TWO OF THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS , Matthew and Luke, begin the story of Jesus with their respective birth narratives, Matthew tracing Jesus’ ancestry through Joseph, while Luke views his lineage through Mary. For both of them, underscoring those narratives as Messianic fulfillment of O.T. prophecy is conclusive proof of his identity. John, however, begins his gospel with a spiritually transcendental cosmology—John describes Jesus as illumined with the light of creation, “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” (John 1:4)
John deliberately equates Jesus with the Genesis 1 account of God-as-other in whom there is life: “God said let there be light, and there was light.” (Gen. 1:3) But Mark presents a different view, seen through a different prophetic lens. Mark’s gospel plunges directly into Jesus bursting on the scene and entering into ministry, starting with in the account of his baptism and his subsequent trials of temptation in the desert. (cf. Mark 1:1-12) And that viewing lens begins not just with John the Baptist, but with prophecies from the O.T. about him.
The earliest prophecy comes from this side of 700 B.C., at a time when the displaced Jews begin to return to Israel from the Assyrian conquest and diaspora. There is a beginning hope that oppression might be lifted. The prophet refers to “A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness.’” (Isa. 40:3) It is a prophecy for that time, but it is more than that—it is a prophecy leading to the fullness of time. (cf. Gal. 4:4) There are two others, both circa 430 B.C., and these also come at a time of return from exile, just before Ezra first comes to rebuild the temple, and, following him, Nehemiah, who would rebuild Jerusalem, beginning with the walls. Both speak of a specific messenger. The first says, “‘See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,’ says the Lord Almighty.” (Mal. 3:1) The second is ominously tinged, “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.” (Mal. 4:5)
These latter prophecies both occur in the last book of the O.T. in the Protestant canon of scripture, and there remains just one tremendous warning left to speak, and it is from the very last line in the expanded Torah: “He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.” (Mal. 4:6) This is a warning to the Jews, and one, as history records, they do not listen to.
John the Baptist is a towering figure in scripture, who stands with one foot firmly anchored in the O.T., and one in the N.T. John is a transitional figure between the Covenant of the Law and the imminent Covenant of Grace. Luke tells of the striking story of his conception and birth, an astounding display of God’s miraculous power only exceeded by the tale of Jesus’ own birth. “But the angel said: ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.’” (Luke 1:13-15) Both Matthew and Luke record Jesus’ speaking of John’s importance. “I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.” (Matt. 11:11; Luke 7:28) Jesus goes on to say, this only in Matthew, “For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. He who has ears, let him hear.” (Matt. 11:13-15)
For Mark, then, this is the logical starting place for the gospel of Jesus Christ to begin; he is simply picking up the narrative as a direct and reasonable continuation from the last verses of what we call the Old Testament. This is a time in Israel when God has not spoken until just now, after four hundred years of silence. There are only a select few—the parents of John, and the parents of Jesus—to whom God has begun to reveal his purposes and the unfolding of his plan. Israel is once again under the hand of a great oppressor, in this case Rome. As at previous times of oppression and crying out for relief, so now the voices of the suffering in Israel have begun to increase in frequency and intensity. God has been paying attention—for a long time, longer than the scribes and Pharisees of this generation can interpret, though they should have understood, for they had the text of the last line of Malachi: “I will send my messenger.” (Mal. 4:6)
Mark recounts, “And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness.” (Mark 1:4) And how does he come? He comes unmistakably in “clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.” (Mark 1:6) He comes clearly as one like the O.T. prophet Elijah, stepping right off of the unrolled Torah scrolls and into biblical history. The scrolls tell both of Elijah and, prophetically, John. And, for those with ‘eyes to see and ears to hear,’ the story comes alive. And the people respond. “The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him.” (Mark 1:5)
They leave behind the city of Jerusalem, the purification pools and sacrifices and offerings of the corrupt Temple system, and they enter hopefully into a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (cf. Luke 3:1-6) at the hands of John. He has preached to them to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” (Matt. 3:2) And, with total conviction and a fire in his eyes, he plunges the desperate people under the muddy brown waters of the Jordan. And he tells them, “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps 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.” (Mark 3:7)
Mark’s gospel is a gospel of immediacy and power. The people listening to Peter—for this is his story, related to John Mark then, and to us now—hear of this power, something Peter knows well, and relate to it as such. They have been looking for someone like this; they’ve always been looking for someone like this. And somewhere, not too far away now, even as John the Baptist is speaking, that one is walking strongly, purposefully, and confidently out of Jerusalem towards John, and the banks of the Jordan River, and a destiny that will change history, creation, and eternity. And so John, a prophet of integrity, says, this from John’s gospel, “He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30)
Q. Am I capable of willingly decreasing?
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