The Book of Mark
Chapter 1 (NIV)
2It is written in Isaiah the prophet:
"I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way"
3"a voice of one calling in the desert,
'Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.' "
4And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
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3 comments:
The entire Old Testment is preparing the way for our savior.
I wonder if John knew that he was the one that Isaiah has prophesied or did he had the urge to go and follow/fulfill this very prophecy.
Or maybe from his continuing prayer, he was chosen to be used by God to carry this out.
From what John says about coming of Jesus, I guess he had to know that he was the one.
All-in-all God was the one who made all of this possible.
Where God will take me and how he will use me... I'm so grateful that I am part of his plan.
Michael,
Great question about whether or not John knew what his role was to be. John and Jesus were cousins and both their births were miraculous - so I wonder if they weren't told from birth about their special roles. Yet if that is the case, I don't know why Jesus' own family didn't recognize who he was until after his death?
I also wonder how John came to the idea of baptizing. I don't think baptism is mentioned in the bible until John the Baptist. Yet Jesus insisted that he had to be baptized before he could start his ministry. These 3 verses seem deceptively simple. Yet upon further reflection, they bring up many more questions for me.
For me, these may be the most challenging verses we've had up to now in terms of their literal interpretation.
In verse 2, the "messenger" refers to (as we learn in verse 4) John the Baptist. But who is "you," the audience for Isaiah's prophesy? In the context of the OT, I assume it refers to the people of Israel. What does "prepare your way" mean? My thought is that it refers to "how to find salvation."
In verse 3, "make straight paths for Him" (NIV) is interpreted in NASB and NKJV as "make His paths straight." So these paths are not ours, rather they belong to the Lord. But what kind of power or ability do the Israelites have to determine the trajectory of where the Lord goes?
Verse 4 suggests some insights. "Straightening" seems to refer to "repenting" which makes me believe that "paths" refer to the spiritual lives (journeys toward salvation) of the Israelites. Ultimately, the roads on which believers in God must travel (spiritually speaking) to find salvation are the same ones on which Christ will be traveling because they must follow Him to find salvation. The prophesied messenger is asking the Israelites to demonstrate spiritual integrity in their search for salvation by doing their best to live according to God's will -- not expect God to do His best so they can live according to their own will.
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