The Preaching of John the Baptist
This is the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It began just as God had said in the book written by Isaiah the prophet,“I am sending my messenger to get the way ready for you.
In the desert someone is shouting,
‘Get the road ready for the Lord! Make a straight path for him.’ “So John the Baptist showed up in the desert and told everyone, “Turn back to God and be baptized! Then your sins will be forgiven.”
From all Judea and Jerusalem crowds of people went to John. They told how sorry they were for their sins, and he baptized them in the Jordan River. John wore clothes made of camel’s hair. He had a leather strap around his waist and ate grasshoppers and wild honey.
John also told the people, “Someone more powerful is going to come. And I am not good enough even to stoop down and untie his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”Mark 1:1-8 (Contemporary English Version)
It’s back to the beginning again in the liturgical year. And in some ways John the Baptiser takes the people back to a radical beginning – back to the roots. As he calls people to turn back to God he’s summarising the whole prophetic tradition. He’s calling for a change of life that will go beyond intellectual assent to belief. This radical change must involve a change in the infrastructure of people’s lives, individually and socially.
The baptism in the muddy Jordan river would have symbolised something different to each person. For some it would have been a symbol of cleansing. For others a turning point. And for others an experience connected with a whole new way of seeing life.
John goes on to promise that Jesus will bring not just a radical challenge, but also the means to take on that challenge. The Spirit of God will give people the capacity to follow through with a new lifestyle.
This is the opening of Mark’s gospel. There is a tradition that Peter schooled up Mark while they were working together in Rome. It would make sense that Peter’s first experiences of the good news were through John the Baptiser. That’s my own experience – being baptised as a young child and growing up getting to know the person whose name I’d been baptised. I grew up with an expectation that my life would be lived radically somehow. That’s a good start for a connection with Jesus.