Psalm 85 1-2, 8-13 / Mark 1:1-8

This Sunday, we whipsaw from the near-end of Mark’s Gospel, with its apocalyptic theme, to the very beginning: Mark 1:1-8. Mark is the earliest of the four written Gospels in the Bible. As such, it is generally less-adorned than the other three. We see this in these opening verses of the first chapter, in which Mark gets right down to business: “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

Mark’s Gospel begins with a quotation conflating verses from Exodus, Isaiah, and Malachi, but attributing them only to Isaiah, in Mark 1:2-3. Using your Bible’s footnotes, or another Bible reference (www.textweek.com is a great one), find out why Mark emphasizes the writings of prophets to open his Gospel.

Much is made in Mark 1:4-5 of how many people went out to be baptized, and how they were “confessing their sins.” Take a moment to reflect on your own life. If you could be assured of absolute forgiveness, would you travel, say, to eastern Oregon to confess and receive such forgiveness from God’s anointed one?

In Mark 1:7-8, John the Baptist speaks about Jesus, and the power of his baptism. We believe that we baptize “with the Holy Spirit” entrusted to us by Jesus. What does it mean to you be be “baptized with the Holy Spirit”?