John the Baptist Points Beside the JordanBible World
1:2Mark 1:2
As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
God sends a messenger ahead of Christ to prepare the way before Him and His work. That messenger is John the Baptist, the promised son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, raised up from faithful Israelites who had long waited for the Messiah to announce Christ and go before His ministry. With Mark 1:3 his preparation is the work of a voice calling in the wilderness to make the Lord's paths straight, and he received that message in the wilderness where God Himself fitted him apart from cities, schools, and worldly influences. Receiving his message would have prepared God's chosen people for the greatest Teacher the world ever knew, but through pride the nation as a whole rejected the Saviour while only the humble remnant of true Israelites received Him, so the advantages offered to the Jews passed to the Gentiles. That same prophetic commission now entrusts God's people with preparing the way for Christ's coming by a fruitful witness in life, words, and deeds that reveals righteousness and points the world to Christ as the one who takes away sin.
Promised Messenger Identified
God sends a messenger ahead of Christ to prepare the way before Him and His work and coming. Together with the next verse, that preparation is the work of a voice calling in the wilderness to make the Lord's paths straight. The messenger is John the Baptist, whose announcement and work precede the ministry of Jesus. He is the promised son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, who arose from among faithful Israelites who had long waited for the Messiah to go before the Lord and prepare His way.
John learned in the wilderness, before beginning his work, the message he was to bear to prepare the way for the Coming One. What he bore he had received from God there. He was appointed to this great work of preparing the way of the Lord, and God Himself fitted him for it, since no school on earth could provide that training. That learning had to be obtained away from the cities in the wilderness, with the Old Testament Scriptures, God, and the nature God had created as his study books. His food was simply locusts and wild honey, the customs and practices of men were not to be his education, and worldly engrossment was to have no part in the formation of his character.
The opening of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God begins with a messenger sent ahead of Christ to prepare the way for Him. That beginning is God's message of redeeming love for life and salvation.
Israel's Choice and Loss
God intended His chosen people, His church, to join with Him in getting the world ready for Christ's first coming. Had they accepted John's message, the way would have been opened for the greatest Teacher the world has ever known. The giving of Christ carried hope and revival and conversion for the Jewish nation, yet the priests and rulers were unaware of the Saviour's birth and did not welcome Him. Through pride a backsliding people turned away from the Saviour, while only the faithful remnant of Israel who had held to the faith received Him. Those humble ones before God, Israelites indeed in whom was no guile, became His true followers, and the privileges offered to the Jewish nation passed from them to the Gentiles.
Preparing the Way Today
The commission to send a messenger ahead to prepare the way is not finished with the first coming, but declares the preparatory work now entrusted to God's people to carry forward for Christ's coming. With the next verse it presents that preparation as the work of a voice calling in the wilderness to make the Lord's paths straight, and that same voice-work is the work of believers now. What John did in preparing the Lord's way is therefore what believers are to do in preparing the way for Christ's coming.
That preparation means bearing a fruitful witness and a clear-cut testimony to the world in life, in words spoken and deeds done. It means revealing the principles of righteousness in dealings with one another and pointing the world to Christ as the one who takes away sin. The messenger's work is to be repeated now in every place where there is a city and where there is a town, among Black people as well as white people, and opposition and discouragement against taking hold of the work for Black people must not stop it. The call to prepare the Lord's way applies to the lives of God's people themselves, in that they must be truly converted so that the word is carried into life in its purity and power.
The beginning of the gospel with a messenger sent ahead to prepare Christ's way supports preaching publicly, including in streets and other open places, so that people who might not hear the gospel elsewhere can hear it. It is God's message of redeeming love for life and salvation, given as a message for those Christ has called to His work in the last days to bring to the people. That love is to be revealed in the hearts of the laborers in earnest work for the salvation of sinners. It must be presented not with a harsh spirit but with a spirit that works by love, which commends the gospel and is an antidote for a harsh spirit.
God sends a messenger ahead of Christ to prepare the way before Him and His work. That messenger is John the Baptist, the promised son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, raised up from faithful Israelites who had long waited for the Messiah to announce Christ and go before His ministry. With Mark 1:3 his preparation is the work of a voice calling in the wilderness to make the Lord's paths straight, and he received that message in the wilderness where God Himself fitted him apart from cities, schools, and worldly influences. Receiving his message would have prepared God's chosen people for the greatest Teacher the world ever knew, but through pride the nation as a whole rejected the Saviour while only the humble remnant of true Israelites received Him, so the advantages offered to the Jews passed to the Gentiles. That same prophetic commission now entrusts God's people with preparing the way for Christ's coming by a fruitful witness in life, words, and deeds that reveals righteousness and points the world to Christ as the one who takes away sin.
Promised Messenger Identified
God sends a messenger ahead of Christ to prepare the way before Him and His work and coming. Together with the next verse, that preparation is the work of a voice calling in the wilderness to make the Lord's paths straight. The messenger is John the Baptist, whose announcement and work precede the ministry of Jesus. He is the promised son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, who arose from among faithful Israelites who had long waited for the Messiah to go before the Lord and prepare His way.
John learned in the wilderness, before beginning his work, the message he was to bear to prepare the way for the Coming One. What he bore he had received from God there. He was appointed to this great work of preparing the way of the Lord, and God Himself fitted him for it, since no school on earth could provide that training. That learning had to be obtained away from the cities in the wilderness, with the Old Testament Scriptures, God, and the nature God had created as his study books. His food was simply locusts and wild honey, the customs and practices of men were not to be his education, and worldly engrossment was to have no part in the formation of his character.
The opening of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God begins with a messenger sent ahead of Christ to prepare the way for Him. That beginning is God's message of redeeming love for life and salvation.
Israel's Choice and Loss
God intended His chosen people, His church, to join with Him in getting the world ready for Christ's first coming. Had they accepted John's message, the way would have been opened for the greatest Teacher the world has ever known. The giving of Christ carried hope and revival and conversion for the Jewish nation, yet the priests and rulers were unaware of the Saviour's birth and did not welcome Him. Through pride a backsliding people turned away from the Saviour, while only the faithful remnant of Israel who had held to the faith received Him. Those humble ones before God, Israelites indeed in whom was no guile, became His true followers, and the privileges offered to the Jewish nation passed from them to the Gentiles.
Preparing the Way Today
The commission to send a messenger ahead to prepare the way is not finished with the first coming, but declares the preparatory work now entrusted to God's people to carry forward for Christ's coming. With the next verse it presents that preparation as the work of a voice calling in the wilderness to make the Lord's paths straight, and that same voice-work is the work of believers now. What John did in preparing the Lord's way is therefore what believers are to do in preparing the way for Christ's coming.
That preparation means bearing a fruitful witness and a clear-cut testimony to the world in life, in words spoken and deeds done. It means revealing the principles of righteousness in dealings with one another and pointing the world to Christ as the one who takes away sin. The messenger's work is to be repeated now in every place where there is a city and where there is a town, among Black people as well as white people, and opposition and discouragement against taking hold of the work for Black people must not stop it. The call to prepare the Lord's way applies to the lives of God's people themselves, in that they must be truly converted so that the word is carried into life in its purity and power.
The beginning of the gospel with a messenger sent ahead to prepare Christ's way supports preaching publicly, including in streets and other open places, so that people who might not hear the gospel elsewhere can hear it. It is God's message of redeeming love for life and salvation, given as a message for those Christ has called to His work in the last days to bring to the people. That love is to be revealed in the hearts of the laborers in earnest work for the salvation of sinners. It must be presented not with a harsh spirit but with a spirit that works by love, which commends the gospel and is an antidote for a harsh spirit.