Today we begin our Lenten reading plan through the Gospel of Mark. The readings are assigned to the weekdays between now and Easter, with the exception of Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, each of which has a reading assigned to it as well.

Don’t forget that we have 3 Ash Wednesday services today: 7:00-7:20 AM; 12:00-12:20 PM; 7:00-7:45 PM.

Also, don’t forget that we’ll have daily online Bible study every weekday morning, 7:00-7:10 AM, starting TODAY. Join us via www.facebook.com/mungerplace or www.mungerplace.LIVE.

And, I’ll be teaching two churchwide Bible studies on Mark: 3/9 and 3/30, 6-7 PM.

Now, on with the show.

P.S. I’ve included my sermon kicking off the Mark series at the very bottom of the post.

Mark 1:1-13

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
    who will prepare your way”—
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.’”

4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “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.”

The Baptism and Testing of Jesus

9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

Mark hits the ground running, starting his Gospel with the events that are taking place in Israel as Jesus launches his public ministry. John the Baptizer is at a symbolic site—the Jordan River—and is preparing Israel to enter into a new Promised Land. Just as centuries before Israel crossed the Jordan, now is the time for God to do a new thing, and the people need to be spiritually ready. And so Jesus goes to John and endorses John’s ministry as he launches his own ministry, showing to everyone that he will be the new Moses who takes God’s people into a new Promised Land. The Holy Spirit’s presence on Jesus is proof that his mission is a divine mission—the Father loves and endorses the Son with the gift of the Spirit. (Note the Trinitarian language!)

And that’s what makes the next sentence so powerful: Jesus is immediately driven by the Spirit into a wilderness of temptation and testing. In other words, sometimes difficulty and suffering have a purpose in preparing us for our God-given mission.

How might God be preparing you today?

First sermon in our Mark series: “The Translucent World.”