Prayer:
God, You made a way when there was no way! You sent Your Son, Jesus, to make a way to new life in You. Thank You. This truth changes everything. It changes me. I surrender my life to You. I want to be made new. Thank You for making a way! Amen!
Scripture:
Mark 1 : 1-8 (NLT)
[1] This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. It began [2] just as the prophet Isaiah had written:
“Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
and he will prepare your way.[b]
[3]He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
Clear the road for him!’[c]”
[4] This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. [5] All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. [6] His clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey.
[7] John announced: “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals. [8] I baptize you with[d] water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”
Insight:
Mark begins his gospel account declaring that Jesus is “the Son of God” (1:1). Then he moves to introducing the Messiah’s promised forerunner, John the Baptist (vv. 2-4). In contrast to the gospel of Matthew, which was written to a Jewish audience and is filled with messianic prophecy, Mark wrote to a gentile audience and offers fewer Old Testament references or allusions. One of the few Old Testament quotes in Mark (1:2-3) is from Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3 and establishes from the outset that Mark’s story of Christ lines up with Israel’s story and how it would find fulfillment in its promised Messiah. Mark also tells the reader up front that John the Baptist wasn’t the Messiah but was preparing the way for one “more powerful” than himself (Mark 1:7). John the Baptist’s self-awareness is fleshed out more fully in the gospel of John (see 1:20; 3:22-36). He knew his role as one pointing to the Messiah who had come—Jesus.
Devotional:
Recently, my brother Scott acquired our dad’s military service records from World War II. As I studied the pages, there was nothing startling or shocking—nothing about who Dad was. There were mere facts. Data. It was interesting to read but ultimately dissatisfying because I didn’t come away feeling like I learned anything new about Dad.
Thankfully, in giving us a record of the life and work of Jesus, the four gospels are much more than just data. They are descriptions that reveal who Jesus was in His time on this earth as well as what He did and said. In Mark’s gospel, that record was for the purpose of proving Mark’s thesis statement: “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (1:1). Immediately, Mark tells us how John the Baptist testified about this Messiah. John said, “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie” (v. 7). Mark’s account makes it clear that Jesus is the Son of God. As John the disciple adds in his own account of Jesus’ life, “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).
The evidence of Jesus’ life is abundant. These questions remain: What does He mean to you? How has He changed your life?
Reflect:
What do you think of the evidence of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection?
How might you tell someone about your response to it?
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