The Surprise

One of the surprising things about the brief story of John the Baptist in Mark's gospel is that people went out to where he was preaching and baptizing.  So many came, it had to be of God.  He was not a preacher who made it easy for people. He was not into tickling their ears, or saying easy things to swallow.  He preached about the need for a baptism which spoke of repentance and forgiveness.  What is often missed because of the cultural differences is that baptism was a ritual for the unclean Gentiles who wanted to convert to Judaism.  Baptism was both unnecessary and unthinkable for any respectable person of the Jewish faith.  

In light of this reality, Mark 1:5 proclaims a surprising Word, "And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized in the river Jordan, confessing their sins"  The message John was preaching was attracting and changing the lives of country folks as well as those who lived on crowded city streets.  His preaching had such power it penetrated the barriers put up by religious institutionalism and touched hearts that were hungry for something new from God.  What was happening out there at the Jordan was a precursor to what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Roman Christians, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for the salvation to everyone who has faith.,," (Romans 1:16).  

It was not the eloquent speaking of John the Baptist, nor his wilderness attire which attracted so many, but the power of the gospel.  What he was preaching was inherently powerful.  The church today, with its ears so attune to the directives of culture and its desire to please, needs to once again reclaim a vision of being a vessel of God's power in the world.  All that stuff the church says and does to blend in with culture will be part of its vestments when buried.  It is in the embracing of the radical message of Christ which has saving power that it will find its life and its future.