Mark 1 The Way of the Lord

John the Baptist bursts on the scene after the prophetic voice in Israel had been silent for four hundred years. He challenges his people to prepare a way in their hearts in the same way that people in the Orient made the road smooth for a visiting king. John urges the people to take away the barriers and the rough places, and to make the way of the Lord a smooth entrance. This is not a one-time preparation but a continual readiness and maintenance program. John the Baptist calls for a spiritual discovery: a tough-minded awareness of our failure to measure up to God's will and a radical change of heart, determining to follow God's will more closely.

Moving through the first days of Jesus' ministry in chapter I, we see the forces that the Lord will encounter when he comes on the path into our hearts. There will be religious objections, resistance to change, family resentments, emotional distress and physical symptoms that erect huge barriers to the coming of the Lord.

Read through all of the book at one sitting, if possible. This creates the sense of drama and awe that Mark wishes to communicate. Then reread Mark I.

Find The Facts

What prophet does Mark quote? What does John preach? What does John say about Jesus? What does Jesus preach? Whom does Jesus call to be his disciples? What examples of Jesus' power does Mark include? How does Jesus teach? What does Jesus say is the reason he came?

Consider:

1. List the kinds of people, powers and attitudes that Jesus encounters in the first chapter. What contemporary name can you give to each of them?

2. Note the word immediately wherever you find it in the text. What impression do you think Mark wishes to create? Why?

3. Read Isaiah 40:1-11. Compare Isaiah's message with John's. What more can be understood about John's message and Jesus' identity from Isaiah?

Mark 1:1-8

John cries out, announcing the arrival of the Messiah. John's ministry is one of preparation, calling people to repentance, baptism, confession and forgiveness—the elements of our own preparation for encountering the living God. There is no other way than this "repentance road" on which the King is able to enter the hearts of his people. Confession and forgiveness remove the barriers that obstruct the King's embrace of love.

To baptize, (Gk., baptizo) literally means "to dip in" or "immerse," implying also "to wash clean." John invites the people of Israel to be cleansed from sin by repentance, turning away from old ways and moving in the opposite direction.

Confession, which means "to agree with someone else," involves the open acknowledgment of the truth about our sin—to ourselves, to God and perhaps to another person. Confession specifically names the offensive behavior, recognizes its darkness and brings a disciplined effort to turn away from it. John hears the people's confessions before the people are immersed in the water. He searches their attitudes and questions their behavior (LK. 3:7-17). This verbalizing is the outward show of their repentance, which makes them candidates for baptism. Confession does more than recognize sin; it agrees with God about sin's seriousness.

John's attire and lifestyle clearly indicate his role, for they echo Elijah's protest against the superficial and materialistic lives of his contemporaries (2 KG. 1:7-8). Though John attracts many by his powerful message, he has come not to gather people to himself but to "prepare the way of the Lord" (JN. 1:19-27). Jesus far surpasses John, as John certainly recognizes. Only the lowest of slaves would remove a person's sandals, one of the most menial and humble of tasks.

Consider:

4. Using your own words, list in order those steps that must be taken to meet with the Lord. Name and agree with God about one attitude or behavior that needs to be changed in you. Go through the steps you have just outlined.

5. Do you think John consciously associates himself with the prophets who came before him? Why or why not? What other messages might John wish to communicate through his lifestyle? What does John's lifestyle suggest about his freedom from the values or opinions of those around him?

6. What differences and similarities do you see between John's water baptism and Jesus' Holy Spirit baptism? Read John 3:1-8. How does Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus further explain the two baptisms?

Mark 1:9-13

Jesus' arrival at John's place of ministry signals the beginning of his own ministry. As the people seek God, Jesus joins them in an act of complete identification. He goes down into the Jordan with these admitted sinners and submits to the same baptism. Though he has no need for repentance or forgiveness, the first step in his mission of atonement (2 COR. 5:21) involves the decision to associate himself fully with the human condition (MT. 3:15).

This act leads first to affirmation from God; it expresses perfectly Jesus' identity as God's Son. It also leads to a time of severe testing, the narrow, spiritual pathway that continues the repentance road. Before Jesus can reach out effectively to others in their sin, illness and spiritual perversity, he first must face his own temptations to minister in ways other than his humble, loving, forgiving, suffering-with-others style.

Consider:

7. What does Jesus' baptism reveal about the nature of his ministry? In what ways does Jesus' baptism define his calling from God? What does our baptism reveal about our ministry and calling?

8. In what ways do you think God's voice and the descent of the Spirit prepare Jesus for his wilderness experience? What part do wilderness experiences play in maturing us as Christians?

Mark 1:14-20

Jesus' public ministry begins as he preaches the gospel (literally, "good news") of the nearness of God's kingdom. This kingdom is not some far-off place or event, but an open door through which any person may enter by repenting and believing. The time is ripe; the decisive moment (Gk., kairos) has begun a new epoch.

In this new season, Jesus invites people to move from the empty obedience of ceremonialism to a fellowship based on sacrificial love. Some hear this good news gladly and follow Jesus. The word follow literally means to "walk the same road." It implies fellowship, joint-participation and a side-by-side experience with another. Jesus' leadership is not one of distant direction, but of...