Following Jesus in the Gospel of MarkSýnishorn

HE'S HERE!

Look Closely: Remember what it was like to be sound asleep and have a parent walk in, flip on the light, and declare that it was time to get up? That’s what the first verses of Mark’s story feel like. And that’s what the announcement of John the Baptist would have felt like to the Jewish people. They were expecting the Messiah to deliver them from Roman rule, not a call to repent. God is breaking into history as He promised that He would, but no one expected it to start like this.

-What is John’s role in this Gospel story?

-In Isaiah 40, how are the Messenger, the message, and God described?

-What further insight does Matthew’s gospel story give you about the temptation of Jesus?

Spotlight: Wilderness

Throughout the Story of God’s people, the wilderness represents times of testing and faith. Following their exodus from Egypt, the Israelites’ journey to the promised land could have taken as little as two weeks. Instead, they wandered for forty years. During all of that time, God’s presence was with them, He instructed them through Moses and the Law, and He provided opportunities for the people to trust and obey Him. Time and again, the people failed and suffered the consequences of sin and disobedience. Even Moses failed! No man or woman would ever get it all right. But Jesus wasn’t just any man. He was the Son of God sent to embody and fulfill what no one else could. Jesus would not only trust God completely, and follow Him obediently, He would exchange His perfect life for every sin of every person who ever lived. His wilderness story is just the beginning.

Challenge: What is God saying to me? What am I going to do about it?