Image from agnusday.org
Hear the devotional read here: https://bit.ly/39qohdW
1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; 3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,' " 4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." (Mark 1:1-8 NRSV)
Happy Monday, dear ConCafe Family! And a special day be yours, dear Friend! Why do we pray dear friends? Because God answers prayer! We rejoice in the progress those for whom we are praying. Our sister, Donna Hisey is home as of Sunday afternoon! Dr. Hisey reports her being home is answered prayer; we say, "Amen!" Gina Zapata is also on the mend, as are many others; God indeed is hearing and answering our prayers! And we say, Thanks be to God!
The season of Advent would not be complete without this powerful passage from Mark. Mark took it upon himself to write an account of the good news of Jesus Christ. The word gospel means good news, and the good news is that God acted on our behalf by sending Jesus Christ to die for us as our Redeemer. He paid the price of our sinfulness. That, dear friend, is good news. Mark quotes the foretelling by the prophet Isaiah who heard God say, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.'" And the one of whom Isaiah spoke is John the Baptist, who appeared strangely dressed, with a diet that may have turned some stomachs, but with a powerful message that touched the hearts of all who heard it. The time was ripe for someone to remind people of their sinfulness and the fact that God was ready to forgive, and with a visible display of that cleansing, the rite of baptism. Please keep in mind that this rite of cleansing was reserved for those known as Gentles, a nice way of saying non-Jews. The Jews truly believed their birth was clean, and those not fortunate to be born as Jews were considered to be born unclean. And those who felt the need to become Jews had to present themselves for baptism; and here is this Jew calling on all Jews to come forth and present themselves for the cleansing they needed. And John hit a chord with all who knew that something in them was not right; something had to change; and to hear a message that said our sinfulness could be removed, was just what the people needed to hear. Mark reports that people from the entire region, including the capital city of Jerusalem presented themselves to God and were baptized by John in the river Jordan, and as they were being cleansed, they confessed their sins. This was a pivotal moment in Israel's spiritual history; that the one true God was fully capable and fully willing to not only confess, but also repent of their sins. And John uses this moment to declare that this that was happening was but the first part of a greater event that was coming. John is declaring this baptism is the first of two baptisms that we must receive; water and the Holy Spirit. And John referenced the coming of "the one who is more powerful than I is coming after me..." Jesus Christ.
This was an advent event. John preparing the way of Jesus, the powerful one, who with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, would transform the world. This was but the first of many steps those believers needed to take; for the work of God depends on our faithfulness and our frutifulness so that the whole world would come to believe in the good news of Jesus Christ.
You and I have come to faith in Jesus. We can, or should, honestly say that our lives will never be the same again because we have had an encounter with the living God of the universe, who has made us whole and worthy, and that news, dear friends, bears sharing with all with whom we know!
PRAYER: Loving God, thank You for this special season of Advent. Indeed, prepare us from the inside out, and top down, for all You have done through Jesus, and we pray that we might win over those who have been lost and wandering in the wilderness for too long. We praise You and thank You for answered prayers and we entrust to You those for whom we continue to pray; be glorified in all things; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Share the Good News with someone today!
Receive my blessings of love and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
