Mark began to share the “gospel” of Jesus Christ with the words, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God”, and Mark referred to the prophet Malachi who said, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, which shall prepare your way before you. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” Mark continued with the words, “John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins”, and in chapter one and verse five of his book, Mark shared how people, “were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins” where we read:
And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem,
and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.
The verse reads, “And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, ...” Mark began words, “and there went out unto him” which means “and there proceeded and flowed toward John the Baptist”“all the land of Judaea” which means “each, every, the whole and everyone of the regions, towns, villages and country belonging to Judaea which means he shall be praised and was the southern portion of Palestine lying on this side of the Jordan and the Dead Sea, to distinguish it from Samaria, Galilee, Peraea, and Idumaea”, “and they of Jerusalem” which refers to “and the people who lived in Jerusalem which means set you double peace”. Mark shared how people from all over the area of “Judaea” and “Jerusalem” came to John the Baptist.
The verse continues, “... and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.” Mark added the words, “and were all baptized of him” which means “and each, every, the whole and everyone of the people were dipped repeatedly, immersed or submerged” “in the river” or “within the brook, current or freshet” “of Jordon” which means “belonging to the one river of Palestine which has its course of little more than 200 miles (300 km) from the roots of Anti-Lebanon to the head of the Dead Sea” and means “the descender”, “confessing” or “professing and acknowledging openly and joyfully as in a celebration of promise and agreement” “their sins” which means “the missing of the mark, error, mistake and violation of God's law by the people who came to John”. Mark shared how the people who came to John the Baptist “confessed” their sins and were “baptized” as though to wash their sins away.
When we meditate upon Mark's words in this verse, we note how God used John the Baptist so mightily as the “fore-runner” of Jesus Christ the Messiah. John was not careful to call out “sinful behavior” and share the need to turn from those sins. He told people to be “baptized” in the river Jordan as a symbol of their desire to have their sins remitted. God desires to “save” people from their “sinful lives”, and regardless of how “wicked or evil” they may have been as they “violated His law”, He is still ready to “cleanse” them from their sin by believing and trusting in His Son Jesus as their personal “Savior and Lord”. Let all who read these words “confess” their sins and be “baptized” for the “remission” of them.
Next time Mark shares how, “John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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