The Lord is Coming

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

THE LORD IS COMING

Mark 1:5-8

5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

NIV

So we have John the Baptist out in the wilderness, or desert as Mark refers to it. Having been to Israel, we can understand this wilderness area is not that far from Jerusalem. It is very possible for people from all around Jerusalem to hear about John out near the Jordan River proclaiming repentance for the forgiveness of sin. Certainly, they are aware it is the Lord who forgives sin for they are so aware of all the sacrifices outlined in the law as to which type of sacrifice was for certain sins. So then if all they needed was to be baptized by this man who wore clothing made of camel’s hair and their sins would be forgiven. This strange man must have some special connection with the Lord to have the power to forgive sins by merely baptizing people. However, while John was attracting many people, and baptizing them, he was proclaiming a message about someone who would come after him, that had more power, more authority and in fact would not just baptize with water, but with the Holy Spirit. The other account in Matthew has more to say about all this, but we will restrain ourselves to what Mark records. The point is that John had some knowledge of the coming of the Lord. He was aware that the Messiah was going to reveal himself and it would be soon. We know, because of having knowledge of the whole story, that Jesus is going to show up and John would baptize Jesus and the world would know then who He is. It is interesting to wonder because John and Jesus were cousins and lived in close proximity to each other, as Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Elizabeth, the mother of John had been together when both of them were with child, well at least Mary had visit Elizabeth that one time which is recorded for us, that if John and Jesus knew each other as young boys. Perhaps they even attended each other’s Bar mitzvah as they both would have been the same age. What we take as our lesson from all this history, is that we too are a little strange, although we wear normal clothing. Our strangeness is in our way of life, as it does not fit the norm of our culture. However, we do have a message, much as John did, and our message is not much different, make yourselves ready for the coming of the Lord. John proclaims the first time Jesus came to earth, to be the Messiah, to die for our sins. He was the Lamb of God, the ultimate sacrifice. But our message is about the coming of the Lord, full of power and majesty, the coming King of kings, Lord of lords and he is coming for His people those who He baptized with the Holy Spirit. He is now the baptizer and He has been baptizing people with the Spirit as they come to him with a repenting heart. So our message is that of hope for a world that is doom to destruction. There is a way to escape this coming doom. There is hope in the name of Jesus. That is our message today. Make ready the coming of the Lord.