A Promise Kept (Mark 1:4-8)

They were being crushed by the iron heel of Rome. I can almost hear them crying out with the words of the psalmist, “Will the Lord reject forever and never again show favor? Has His faithful love ceased forever? Is His promise at an end for all generations? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger withheld His compassion” (Psalm 77:7-9)?

As if in response God says in Isaiah, “Comfort, comfort My people, says your God.” And how does this comfort come? It comes with a promise that they would hear, “A voice crying out: Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert. Every valley will be lifted up, and every mountain and hill will be leveled; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will appear, and all humanity will see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 40:1-5).

How would they recognize this messenger? In the closing words of the Old Testament we read, “Look, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome Day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers” (Malachi 4:5). Then there was silence, and for 400 years they waited for God to keep His promise.

With a shout the silence was broken! John came into the wilderness just as the prophets had foretold. How was he to prepare the way for the Lord? He came preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And, just like a people who had been awakened from an enchanted sleep, they came. The whole of Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were flocking to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

Just as in the time of Joshua the Jordan River had to be crossed to enter the Promised Land, so too, John came preaching a baptism of repentance. He called on all who listen to confess their sins. Their hearts were stirred; he held them spellbound, this man wearing a camel-hair garment, whose diet was locusts and wild honey. “Someone more powerful than I will come after me. I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandal. I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit" (Mark 1:4-8). And so, with heightened anticipation, they awaited the Promise.