Sep 25 2024 27 mins
Welcome to Seeking Truth with Sharon Doran. Sharon has a passion for scripture that will motivate and challenge you to immerse yourself in God's Word and apply His message to your everyday life. Visit SeekingTruth.net to learn more about bringing Seeking Truth to your parish or to become an online learner.
Today it's part two of the Gospel of Mark, chapter 1, verses 1 through 15. And now, Seeking Truth with Sharon Doran. Jesus, the anointed one. And when they were all waiting for the anointed one to come, and who was the anointed one? The Messiah. So God saves is what Jesus means. God saves. They're waiting for an anointed one. God saves anointed one. Jesus Christ, God's anointed one. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, then we get his identity. Son of capital G God. That's a bold proclamation.
To the emperor of Rome, who is calling himself little g God, and he has a son too. So the son of God. Now, this is a striking title, a striking, bold proclamation of faith, because the world did not know that God had a son, because God had not revealed that yet. Even the Jews did not know God had a son, because they said every morning and every night, the Shema prayer, hear, O Israel, the Lord, our God is one Lord. All they knew was God was one.
And they would pray at morning, night, morning, night, and they still do. From Deuteronomy chapter 6, the Shema Israel, hear, O Israel, the Lord, the Lord our God is one. They don't know God has a son. They don't know that he's one, two, and three, and one. They don't know anything about that yet. God has to reveal that through his God spell, through his gospel. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might.
And these words, which I command you this day, shall be upon your heart, and you will teach them diligently to your children, and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. These are pretty important words. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand. And so the Jews would bind them on their hands. And they shall be in the frontlets of your eyes, and they would put them in the frontlets of their eyes.
These are tefillin or phylacteries, they're called. Tefillin or phylacteries, they're little small leather boxes, and they contain leather straps and scrolls of parchment inside with all the verses of the Shema prayer from Deuteronomy 6 in Torah. Bind it to your head, bind it on your hands, bind it on your arms, teach it to your children, and put it on the, write it on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. So if you have any Jewish friends, they have a mezuzah on their door and inside the mezuzah.
And when we bought our house from the Katzes and it had a mezuzah in the door and we kept it because inside the little brass thing is a little scroll with the Shema on it. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your might. It's called a mezuzah on your doorpost to this day. So they didn't know that God had a son. They thought God was one. So this is a bold proclamation of identity, that God Almighty, our one God, has a son.
So he is already in this short line. We've seen two people of the Trinity, God the Father and God the Son. And we're going to see the Spirit before these 15 verses are over. So he's going to reveal the whole Trinity in the first 15 verses. They didn't know anything about it. But they did know Isaiah the prophet had said that, behold, I send a messenger before thy face that shall prepare the way. The voice of one crying out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.
They knew Isaiah well. And since Genesis 3, 15 and the fall of Adam and Eve, they had been waiting for a Messiah, one who would bring them back into communion with God because they had lost that when they got expelled from the garden. So they're waiting. Everyone's waiting for a Messiah. And this one's going to come before him who's going to prepare the way. So no one's going to miss this because one's going to come before him to prepare the way. Isaiah said it. I will send my messenger before thy face. He will prepare the way.
It's going to be a voice of one crying out in the wilderness. Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his path straight. Now, Isaiah, we studied Isaiah, and it is called the fifth gospel because there are so many fulfillments to be fulfilled in Isaiah by Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Let's read what that said in Isaiah 40. It's so beautiful. You'll all love this passage. Let's just see where this came from. Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
Would that be a good message? Yeah. See it together for the mouth of the Lord has done what? God spoke the word. The mouth of the Lord has spoken it. The mouth of the Lord and God said. God spoke and it was. The mouth of the Lord has spoken it. Now, if we go on to the last stanza of that beautiful Isaiah 40 and we think about St. Peter is really the one who Mark is writing for. Isaiah says this, cry, and I say, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the breath of the Lord blows upon it, and surely the people is grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but what will stand forever? The word of God will stand, And how long? Forever.
That's what St. Peter said in 1 Peter 1. You who have been born anew, not of perishable seed, but imperishable through the living and abiding word of God for all flesh is like grass, all its glory like the flowers of grass. The grass withers, the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord abides forever. That word is the good news. news, the euangelion, the evangelium, the God spell, the good story that was proclaimed to you. Do you see an essence of St. Peter in Mark's gospel? Yes. Not only was the prophet Isaiah saying this, but the very final prophet of the Old Testament, the very last one, and then God was quiet for over 400 years. The very last prophet was Malachi.
Malachi said something. Similar. Mary and Joseph bring him to the presentation and Simeon is outside and the Holy Spirit is so strong. Simeon's like, oh, he goes running into the temple after this baby and this young couple. They're so poor. They don't have a lamb. They just have the two little pigeon offering. Simeon takes that baby in his arms. He blessed God and he said, Lord, now let your servant depart in peace. I can die now according to what? Your word. According to your word, because my eyes have seen the salvation of all people, Gentile and Jew. This is him.
This is the anointed one. This is Messiah. This is Jesus. God saves the anointed one, Jesus Christ. I know it by the power of the Holy Spirit. Anna the prophetess knew it too. She's in her 80s. She comes running in. She knows it. Mark's gospel, which is Peter's gospel, is not concerned with the infancy narratives. He is going to start with the ministry of Jesus that started when Jesus Christ was 30 years old. Peter didn't know anything about when Christ was a baby. Peter met Christ when Christ was 30 years old. How do we know that?
Thank you, St. Luke, the careful historian, the doctor who's careful with his charting. He said that Jesus was 30 years of age in Luke chapter 3. Why is that important? That's important because in order to be a priest, guess how old you had to be? 30. Jesus won't be a Levitical priest. He will be a priest in the order of Melchizedek, but he's the the age of priesthood. Mark writes about Jesus from age 30 forward. And he says this, John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for what? The forgiveness of sins.
So baptism for John had two components. There must be repentance. You must be sorry. You must humble yourself. You must go forward and repent with a contrite heart. And then what? You will be forgiven. You have to humble yourself, though, to repent. That's the hard part. That's where grace comes in. The Holy Spirit stirs us with grace. He acts on us. He acts on that sanctifying grace from our own baptism to get us to niggle enough that we want to go repent and be forgiven in the sacrament of confession. John the Baptizer appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Now, this is a picture of St. John the Baptist by El Greco. This is what Matthew said about him. Truly, I say to you, this is Jesus talking now. These are Jesus's own words in the gospel of Matthew. Truly, I say to you, among those born of woman, there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist yet. He who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than John. Who's Jesus talking about? Who could be more humble than John the Baptist? Jesus himself. Truly I say to you, among those born of woman, there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist, yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John.
For all the prophets, Jesus is still talking, for all the prophets and the law prophesied about John the Baptist. And if, if you are willing to accept it, Jesus Christ said, he is Elijah who is come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Everybody knew that someone had to come before Jesus. Remember on the cross when Jesus is crying out and some of the people say, is he Elijah? No, he's Jesus. Elijah was John the Baptist. Jesus told them that in Matthew 11, in his own words, for you with ears to hear, John is Elijah.
This is a typology clue from Jesus. Jesus Christ himself said that John is Elijah. They dress alike. They talk alike. They look alike. Now, who is this John the Baptist? His dad was Zechariah. He was a priest. His mom was from the daughters of Aaron, another priestly family. Aaron's the brother of Moses. Elizabeth. And Elizabeth is barren, and they are old, old, old, old. They're advanced in years. She's never had a baby. She's sterile. She's barren. She's past menopause. There's no way they're having a kid, right? But his lot is drawn. And Zechariah goes into the temple that day, and I'm sure Elizabeth said, now make sure you pray that we have a baby. And he goes in, his lot is drawn, and he's in the Holy of Holies, the holiest place on the face of the earth.
And an angel appears and says, don't be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard. And your wife, Elizabeth, what is he praying for? He's every, any good priest, Levitical priest would be praying for the consolation of Israel, for the Messiah to come and save him from all the suppression of the Roman empire. And, and, and, oh yeah. And my wife wants a baby, but it's the same answer because the baby his wife is going to have is going to be the forerunner to the Messiah that has to come first before the Messiah. So it's a double dip. Don't you love when you get a double dip prayer? It's a double dip. And if you will have joy and gladness and many are going to rejoice at his birth. Why? Because he's the forerunner to the Messiah. And he's going to be great before the Lord, and he's not going to have any drink, no wine, no strong drink.
That means he's going to take that Nazarite vow from the book of Numbers, and he's going to be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. This is a first. No one had an indwelling Holy Spirit because Jesus hadn't released the Holy Spirit yet on the face of the earth. John is an exception, the forerunner. He is going to be filled with the Holy Spirit from the moment of conception on. That's how he knows inside her stomach to jump up and down when he's in front of the Messiah. He's full of the Holy Spirit. And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord. And he, now listen to this, he will go before him in the spirit and the power of who? Elijah. And what will he do? He will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.
A people prepared for what? A people prepared to meet the Messiah with clean hearts. That's what John's going to do. These are the famous last words of Malachi chapter 4, the very final sentences of the Old Testament. Malachi wrote, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day that the Lord comes. And what will he do? He will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their Just what Zechariah said. Jesus is going to come. He's going to reverse all the curses of the fall and usher in all the blessings. He does just the opposite.
He gives the greatest blessing, the gift of salvation, the gift of communion again with the Trinity that we lost in the garden. I will send you, Elijah, the prophet, before the Lord comes. He's going to turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. That's exactly what Zechariah was praying. It's a prayer of the church. The deacons say it. The Liturgy of the Hour is every morning you say Luke 1. You say Zechariah's prayer. He's going to go before him in the spirit of the power of Elijah.
This is Malachi. His name means my messenger. He's the final prophet in the Old Testament. And his book was written about 400 years before the birth of Christ, about 430 years before Christ. And this was nearly 100 years after the Jews had come back from the Babylonian exile. Now, the only scripture Jesus had were the Old Testament scrolls. He had the law and the prophets. They were scrolls. They were written in Koine Greek at the time because Alexander the Great had changed everything into Greek. Now, everything Everything's Latin because Rome is the world power.
But the final words of the final scroll that God revealed to humans was that of Malachi, that he was sending Elijah the prophet before the terrible day of the Lord. So everyone knows Elijah has to come first. At every Passover, they set a place for Elijah, the end of the Old Testament. That's it. That's it. Those are the last words. And then it's silent for over 400 years. And then God spoke. An incarnate word, Jesus Christ. These two boys, Jesus Christ and John the Baptist, they're six months apart in age, half a year, six months difference. God sent Gabriel, who we're celebrating today, the Feast of the Archangels. One is Gabriel. The angel Gabriel came to Mary with a message. Behold, your kin's woman.
She's related to Elizabeth. She's in her her old age, and she has conceived a son, and she is in her sixth month, the one who was called barren. She's six months along. Mary in haste goes to see her. She wants to serve her kinswoman. She knows she's old. She's pregnant, too. She has a secret she'd like to share with Elizabeth. She'll get it. Elizabeth is six months along, six months ahead of Mary's newly pregnant. Mary will stay there the whole time till the birth of John the Baptist. They can't believe they're having a baby, And Mary's there to help, to see the baby. But what happens, ladies, at about three months on your first baby? You start to show. Like now, after having seven pregnancies, five kids, and now I look seven months pregnant all the time. But back then, on your first baby, you're not showing until about three months. So Mary's three months along.
Guess what? She's in her first trimester. She's beginning to show. She's going to go back to Nazareth. And people are going to be like. Have you seen Mary? Have you seen Mary? Have you seen Mary? Do you think? Do you think? So she has to go back. But Elizabeth and Zachariah have a beautiful baby boy, and he's going to be the forerunner of the Messiah. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High. You will go before the Lord to prepare his way. Check, check, check. He will be the forerunner, John the Baptist. Now, in a triptych in the Russian Orthodox faith, they always put Mary, Jesus, and John the forerunner together. John often in icons has his own head on his platter because we'll see in Mark 6 how it ends with him.
One of my favorite accounts of John is in Mark 6. And sometimes when it's not his head on a platter, he'll have Jesus in the chalice, baby Jesus, and he's pointing to him. In artwork, John the Baptist is always pointing to Jesus. So he sees Jesus, the true presence in the chalice there. Forerunner, why does he go before the Messiah? To soften their hearts so they can repent, be forgiven, have pure hearts when Messiah comes. Anytime you repent, the Holy Spirit just floods in. Jesus cannot resist repentance. I don't care what you've done. It can be the worst sin on the face of the earth. But if you repent and you have a contrite heart, you will be forgiven. There's nothing