing power and authority. However, his closest followers don’t really understand him—and the Jewish authorities reject him absolutely. Jesus himself is convinced that he must suffer and die before being raised to life in triumph. The twin peaks of the Gospel are when two people recognize Jesus’ real identity. The first is Simon Peter, who declares, ‘You are the Christ.’ The second is the Roman soldier in charge of Jesus’ execution, who says, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God!’
In Palestine at this time, the Jews were attempting to overthrow their Roman overlords. This conflict ended in total defeat for the Jews and the tragic destruction of the temple in AD 70. Of course, the first Christians were bound to wonder what the world was coming to! Mark records what Jesus said about suffering—and about the signs of the last days.
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,
“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way,
3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’ ”
17 You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
3 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?
5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.
4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
19 Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
The Hebrew of 2 Kgs 1:8 describes Elijah’s clothing as a shaggy, goat-haired garment, which in Mark becomes a camel’s hair robe on the Baptizer. Although offensive to some modern Western tastes, the eating of locusts fell within Jewish dietary regulations (Lev 11:22; m. Hul. 3:7) and provided a high source of protein and minerals. John’s rustic dress and diet set him apart from the refined temple cult in Jerusalem and further identify him with “the desert region” (1:4). Not only does John’s dress associate him with Elijah, but his fearless criticism of Herod Antipas (6:18) echoes Elijah’s confrontations with King Ahab (1 Kgs 18:18). Thus, in dress, setting, and proclamation Mark associates John with Elijah, the thundering prophet who renewed God’s covenant with Israel on Mt. Carmel (1 Kgs 18:30–45). The stream of crowds that visit John are thus making a pilgrimage to a figure who is a harbinger of the fulfillment of Israel’s destiny.