Mark 1:1-20
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in the Prophets:
"Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
Who will prepare Your way before You."
3 "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make His paths straight.'"
4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
6 Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. 8 I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
John Baptizes Jesus
9 It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. 11 Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
Satan Tempts Jesus
12 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. 13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.
Jesus Begins His Galilean Ministry
14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."
Four Fishermen Called as Disciples
16 And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 17 Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." 18 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
19 When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. 20 And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.
The way of the Lord’s coming was proven by the testimony of John the Baptist to set the stage by calling all to repentance to make a straight path to Jesus as His ministry began. Jesus Himself would take over after He had been prepared in the desert through temptation as a man without sinning like we all do (Romans 3:20, 23) because He was also God (John 1:1, 14). He would call all to not only repent or turn away from their sin (as John preached) but also to turn towards Him and receive the gospel of salvation from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10, Revelation 6:17). John preached repentance and remission of sin; Jesus preached they He was the way, truth, and life (Acts 4:12) of that step beyond repentance to acceptance of Him as the only one who can offer that full remission which baptism alone cannot do; one must be baptized into Christ (Romans 6:3, Galatians 3:27) by active faith (John 1:12) in other words. This begins with confessing our sin, calling it for what it is as God does without applying excuses or mitigating circumstances used to justify it. Then it means turning away from continuing to practice that sin and then turn to Him for forgiveness as we trust His words and work (John 6:29) for us to pay the price forever for it all. We are also given the perfect example of resisting sin by Jesus in direct confrontation with the devil and the desire of this flesh. We are not divine as He is and still fall into sin at times, but we no longer are ruled by our sin (Genesis 4:7, 1 John 3:7-8, 10, 11-12) once regenerated into Him with the power and ability to put sin to death in ourselves (Romans 8:13, Colossians 3:5) as we resist the devil (James 4:7) and our own sinful desires (1 John 2:15-17) as we choose to listen to the Lord and follow His word making our path straight through ongoing repentance for forgiveness and restoration. Jesus Christ is the one who baptizes us into His Spirit to enable us to do these things as John foretold. He testified that Jesus is the Son of God when baptizing Him for us to know and understand these things. God will also minister healing and restoration of our weary souls in this process as He did with His own Son at the hand of angels after His temptation in the wilderness. Jesus was tested and then that proven way (Acts 4:12) was proclaimed beginning in Galilee after John was taken out of the way which he had prep for the Lord. That message we call the gospel pointed to the kingdom of God entered through repentance and faith which hears and trusts God’s words as the way of deliverance from sin’s penalty and a hope of sin’s presence to be removed forever in fullness when we enter that kingdom after death and our own resurrection. We are to repent and believe in the gospel. That is what Jesus proclaimed and preached. He then called others to come alongside and work with Him in proclaiming this message of extremely good news as they went with Him, the same commission given us in Matthew 28:19-20 to proclaim (Romans 10:14-15). May we follow as the original disciples as called out to the tested, proven, and proclaimed way of life.
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