After stating the prophecies of Malachi and Isaiah in verses two and three, Mark quickly tells us about the coming of John in verse four.
And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
1) What is Mark saying by moving so quickly from the prophecies of Malachi and Isaiah to the ministry of John?
○ John is the fulfillment of those prophecies.
2) What do verses one through three say about John according to the prophecies of Malachi and Isaiah?
○ John is the messenger who paves the way for the coming Messiah.
○ His ministry will take place in the desert.
The people of Israel had been without a prophet for some 400 years. Hosea prophesied about the time between the Old and New Testaments saying:
For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol. Then the Israelites will return and seek Jehovah his God and David his king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to his blessings in the last days. Hosea (3:4-5) (VIN)
3) What did Hosea say would happen to the people of Israel?
○ The Israelites would live without God or His representative.
○ One day they would worship God again.
Crowds of people flocked to see the figure heralding the fulfillment of Israel’s destiny.
4) How do you think the people of Israel could have seen the coming of John after all those years?
○ Any number of thoughts, emotions, and ideas is likely to be a valid response.
5) What does this long period of time between prophets tell us about God’s timing?
○ God’s calculation of time is very different from that of men.
6) How should knowing that God operates on a different schedule than ours change our thinking?
○ You should be an example of patience for us.
○ It is a reason for joy, because it is patient.
John’s ministry was one of active participation. He came and baptized everyone who was willing.
7) What point was Mark making regarding John’s baptism of other people?
○ John called all people regardless of gender, race or social status to be baptized as a symbol of moral and spiritual regeneration.
In contrast to the patience of God, John was calling for immediate action, the time of the Messiah’s coming was near!
Mark leaves out certain things about John that we are told in the other Gospels. Among them his birth and relationship with Jesus and John’s disagreement with the main schools of Judaism.
John’s ministry took place primarily in the desert or, in some translations, the wilderness. It was a re-enactment of the inaugural event in Israel’s history, the Exodus. The Israelites left the city and returned to the desert.
8) What is the significance of John’s ministry taking place in the wilderness or wilderness?
○ It would remind Israel of its covenant origins in the Exodus.
○ The desert was a place of redemption for Israel.
○ A meeting place with God where His mercy and grace were often given to the nation of Israel.
Mark portrays John as fulfilling Elijah’s climatic role as the forerunner of the one who was more powerful. Appearing in the desert fulfills both the Mosaic and the prophetic prototype.
John calls people out of their comfortable homes and out of the temple, into a baptism of repentance, the forgiveness of sins.
9) What does John mean by repentance?
○ The Greek word for repentance is “metanoia” (met-an’-oy-ah). Metanoia is a compound word meaning both “to change one’s mind” and “to alter one’s understanding.”
○ Conscious thought and a voluntary act are requirements of true faith as opposed to a faith based on feelings, emotions, or traditions.
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10) What does John mean by “For the forgiveness of sins”?
○ John does not grant forgiveness, only God can forgive sin.
○ Forgiveness belongs to the new Covenant that the coming of the Messiah will bring.
11) Who did John call to repentance?
○ The call is not only to sinners and Gentiles as in Luke, but also to pious religious.
Tax collectors also came to be baptized. “Master,” they asked him, “what should we do?” Do not collect more than is required of you,” he told them.
Luke (3:12-13) VIN
Then some soldiers asked him: “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort or falsely accuse people, be content with your pay.”
Lucas (3:14) VIN
But when he saw that many of the Pharisees and Sadducees were coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them, “You generation of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. And do not think that you can say to yourselves themselves: ‘We have Abraham for a father.’ I tell you that from these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not fit to wear. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winning fork is in his hand, and he will cleanse his threshing floor, he will gather his wheat into the barn and burn the chaff in unquenchable fire.” Matthew (3:7-12) NIV
Historian Flavius Josephus wrote of John’s call for social reform in his book Antiquities:
“Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod’s army came from God, and that very justly, in punishment for what he did against John, he called himself the Baptist; because Herod, who was a good man, killed him and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both in terms of justice towards one another, and piety towards God, and thus arrive at baptism; so that the washing [with water] it would be acceptable to them, if they made use of it, not to repudiate [or the remission] of some sins [only], but for the purification of the body; assuming even that the soul was completely purified beforehand by justice. Now when [many] others flocked around him, because they were so moved [or pleased] Hearing his words, Herod, who feared that John’s great influence over the people might put him in his power and inclination to raise a rebellion (because they seemed willing to do anything he advised), thought it best, by giving him death, to avoid any harm it might cause, and to stay out of trouble, sparing a man who might make her regret it when it would be too late. Accordingly, he was sent prisoner, due to Herod’s suspicious temper, to Macherus, the castle I mentioned earlier, and there he was executed. Now the Jews were of the opinion that the destruction of this army was sent as a punishment to Herod, and a sign of God’s displeasure towards him.”
Josephus actually pays more attention to John than to Jesus. John’s impact on the world is part of recorded history.
Mark tells us something of the scope of John’s ministry in verse five.
All the countryside of Judea and all the people of Jerusalem flocked to him. Confessing his sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. (VIN)
12) Who does Mark say responded to John’s message?
○ People from all over the region.
○ All the people of Jerusalem.
This statement is probably a case of Mark using hyperbole, a literary exaggeration used to convey a message.
It would indicate that God’s covenant people went out to be baptized, probably as families.
Dr. Luke, writing in the book of Acts, tells us that John’s message traveled far and for a longer period of time than is reported in Mark.
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul took the inland road and reached Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They replied, “No, we haven’t even heard of a Holy Ghost.” So Paul asked, “So what baptism did you receive?” “The baptism of John,” they replied.
Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.” Hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit descended on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all. Acts (19:1-7)
13) How far did John’s message of repentance travel?
○ John’s message was carried as far as Ephesus two or three decades later.
Many Jews believed that there had not been a prophet since Malachi. It was also thought that the prophets would be restored near the end of the age.
6John wore clothes made of camel hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
14) Looking at John himself, what do you find strange about pour six?
○ John’s clothes made of camel hair and rope belt.
○ John’s attire was as unusual in his time as it would be in ours, yet they weren’t entirely unique.
“In that day every prophet will be ashamed of his prophetic vision. He will not wear the hair of a prophet to deceive.” Zac (13:4) VIN
○ Juan’s diet, composed of lobsters and honey.
○ Locusts were acceptable under Jewish dietary law.
Of these you can eat any type of locust, grasshopper, cricket or grasshopper.
Lev (11:22) VIN
John’s dress and choice of food pointed to Elijah and the prophets, who were expected to return before the end.
Not only was John associated with Elijah over diet and dress, but his criticism of Herod Antipas also echoes Elijah’s confrontation with Ahab in First Kings chapter eighteen verse eighteen. John is said to be the last of the Old Testament prophets.
Mark uses a Jewish idiom to humbly compare himself to the coming Messiah in verse seven.
And this was his message: “After me will come one mightier than I, whose sandal straps I am not worthy to bend down to untie.
15) What does John mean by using a metaphor from that time, “I am not worthy to stoop down and loose”, tell us about his attitude towards the Messiah?
○ John considered himself inferior to the Messiah.
John again summarizes his water baptism as inferior to the baptism that comes with the Messiah in verse eight.
I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Mark focuses on John’s message of reform and the most powerful. John’s baptism was symbolic and pointed to a more powerful and permanent reality. In the Old Testament only God bestowed the Spirit.
16) What is John saying about Jesus when he says “He will baptize with the Holy Spirit”?
○ Jesus has the power of God the Father.
○ Spirit baptism is greater than water baptism.
○ The reference to the Holy Spirit identifies him as proceeding from the Father.
Mark testifies to the fact that the coming of Jesus was not a random event. In the Old Testament, the bestowal of the spirit was the prerogative of God.
The question I leave you with is this. How can we follow the example of John as the forerunner of the Messiah in our daily lives?