“John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”* This is how Mark begins his gospel, the “good news about Jesus.”
Do you see it? The beginning of the story about Jesus isn’t about Jesus at all– it’s about John. According to Mark, Jesus’ story begins before Jesus has come on stage, when his cousin John is in the spotlight, drawing crowds out to the River Jordan to confess their sins and be baptized – including, later on, Jesus himself.
In America, we love the gospel of the “self-made” man, and the woman who “came from nothing” yet reached great heights. Their stories give credence to our claim to being the land of opportunity, where rugged individualism means anyone can succeed. But according to Mark, even Jesus’s story starts with the one who came before him. John prepares the way for Jesus, and in doing so reminds us that no one is self-made; none of us complete the work all on our own.
This is important, I think, not only for the healthy dose of humility it provides, but also for the hope it brings: we are in this together. Those that came before us laid foundations for our work, and those that come after us will continue to build where we leave off. We need not despair that the work of the kindom will go unfinished. John, like all martyrs, was killed by those who wanted to silence his message, but even now, two thousand years later, we hear his voice loud and clear. We know his story, know that it was part of Jesus’s story, know it is part of our own story today. I don’t know what I believe about heaven, but I do know that this feels like eternal life: when we follow God’s call, we carry on forever in the lives of those we touched – and then in the lives that they touch, and on and on, just like John.
–Erica Lloyd, Seekers Church
Questions for reflection:
- Who came before you? In what ways did they “prepare the way” for you?
- Who will carry on after you? How are you preparing the way for them?
