Today's section is very short, with only 8 verses. But it continues with how Luke set up his book. Luke began with the birth of John the Baptist, and so Mark begins with John the Baptist preparing the way. This story can also be found in Matthew 3:1-11, and Luke 3:2-16. The same story under 3 different author's flair.
Before we get into this, we haven't done anything on Mark before. The same way that I introduced you to the book of Luke, I'll introduce you to Mark. Luke read like a broadway musical, remember? With all the song and dance. Well, Mark reads like an action movie. Event, event, event, event, event. Mark's words are like camera directions, which is awesome to think that he had that type of brain even before cameras were invented. He pans over crowds and then zooms in on the "main character", Jesus. Mark doesn't focus on dialogue and personal narrative the way the other writers of the bible do. mark doesn't reflect on Old Testament or Jewish law much. This leads scholars to believe his "target audience" was the Roman Empire who were new to not only the Christian faith, but to Judaism also. Mark wrote to the Gentiles, the "non-Jews".
The New Testament was written in either Greek or Latin, because the Roman Empire controlled Israel. Mark's book is written in Greek. He uses the Greek "hurry-up" adverb 42 times, it was recorded into English with a variety of synonyms: at once, immediately, etc. He wanted to captivate his audience and entice the reader who would be bored by dialogue and personal narrative. He tells mostly the same stories as the other Gospels, he just has his own way of saying things. So without further ado...
...a bit of knowledge. The first sentence just talks about the name of Jesus. Jesus has countless names, but here, we already have 3.
Jesus - this is actually the Latin translation of the name Joshua, which means "God saves". And it's really cool. The other famous biblical Joshua was the one who lead the Israelites through the desert after Moses had died. He's the one who actually got God's people back to their land. Being the leader, he represented the fact that God saved them from slavery. Now with Jesus, He is the savior. He is the flesh image on earth and proof that God saves. Through Jesus, God saved His people from sin. Now, I don't feel so bad about the hispanic families who name their child Jesús. It's "the same" as naming your kid Joshua, I guess.
Christ - this word is actually the Greek translation for the Hebrew word Messiah. (You'll see this mentioned in the footnotes of the biblegateway link above) I should've mentioned this when we were going through Luke, but whenever you see the word Christ, think of Messiah. Both mean "Anointed One", but with Messiah, you remember that the Israelites waited 400 years for their Messiah. You remember the prophesies and the promises they desperately waited for. Or at least that word makes me think of those things.
Son of God - some translations don't say this here, they stop at "Jesus Christ", but this being in here is important. It is telling/reminding the reader that this man was not only a savior and the anointed and long-awaited Messiah, but He was also the Son of God. He is not separate from God. He does God's will because He is part of God/He is God.
Also, the term "gospel" means: 1) the life/teachings/revelations of Jesus, 2) a thing that is absolutely true, and 3) a set of beliefs.
So this first sentence, Mark quickly said, "This is the true story of the life, teaching, and revelations of Jesus; the long-awaited savior and Anointed One who is God."
First He quotes Isaiah in Malachi 3:1, and then in Isaiah 40:3. Isaiah spent his life just telling people what God told him. in these two particular prophesies, he talks about a man who will "prepare the way for the Lord." Every time I read those words or type them, I think of the song, "Did you feel the Mountains Tremble?" during the chorus. Don't mind me as songs keep going through my head. But the term "prepare the way" refers to preparing the people. Make the people ready to see and believe the Messiah. Get them ready to understand His words. They were already waiting for their King, so John's job was to get them hyped up about it. 400 years is a long time to wait, and John had to light the fire under them again.
As I was reading though verse 4, I came upon some questions: What is a baptism of repentance and how is it different from the baptism we practice today (Christ's commandment to publicly baptize to proclaim your faith). Why were the disciples and Jesus baptized before Christ gave the commandment and before His death and resurrection? Luckily enough, other people out there had the exact same question. And here is a well-written out answer. If you don't have time to read it, here's a quick sum-up. John's baptism of repentance was in accordance with his call to prepare the way for Christ. John had to not only light a fire, but soften a heart to accept Jesus. He called people to ask for forgiveness of their sins and by baptizing, they would wash it away. It allowed the people to understand and accept when Jesus offered forgiveness of all sins and ended up being a sacrifice for their sins. (He couldn't give away that spoiler to the people)
So the people went to him and confessed their sins and were baptized. John was fulfilling his purpose.
But John, was a little bit of a weirdo. And this is the neat thing. You find scattered all throughout the bible are weirdos and cast outs and cowards and people that are not your typical hero stereotypes. But God uses the weirdos. He takes their inadequacies and makes them stronger and uses them as his vessels.
John wore clothing made from camel hair. The "common man" had clothing made of goat hair. Camel hair was expensive. But John lived in the desert and spent his time wading in the Jordan River. It'd be like wearing cashmere while you're living in the slums or painting a house. People probably thought he was a crazy idiot for wearing camel hair clothes.
With a leather belt around his waist. Why is this important and why was the previous statement about the camel hair important? It ties John the Baptist to Elijah, the prophet. In 2 Kings 1:8, Elijah is described to wear a hairy garment (or be a hairy man, we aren't sure) and wear a leather belt. It signified that both of these men were Jesus' preparers, set in different times to aid in Israel's waiting process.
He ate locusts. Firstly, ew. For some reason, as a child, I dint know what a locust looked like, so I just imagined various bugs I don't like when Sunday school taught about the 10 plagues. But locusts are the swarming phase of certain short-horned species of grasshopper. So a grasshopper. So we don't forget what we're talking about, I'll just call them grasshoppers from now on and gross myself out a little bit more. Grass hoppers are actually very nutritious. Grasshoppers are still commonly eaten in Arabia. But in Jesus' time, eating grasshoppers meant you were a hermit and you couldn't afford "real food".
And wild honey. Wild bee honey was a common thing to eat back then, but some people think that the sweet substance he ate was the gum from the tamarisk tree. It is tasteless, yet nutritious. Either way, his diet literally only consisted of grasshoppers and liquid. Feels like Timon and Pumbaa's diet.
If you haven't already got the word "weirdo" plastered all over John the Baptist, check out this really famous song by dcTalk. If you've already heard it, you might not have caught the straight-from-the-bible rhymes.
BUT(!) God used this weirdo. Mark and Matthew both point out John's weirdness because despite all of his quirks, people still came to this out cast and listened to what he had to say. And this is what he told the people:
After me will come one more powerful than I. He's telling the people that somebody way better is coming soon. Jesus was already born, but John was saying that He will soon be public.
The thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. What an interesting image. I am not worthy to get close enough to get down on my knees to touch his shoe. Which is interesting because later, Jesus values when Mary of Bethany sits at His feet to listen and later when that same Mary pours expensive perfume on His feet, He says she did the right thing.
I baptize you with(in) water, but He will baptize you with(in) the Holy Spirit. Being baptized by water can only clean your skin and your outward appearance. And later baptism becomes an outward display of faith. But Jesus uses the Holy Spirit to cleanse you thoroughly; your insides, your spirit, your mind.
I'm glad I only did 8 verses today. Who knows if that is what analyzing the short writing of Mark will always be like.
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