Mark 1:1-8 New Living Translation
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
1 This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.[a] It began 2 just as the prophet Isaiah had written:
“Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
and he will prepare your way.[b]
3 He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
Clear the road for him!’[c]”
4 This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. 5 All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. 6 His clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey.
7 John announced: “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals. 8 I baptize you with[d] water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
A Message is Sent – “There Will Come a Fresh Start!”
After Israel’s long 40 year sojourn in the desert, God opened a way before Joshua for the people through the Jordan River and into the promised land.
The waters upstream “piled up in a heap,” perhaps like the “wall of water” on the right and left as the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea (Exodus 14:22).
Both stories say that the people passed through “on dry ground” (Joshua 3:17).
Although God had been faithful to Israel, keeping His promises to rescue them and bring them to the land He had promised them (Genesis 12:1-8; 15:13-16; 28:10-15; 46:3-4; Exodus 3:4-10), the people turned away and rebelled.
They did that again and again in a long history of unfaithfulness (Exodus 32; Numbers 14; Judges 2:10-23; 2 Kings 17:1-23; 25:1-21).
Eventually they were punished and sent into exile, but God, still ever faithful, brought them back again (Ezra – Nehemiah).
Nehemiah 8:1-11 New King James Version
Ezra Reads and Explains the Law
8 Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. 2 So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. 3 Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate [a]from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.
4 So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they had made for the purpose; and beside him, at his right hand, stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Urijah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and at his left hand Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam. 5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God.
Then all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law; and the people stood in their place. 8 So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.
9 And Nehemiah, who was the [b]governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law.
10 Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
11 So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.”
The people who had been gathered in that place before Ezra and the Scribes had just just been read, had just received for the first time in who knows how long, a fresh reading and a fresh anointing from God’s messenger, of the Word of God.
Then they were sent on their ways back to their homes – to their families – to their friends – to their neighbors – to their neighborhoods – their communities. (Verse 10) “Be Still for the Day is Holy; Go and Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord!”
Then, about 30 years after the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1; Luke 2), God called a man named John to again send God’s message before the people: prepare ye the way for the Messiah, who had come to be the Savior of the world (John 1:29-31).
John 1:29-31 The Message
The God-Revealer
29-31 The very next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and yelled out, “Here he is, God’s Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the world! This is the man I’ve been talking about, ‘the One who comes after me but is really ahead of me.’ I knew nothing about who he was—only this: that my task has been to get Israel ready to recognize him as the God-Revealer. That is why I came here baptizing with water, giving you a good bath and scrubbing sins from your life so you can get a fresh start with God.”
Now, here in the first 8 verses of Mark 1 we see John preaching in the wilderness, calling the people to gather, to repent and baptizing them in the Jordan River.
And here the people are called not to cross the Jordan but to be baptized in it.
God calls them back to receive a fresh anointing, to make a new start through repentance, seek forgiveness, prepare their hearts for the coming of the Savior.
God’s Messengers Are Still Sent With God’s Message
Christmas is always a time when everyone tries to give that special someone that perfect gift – that gift that genuinely says “I Love You and I always will!”
In these days when those perfect gifts are probably far too expensive to buy, but we still have the same heart to give that special someone a “100% perfect gift,”
I suggest that this year for Christmas, remembering that Christ comes first in the season of Christmas because that is the way it is spelled, the gift of a Bible.
Yeah! I know, another Bible … but this year make a plan to go beyond just the receiving of the physical book, but instead, enter into the messengers head.
The coming of the new year is always a great time to begin a new challenge.
On January 1st 2024, many of us make those self same automatic resolutions.
Some resolve to break bad habits, while others resolve to pick up good habits.
Others attempt to acquire a new hobby or even a new skill throughout the year.
Many Christians might even resolve to read the Bible daily or might challenge themselves (a bit self centered) with another reading plan throughout the year.
Here are 5 challenges for you to consider (selflessly this time) sharing in 2024.
1. Read through the Bible in a Year
The most basic challenge is to read through the Bible in an entire year.
There are 1,189 chapters in a typical English Bible.
Divide this by 365, that means you would need to read only a little over three chapters of the Bible each day to read through every word of the Bible in a year.
When you consider that some of these chapters are only a few verses long, that is not that daunting of a task.
But where do you start?
Is it always good to start in Genesis and read three chapters of every book?
That is one possibility, but my experience is that most people end up just like the Israelites – lost in the wilderness for 40 years inside the book of Leviticus.
Many give up these challenges when they have to trudge through the historical books of 1 and 2 Kings 1 and 2 Chronicles, then sort through the minor Prophets.
From all your Android and Apple smart phones, you can go to their respective “stores” and you can download many apps to assist with a Bible reading plan.
Many of these plans will have the reader in one chapter of the Old Testament, read a Psalm or Proverb per day, and a chapter or two in the New Testament.
2. Devote Your Year to Discerning God’s Wisdom
Reading through the Bible in a year can be incredibly daunting and rewarding.
You often “open your eyes” to see those things that you’ve never seen before.
But that can also be a bit like taking a road trip through a state where you only see the state through tinted windows while driving 70 mph to your destination.
You learn things and see beautiful sites, but you may not get the full impact.
Wouldn’t you know a state better if you decided to live there for an entire year?
What if you decided to spend an entire year in a book like Psalms or Proverbs?
Solomon’s wonderfully simple Proverbs is helpful because there are 31 chapters.
That corresponds to each day on the calendar – except in those months which only have 29 or thirty days and those years – like 2024 – which are “leap years.”
Pick up that nice monthly business planner with those individual days which are set apart by all those wonderfully convenient lines for the individual hours.
Look at your monthly calendar, spot the date, look for all of those wonderfully empty lines just waiting for a single entry and read that chapter of Proverbs.
Do that for every day of the year, with some Biblical text and the Psalms and you’ll be quite surprised at how much wisdom you glean from the Scriptures.
You can do the same thing with Psalms.
There are 150 psalms.
If you choose to dedicate the 31st of each month to working through the largest Psalm, Psalm 119, then that means you have 5 psalms you could read each day.
Simply take the day on the calendar and then add 30, 5 times.
For example, as today is the 5th, you could read Psalm 5, 25, 51, 10o, or 150.
3. Do Twelve 30-Day Challenges
This is the same concept as reading through Proverbs and Psalms.
Yet, here you would find twelve different 30-day Bible reading challenges.
Here you would challenge yourself to pick 12 books of the Bible and spend a month in each one, or seek, find, a topical 30-day challenge and conquer it.
You could take that challenge even further – add something like a chronological New Testament Bible Reading Plan to send this challenge to furthest horizons.
There is a great one at Bible Study Tools that you can use here.
They also have a 45-day gospel challenge that you might find helpful.
4. Deep Dive into a Topic
This one will be much more difficult to organize but might be one of the more rewarding yearly challenges.
Consider working with your Pastor’s at picking a point of doctrine or Christian living and deep ocean-diving into everything the Bible says about that topic.
You could do several of these as mini-challenges throughout the year as well.
Can you imagine how high your understanding would increase if you picked something like justification and studied it in the Scriptures for an entire year?
Years ago, I independently tried something like this with the attributes of God.
I meditated upon a particular attribute of God every month of the year and used these attributes to preach and teach the gospel to myself and to a legacy church.
It was incredibly daunting but also incredibly “eyes>ears>hands” beneficial.
If you decide to do this challenge, consider picking up a Strong’s Concordance to find out quite everything the Bible text’s says on a particular word or topic.
5. Pick a Person and Start Your Own Bible Fellowship
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 New Living Translation
9 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. 10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. 11 Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? 12 A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
Proverbs 27:17 Amplified Bible
17
As iron sharpens iron,
So one man sharpens [and influences] another [through discussion].
2 Timothy 2:14-18 English Standard Version
A Worker Approved by God
14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God[a] not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,[b] a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.
In fellowship together we are “as Iron” motivated when reaching toward a goal.
Our adrenaline flows, our creative juices churn, and our mind works overtime at solving the problems that stand in the way of achieving God’s vision for our life.
In the United States, where I live, there is an defeating, unhealthy trend toward mediocrity.
Recent sales of tee shirts; the most widely distributed logo in the United States is now seemingly “Undereducated and Underachiever and !@%$ Proud of It.”
I remember the days when the most popular shirt read, “We’re Number One.”
Even in our church today we can become more satisfied with less than our best.
Paul admonishes Timothy, faith communities, and the church community to “come together, to fellowship, do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman [a community] who does not need to be ashamed.”
Paul was not content with anything but the best. He valued repetition, valued community here now instructing Timothy to “keep reminding” his listeners.
Fellowship and Repetition through Bible study and prayer really works for me.
There are certain critically important messages I must hear over and over again. from someone other than “Me, Myself and I.”
My Mother’s favorite Proverb saying “the early bird gets the worm” nudges me out of bed each morning to feast on God’s manna.
I used to have a card in my wallet, “Prayer changes things,” moved me to pray before I attempted to fix a problem in my own malignant, selfish strength.
A sign on my wall once reminding me, “People are forever,” calls me to put people before projects no matter how inconvenient that may seem at times.
Repetitious Fellowship, Repetitious Bible Study, Prayer, produces excellence.
God has given us His permission to come together to create GOD opportunity.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Dear Lord, as I read these passages of scripture, show me Your truth and what you want me to learn. Pinpoint the things in my thinking and my life that aren’t right. Help me to remember that Your word is life and always true, whereas my ideas are often fleeting. Use the truth of Your Word to transform my limited thinking and behavior. Let Your truth inform my faith and let my faith guide my actions. Amen.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 