Mark 1:1-8
A. INTRODUCTION
Every now and again—in a world which is often not the happiest of places—someone special comes along, someone who makes a difference. It may be someone with a charismatic personality. It may be someone who goes above and beyond the call of duty. It may be someone who is prepared to stand up and be counted. Or it may be someone who just dares to be different.
Now that person could be a TV personality, a sporting hero, a statesman . . . It could be someone from history, or someone who lives today. It could be any one of a number of people, or even a group of people. Yet, someone who in some way does (or has) made an impression, leaving their mark on the world. And, by doing so, in some ways, makes (or has made) this world a better place.
Now, I’m sure we all. at times, have had someone we’ve looked up to. Someone who has made an impression on our lives. And even someone we’ve seen as a bit of role model. And for me, one of those people would have to be John the Baptist. And in that I am not alone. Because John the Baptism is mentioned prominently in all four gospels. And one of the features of Mark’s gospel is that in the first eight verses of his gospel, the subject of seven of them is not Jesus, but John the Baptist. And I find that very intriguing indeed.
So what was special about John? Why did Mark set him out as being someone special? And why does John play such a prominent role?
B. JOHN THE BAPTIST
1. Being Prepared To Be Different (4a)
Well, the first thing you could say about John is that he was a man who was prepared to be different. As a religious figure you wouldn’t find him in the city—in the Temple—where people would normally congregate to discuss religious matters. No! Rather we find John in the wilderness, and calling people to come out to him.
And that might seem odd, at first, except for the fact that the message of John was for all people, not just for those who were overtly religious. He therefore needed to be in a place that was accessible to all. But he also needed to be in a place that was non-threatening.
But there’s another side to it too. Because he also needed to practice symbolic language. The people to whom he was calling, the Jews, had historically become a nation in the wilderness. So, being in the wilderness, John was symbolically calling them to return to where they started, to start their journey with God over again.
John was different to anyone else at the time. But his difference had a distinct purpose.
2. Exercising a Prophetic Ministry (4b)
The second thing you could say about John is that he exercised a prophetic ministry. He called people to repent, to return to faith in the one true God, and he emphasised the need for the forgiveness of sins.
Of course, from our perspective, you could say, ‘Well what’s different about that?’ However, the prophetic ministry that John exercised had not been practiced in Israel for over three hundred years. In fact, because of that, many people believed that the time of prophetic ministry was well and truly over, and therefore God would have to choose some other way to talk to his people.
However, there were some, who had hung on to the old promise of God. That, indeed, he would, sometime in the future, send another prophet like Elijah. And his role would be to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. As a consequence, those who heard John’s call would not have failed to recognise the familiar, but historical, prophetic call to repentance.
3. Introducing New Ideas (4b-5)
The third thing you could say about John is that he was not afraid to introduce new ideas. Because although baptism was practiced by the Jews in Old Testament times, it was, generally, only gentiles who were converted to the Jewish faith that were baptised. And it was not common practice for Jews to be baptised at all.
For John to suggest to Jews that they needed to be baptised, then, was a radical change to the normal Jewish way of thinking. And you can imagine what would have been going through some of their minds. Some would, no doubt, have been resistant, simply because it wasn’t the way things were done. Others might have shaken their heads, not understanding what was going on at all. And others might have felt well and truly insulted by being asked to participate in something reserved only for gentiles.
And yet, the response of the people, we’re told—to being called to return to the wilderness, to the need to repent and seek forgiveness, and to be baptised—was that the people from the surrounding countryside embraced everything that John was and what he stood for, no matter how strange, old fashioned, or even new the ideas that he was asking them to embrace.
4. Being Genuine (6-7)
And why? Well, maybe, the fourth thing you could say about John is that he appeared to be genuine, and a man of God to boot.
He was a man of the wilderness. But he wasn’t a reluctant man only doing his job in a half-hearted manner. No, John but played his part to the full, even to the extent of his clothing and diet. In addition, his lifestyle and leather belt served to be reminders of another genuine man of the wilderness: the prophet Elijah.
And, if all of that was not enough, then his attitude said it all. John wasn’t one to push himself forward and say what a great person he was, expecting people to follow him and to get people to do things for him. Rather John pointed people away from himself to someone greater that he ever could be. To someone he couldn’t hope to compete with, even if he wanted to.
5. Focussing On Ministry (7-8)
And following from that, the fifth thing you could say about John was that he had a message of hope. The thing that made John tick—his focus—was the proclamation of a person who was yet to come: the Messiah, Jesus himself. And it would be Jesus, John said, who would baptise the people, but not with water but with the Holy Spirit.
As far as John was concerned, his call to the people to join him in the wilderness was in anticipation of the fulfilment of God’s promise. The Messiah was coming and he, John, was simply a messenger pointing to the one who was to follow. John’s baptism may have been radically different to the way baptism had been practiced in Jewish circles before, but it was nothing to the way it would be radically changed again with the coming of the Messiah.
6. Comment
So what was special about John? Why did Mark see him as being someone special? And why does John play such a prominent role?
Well, it was because John was a very special man in history: a true prophet, in the line of all prophets. At the time, a man who dared to be different. In many ways he was a bit of an oddball character, but he stood up and was counted.
He had something important to say: That God was about to enter history in a definitive fashion. And he had accepted and adopted his role in preparing the way.
C. IMPLICATIONS
But, you know, that’s all very well. John, in many ways, is an historical character that we can admire. However, I did suggest that for me John was also a good role model to follow. And I’d like to explain that in a number of ways.
1. Being Prepared To Be Different
Because, firstly, John took his role seriously, and because of that he dared to be different. Of paramount concern was that his message was for all people, and not just for the outwardly religious.
As a consequence for us, it’s all very well talking religion in religious circles, but the message we have is still just as much for those who don’t come to church as well as for those who do. Therefore, we need to follow John’s example in going out to the people, to share the message of hope. We need to find other ways, and other places, in which to share our faith with others. And we need to make it part of our regular routine.
2. Exercising a Prophetic Ministry
Secondly, we may not be prophets in the Old Testament sense like John, or those who had gone before, but the prophetic ministry of calling people to repentance, and showing the need for forgiveness, is just as relevant today, as it was back then.
In some way, we still need to show people the need to repent; to turn from ways which are contrary to God’s view. And we need to show how essential the forgiveness of sins is for a proper relationship with our creator.
3. Introducing New Ideas
Thirdly, just as John used an old idea (Baptism), and gave it new meaning. So we, too, shouldn’t be afraid of giving old ideas a new twist. We need to be open to new ways, and appropriate ways, to allow people to respond to the message we have to proclaim—even if it hasn’t been done that way before, or whatever other obstacles people may place in our path.
4. Being Genuine
Fourthly, like John, we need not only to be genuine, but we need to be seen to be genuine too.
Now I’m not going to suggest that John’s way of life—or his clothing and diet—are for everyone. But his whole attitude to life and ministry, reeked of someone who was sincere in his beliefs, and who had a passion for the role God had given him to play.
Now, sadly, that has not always been true of all Christians, For example many TV evangelists and clergy have given Christianity a bad name. But still, that’s life, and we cannot allow ourselves to be hijacked by past mistakes, whether of our own making or of others.
Now John’s life style was not extravagant. He didn’t ask people to pamper to his every whim. And at no stage did he make a big thing of his own ministry and achievements. Instead, he got on with life, and his lifestyle matched his commitment to God. An example we could do well to follow.
5. Focussing On Ministry
And fifthly, just as John’s focus was on one thing, and one thing only, so too does our commitment need to be on that one thing too. It’s not us that is important but the message of salvation that is available to all through faith in Jesus Christ. This is the message to which everything about John was pointing. And it is the message to which our lives should be pointing too.
John may have baptised with water. But it is the baptism of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit that really counts.
D. CONCLUSION
Now, as I said at the outset, every now and again, in this world, someone special comes along, someone who makes a difference. Now the sad thing is that regarding most of today’s heroes, yes, they may appear to make the world a better place, but they do little or nothing in regard to what is really important—and that is, to spread the message of eternal life.
But without a doubt the appearance of John the Baptist made a significant mark on the Jewish people of the time. Indeed even after Jesus’s death there were still people who called themselves disciples of John.
With John the Baptist, however, we have a man who not only tried to make the world a better place, but called people to return to a relationship with God at the same time. The two things being very much inseparable and intertwined. So, if you’re looking for a role model in life you couldn’t have a much better choice than John. However, John’s gone, he’s played his part. And now it’s our turn to play ours.
John was bound up preparing the way for the first appearance of Jesus. And our job is to prepare people for the second coming of Jesus. The ministry of John involved the fulfilment of the hopes of Israel, and our ministry should involve a message of hope in a world which is desperately in need of some good news too.
Posted: 10th July 2023
© 2023, Brian A Curtis
www.brianacurtis.com.au
