David Bahn – Reflections

Mark 1:1-3

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

² As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

The Gospel of Mark is straight-forward, immediate, to the point. And the beginning is no exception. Mark tells us who this is about and immediately introduces John the Baptist. John is the messenger who prepares Jesus’ way. He does so by calling people to prepare the way: the Lord is coming.

So it is today. Someone comes to us with the call to repent, to prepare for God’s presence in our lives. This is always a call to repent and believe. We repent because there are hills of pride and arrogance in our hearts that must be brought down and vallies of despair and unbelief that must be filled in. There are crooked ways in our lives that must be straightened out.

But this preparation is not a bracing for judgment, but a readying for grace. This is the beginning of the gospel – the good news. And the good news is that Jesus is coming to redeem, bless, and usher in the reign of in the hearts of his people. This one will come with his mighty power to give us his Holy Spirit. We who are his will be identified as children of God. And what special approbation awaits us as children of God. We will hear the Father say, “with you I am well pleased!”

And this is just the beginning of the gospel!

Mark 1:1-13

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

² As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

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.”

⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹ And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

¹² The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. ¹³ And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted bySatan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.