Introduction
In the study on Mark 1:1-3, Mark told the Roman Christians about the prophecies by Jewish prophets, Isaiah and Malachi, of a message sent from Yahweh God about a Messiah He would send to the earth. He explained what this Messiah meant for them and for all people. Mark said each person must prepare the way of the Lord in their lives. They must prepare to see Him, repent, and confess, and accept Him as the Savior of their souls from sin and an eternal death separated from God. Mark referred to the one about whom God called to prepare the way for the Messiah to begin His ministries on earth. This study will lead the readers of Mark 1:4-8 to understand who God chose as the messenger “preparing the way of the Lord” (Mark 1:3).
Preparer of the Way
John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (Mark 1:4 [NASB])
Mark began his gospel writing about Old Testament prophecies. He then went linearly to the next step toward introducing the good news by showing the prophecy’s fulfillment. The first step of that fulfillment was introducing the prophesied “preparer of the way.” John the Baptist was the first man who preached to people about preparing the way. He was the forerunner to Jesus’ ministry of salvation and reconciliation. A forerunner is an announcer. He is the one who goes before the one about whom he/she speaks. Other words for a forerunner are messenger and herald. Each of these describes the person who enters a city, town, or village before the one whom he/she announces. The one whom the herald goes before is a dignitary or person who comes with an important message or important work to do. Think of a king of bygone days. When he traveled, he sent a messenger in advance telling the village or town he was soon to be with them in their town or village. A messenger/herald/forerunner prepares the way for a person of great stature. Mark told the readers/hearers of this gospel John the Baptist was the preparer of the way. John was the one who would go before the Messiah, telling people to get right with God and be ready, for the Messiah is coming imminently.
Who was John the Baptist? What made him important enough to be the herald of the Messiah? John’s parents were Elizabeth and Zechariah, both of whom were from the tribe of Levi, descendants of Aaron. The tribe of Levi was the tribe from whom the priests came. Elizabeth and Zechariah were in their old age when God informed them they would have a son. Zechariah was in the temple and did not consider it possible, so the angel of the Lord told him he would not speak until his son was born (Luke 1:9-17). This reminds us of another couple from Israelite forefathers to whom God gave a promise. Abraham and Sarah had no children and in their old age, God promised Abraham more descendants than all the stars of the sky or sand of the seas. He fulfilled that promise beginning with Isaac’s birth (Genesis 12:1-4 & 21:5). Elizabeth was the cousin of Mary, Jesus’ mother. That means John and Jesus were cousins. Like Jesus, angels proclaimed John’s birth. John grew up in the wilderness (Luke 1:80). His public ministry came after almost 400 years of silence from prophets. John was called the Baptizer because of his practice of baptizing people. When people repented of their sins, he baptized them. John was no great king, seer, or leader of the people. He did not live as most people did. Still, God used him to be the preparer of the way for the Messiah.
What else did Mark say about John in his gospel? In verse four, he said John appeared on the public stage when God gave him a word to proclaim. He lived and ministered in the Judean wilderness in the lower Jordan River valley, just north of the Dead Sea. John preached the word God gave to him to say. He baptized by submerging a person under the water. He wore clothes made of camel’s hair and a belt made from animal skin (Mark 1:6). John ate locusts and wild honey (Mark 1:6). He was no one special in the eyes of man. To God, he was His child and servant, willing to do as He commanded.
What did God tell John to preach/proclaim? Verse four tells readers/hearers that he preached a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Baptism was commonly used by Jews when a person from outside the faith converted to Judaism. It was not an unusual act for the Jews. John used it for another reason. He used it to symbolize a person’s cleansing of sins when he/she confessed and repented of them. Sin comes from the Greek word hamartia. It means missing the mark. When one missed the mark in target practice on an archery or shooting range, it means the person did not do what was required to be perfect. The same occurs in life when you sin. You strive to do and be good, but you can never do or be good all the time. You are human with freewill. The Jewish religion became bounded by many manmade laws that each Jew must keep. By doing this, they could be in God’s presence at the temple and could enter heaven, hopefully, when they died. Yet, each Jew knew he/she was not holy. He/she was unclean daily. Because of this, God told them to offer a sacrifice for their sins each morning and night. John proclaimed to the Jews a new way to repent. Instead of using an animal as a scapegoat for their sins, the Jews could offer themselves directly for cleansing. John told them if they sincerely repented of their sins, they could be baptized for forgiveness of their sins. The Jewish religious laws never taught a permanent forgiveness of sins. The religious leaders would have spoken against what John preached. John, though, was “the preparer of the way.” He helped the people prepare their hearts to see, listen about, and believe in Jesus and what He taught. Confession and repentance are part of being a Christian. Jesus brought what only He could give for salvation, the sufficient sacrifice.
Mark noted for his readers/hearers that “all the country of Judea was going out to him (John the Baptist) and all the people of Jerusalem, and they were being baptized by Him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins” (Mark 1:5 [NASB]) John did what God called him to do. God told him to prepare the way. He told the people about the Messiah who was coming. John preached about repenting of sins and being baptized for repentance, too. Baptism for salvation is what Jesus gives to everyone who believes. This baptism is symbolized in two parts. The going down under the water symbolizes a person dying to him or herself. A person’s rising up out of the water means becoming a man/woman born anew by Jesus. The baptism John performed symbolized a person’s sincere repentance of sin. Repentance prepared a person’s heart for listening to and accepting the salvation Jesus taught about and gave through His sinless life, death, and resurrection.
In Mark 1:7, John preached One mightier than him would come after him. He said he was unworthy to serve Him by untying the straps on His sandals. The most menial work a servant could do, even John was not good enough to do this for the Messiah. Mark used the Greek word ischuros in this verse. This word means a power/might that comes from God and is greater than what a human has. John recognized his humanity and the divinity of the One who would come after him by using this word, “mightier.” He prepared the way for the people to hear about the One whom God would send to them, the Messiah about whom the prophets proclaimed. This Messiah, John realized and proclaimed, is greater in stature, being, and might than him. He, a man to whom the people of Judea flocked and held in esteem, could not be His servant because he was too low in stature.
John prepared the way of the Lord with his words and ministry. He helped the people prepare their hearts and minds to hear about the salvation God gives through Jesus. John helped them prepare to pay attention to the man all knew came from a tiny village called Bethlehem because He came to be the greatest of all. He explained in more detail how great this Messiah would be. John told his listeners in Mark 1:8, “I baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” He said the Messiah sent from God can save people from their sins, but he himself could not save them or empower them not to sin again. Only Jesus, the Son of God, could do this.. John’s baptism was for the forgiveness of sins. It was just a symbol. He knew people needed a sacrifice that was lasting to make them righteous. Cleansing from unrighteousness means cleansing a person eternally from sins and the guilt of their sins. Eternal righteousness only comes from God. Nothing a person could do would ever clean himself/herself from sins and guilt. The temple sacrifices did not give an eternal cleansing and make a person eternally righteous. For this reason, Mark told his readers/hearers that John said, “I baptize with water. He will baptize with the Holy Spirit.” Water just makes the outside of a person clean; it does not touch the inner person-the heart. All actions and words of a person come from the inner disposition of that person. To cleanse and change the heart requires something far beyond what humanity can do. God knows the heart of a person and only He can reach the heart. His Spirit enters a person when he/she confesses and repents of his/her sins and trusts in Jesus Christ as his/her Savior from sins. From that point, the Spirit of God lives in the person giving direction for the right way to live, think, and be. Only the baptism of the Holy Spirit that comes at the point of profession of faith, as Mark wrote, gives a person salvation from sins, guilt, and eternal death. The recounting of John’s proclamation and baptism for repentance disclosed to the readers/hearers of Mark’s Gospel that John’s baptism was nothing compared to the baptism Jesus offers. John was unworthy to untie the Messiah’s sandal, just like his baptism was not good enough to give permanent removal of sins and give salvation.
Application
The Jews considered their actions would be good enough for God to forgive them of their sins and make them righteous. This did not keep them in a close relationship with God, though. They very often lived contrary to God’s way. They sinned and ran away from God like we all do at points in our lives. God prepared a way for each person to receive salvation. He planned this from before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:17-21). God provided judges, priests, and prophets to continue to call the Israelites to stay in a close relationship with Him. He told the Israelites, when He gave them the Promised Land, that they were to be a light to the nations so that all nations would come to know Him as their God (Isaiah 49:6). Each of these people were to be the messengers of God, though the Israelites, as a nation, did not follow God consistently. After four hundred years of silence, God called a man, John, about whom His prophets foretold was to proclaim about the One whom God would send. John was God’s first New Testament messenger. He told John to proclaim, “prepare the way of the Lord.”
Today, we who are believers in Jesus the Messiah are God’s
messengers. He commands us to tell people to prepare the way of the Lord in their
own lives and then to tell more people. Jesus commissioned His disciples by
saying,
All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. God, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:18-20 [NASB])
For people to prepare the way, they must be told about Jesus, their sin, and their inability to be good enough to earn righteousness and eternal life with God. For this reason, God sends messengers to herald Jesus’ arrival and declare, “Behold.” Added to hearing the good news of Jesus, people need to prepare to receive the salvation God offers. They do this by confessing and repenting of their sins. Unconfessed sins are like bricks stacked on top of one another, creating a wall between us and God. The more we sin, the easier it is to sin. This wall makes it harder for us to want to turn to God. Preparing the way of the Lord is confessing and repenting, as John taught. It is listening to the message of good news about God’s salvation offered to everyone who trusts in Jesus. Preparing the way of the Lord is affirming Jesus is God’s Son and accepting the salvation He provides. It then must involve preparing the way by proclaiming about the salvation Jesus gives. He gives it through His life, death, and resurrection so other people will listen to, accept, and experience salvation for themselves.
This reflects the “now and not yet” of God’s good news of salvation. We are saved at a point in time and are being saved from our sins every day until the day we arrive in heaven with God. At that time, Jesus perfects us in His image. He makes us complete; our salvation is complete because we will sin no more. The point of our salvation reflects a “now and not yet” scenario in that God’s salvation plan of humanity is not complete until His kingdom comes in its fullness. While we are alive on earth as His children, we become His messengers of His good news of salvation for each person. We become like Isaiah, Malachi, John, the disciples, and other Jesus-followers since Jesus’ arrival on earth. We are God’s messengers who prepare the way of the Lord by telling others about Jesus and the salvation He gives to each person who trusts in Him. As Jesus-followers, the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20 is our command from Jesus.
As we study these verses, we should ask ourselves questions.
1 Do you realize you are a sinner?
2. Do you recognize nothing you do is good enough to remove the judgment of your sins and the guilt?
3. Have you recognized Jesus is God’s Son, and that He died to save you from the penalty of your sins?
4. Have you professed your faith in Jesus and confessed and repented your sins to Him?
5. If you are a Christian, are you “preparing the way of the Lord” by living as God’s messenger, telling people about Jesus?
6. Does your life point toward Jesus so that people will see your works and heed your words, then seek Jesus to be their Savior?
7. Do your words and actions seek attention for yourself? Do they point to Jesus so other people will come to know Him as their Savior instead of admiring you as great, strong, smart, and wise?
The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (John 3:36 [NASB])
Are you living life as a “preparer” called by God?
Or are you living as a ”hider” trying to avoid Him?
