1:1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness;
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.’ “

4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And the people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

What a beginning to this Gospel! While the other two synoptic Gospels (Matthew and Luke) begin with Jesus’ genealogy and a recounting of his birth, Mark states up front immediately that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. We’re so used to hearing those words that perhaps we underestimate the impact of these titles to the first listeners. “Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Christ means ‘the anointed one or messiah.’ To people in Rome, a city of emperors that named themselves deity, this title immediately raised Jesus as someone profoundly different than other, self-proclaimed gods. In a culture where family was key to determining a person’s standing both socially and economically, the only genealogy that Mark offers is the only one that really matters – Son of God. Thus while Matthew and Luke take pains to place Jesus within a human history, Mark, from the very beginning, tells his listeners that this is the story of the person of our salvation, the very Son of God, who has been eagerly anticipated and longed for.
Mark does tie this proclamation to human history, however, by quoting prophesy. While he cites Isaiah 40:3, he also quotes Malachi 3:1. The prophesy, seen in verses 2 and 3, speak of a messenger coming out from the desert. In ancient days, a messenger would go out before the entourage of a king, removing large rocks from the road to make sure that the way was smooth. More importantly, he would alert the people along the route that the king was coming, so that they would be ready to properly honor him. Matthew and Luke make clear that this messenger is John the Baptist, a conclusion that Mark allows his listeners to draw themselves.
Think about this imagery for a moment. The area around Jerusalem is harsh and barren. The wilderness is an unforgiving, threatening place. Yet it is from this wilderness that the messenger emerges, announcing the eminent arrival of the king! This king is not coming from a place of safety or comfort. This is a king that knows challenges and hardships. This king, while offering salvation, is a king that understands the harsh reality of the world.
Yet there were strong expectations of what this king might accomplish. The Jews in Palestine were under harsh rule from the Romans. Just a few years after Jesus’ birth, forty promising young men were burned alive under King Herod’s orders for pulling down a golden eagle, the symbol of Roman sovereignty, from the temple. They believed that death was better than the desecration of the temple. The people longed for a new age of political peace and freedom under the direct rule of God through his messiah. According to their beliefs, the king to come would wipe away all foreign oppression. Salvation was understood as salvation from the tyranny of Roman rule.

How did the messenger, John the Baptist, fit into all this? I must admit that I have always found John the Baptist a curious figure. He seems some sort of wild man, clothed in strange clothing and eating strange food, baptizing multitudes in the Jordan River. Just what was the significance of his actions?

Only Mark mentions John’s dress and diet, but they are important to understand John’s significance. In Mark 9:3, Jesus refers to John as Elijah, an Old Testament prophet who was to restore the people’s hearts to God and to one another. 2 Kings 1:8 states that Elijah was “a hairy man with a leather belt around his waist.” And like the faithful in the book of Daniel who mourned their people’s separation from their homeland, John did not drink wine nor eat meat. Both his dress and diet mark John as a prophet concerned with restoration of God’s people to God.

In some desert communities around the Dead Sea, the devout purified themselves with ritual cleansing. This was a symbol of repentance, and a desire to be washed of sins. It was a backwards-looking action – ie a shedding of the old as one strove to re-orient ones life. It created a fresh palette for God’s actions. Like our Lent, John’s baptism was a call to re-examine lifestyles and to reconcile to others and to God. Even as God, in the person of Jesus Christ, was arriving on the scene to point the way to a new life, John was cleansing those in the desert of their old, sinful ways, tilling the soil so that Jesus’ teachings could take root.

John recognized that his role was mere preparation. Slaves would untie the sandals of guests in household, bathing their feet after travels on hot, dusty roads. John’s statement in 1:7 places him as less than a slave in relation to Jesus, even though his identity as a prophet has been well established. His baptism is only a precursor to the baptism of the Holy Spirit – a baptism that ushers in the New Covenant. It is a baptism that looks forward, that irrevocably changes those it blesses. No longer preparation, a baptism by the Holy Spirit is a joyful entering into the family of God.

Discussion Questions:
Why do you think Mark skips the birth narrative when it is so important in the other synoptic Gospels?
What does ‘wilderness’ mean to you? Have you ever felt as though you were in the wilderness?
What significance did John’s baptism have? What are our rituals and understandings of preparation and how can we practice them today?
How can we "prepare the way of the Lord" in the various wildernesses we encounter?