Mark 1:1-3

Summary of Mark 1:1-3

We begin the Gospel of Mark with a simple statement: this book is about the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  Then we have two quotes, the first from Malachi 3:1 and the second from Isaiah 40:3.  The Lord will send a messenger before His Messiah to prepare the way, and the messenger will not only prepare the way but also make straight the path for God’s Messiah.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

The purpose for this book is to tell the good news about Jesus Christ.  This book is solely written for the purpose of introducing people to not only the story of Jesus but also His work among us.  This story is to teach us and broaden our perspective about Jesus.  But make no bones about it.  This book will revolve around Jesus and tell the story of Jesus.  Jesus is the central figure of history.

Why is it important to remember that this is fundamentally a story about Jesus?  How does remembering that this story is about Jesus {And thus, God} help to keep us humble?

Second Thought:

The first quote that we have comes from Malachi 3:1.  If you flip to Malachi 3:1-5 you will notice that this quote in its original context is actually a threat.  We think of the messenger as a good thing from our perspective of already being in Christ.  But in Malachi, we are reminded that the coming of the Lord’s Messiah will bring about a time of judgment.  People will be refined.  Lives will be changed.  God’s Messiah steps into the life of a person and purifies them.  That is one of the main roles of God’s Messiah.  Thus, although we look happily upon the coming of John the Baptizer, we need to remember that the first duty of Jesus is to convict us and bring us to repentance and refinement.  That is not always the easiest process.  John the Baptizer was sent to get people ready for that process.

Does it scare you to think about God’s Messiah as a refiner?  Why can this take on a bit of a threatening element?  Why is it important to realize as we approach the story of Christ that we all have a need for someone to prepare the way for Jesus to enter into our life?  Who are those people in your life?

Third Thought:

The second quote is from Isaiah.  We have a bit of an overlap with the quote from Malachi, but we also see here that part of the job of the messenger was also to prepare the way for God’s Messiah.  In ancient days, a messenger was sent ahead of a royal caravan.  The messenger had two roles.  First, the messenger was to alert the people along the route that royalty was coming so that they could be prepared to receive them.  Second, the messenger was to look for places in the road that need to be fixed so that the royal procession could go on uninterrupted.  John the Baptizer’s job was to do this very thing.  He was to prepare the way for Christ to come into life.  He was to “fix” the proverbial “holes” in the lives of the people around him.  He was to bring people to conviction so that when Jesus came onto the scene people were ready to receive Him and listen to His leading.

What holes in your life need to be fixed?  Where can you go to help those places in your life become exposed all the more?  Is it a painful process to have holes in your life in need of repair?

Passage for Tomorrow: Mark 1:4-5