1.   The beginning of the gospel of Jesus
            Christ, the Son of God.
      2   Even as it is written in Isaiah the
            prophet,
            Behold, I send my messenger before
            thy face,
            Who shall prepare thy way.
      3   The voice of one crying in the
            wilderness,
            Make ye ready the way of the Lord,
            Make his paths straight;
      4   John came, who baptized in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance unto remission of sins.
      5   And there went out unto him all the country of Judaea, and all they of Jerusalem; And they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
      6   And John was clothed with camel's hair, and had a leathern girdle about his loins, and did eat locusts and wild honey.
      7   And he preached, saying, There cometh after me he that is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.
      8   I baptized you in water; But he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit.
      9.   And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in the Jordan.
      10   And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens rent asunder, and the Spirit as a dove descending upon him:
      11   And a voice came out of the heavens, Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased.

Questions and Brief Comments.

Verse 1. What begins here? What does "gospel" mean? See Luke 2:10, 11. Concerning whom are these "good tidings?" Why is the message concerning Jesus Christ called "good tidings?"

Verse 2. "Even as it is written . . . . John came." The work of John the Baptist had been foretold in Isaiah, 750 years before, and in Malachi, 400 years before. A quotation from Malachi comes first. Who will send His messenger? Before whose face? For what was the messenger sent? Where is this quotation found? (Mal. 3:1.)

Verse 3. This is the quotation from Isaiah. Who was "the voice" that cried in the wilderness? Read John 1:19-23. What does the voice cry? To whom did he cry this? How could they prepare the way of the Lord? (By repentance. See Matt 3:1-17).

Verse 4. Was John's coming a literal fulfillment of these prophecies? What did John preach? What did John's baptism stand for? What did it lead to? (See the same expression in Matt. 26:28 and in Acts 2:38.)

Verse 5. Did John's preaching create a great stir? Who came? Where were they baptized? What did they do?

Verse 6. How was John dressed? Was John's dress and living very simple? What did he eat? Why that? (That was wilderness food.

Notice what is said of John in Luke 1:80).

Verse 7. What announcement did John make? No greater than John had ever been "born of woman," Matt. 11:11; but how much greater than John was this Other One who should come after him?

Verse 8. How far only could John's work go? But what would this Great One do? When was this fulfilled? (Acts 2:1-4, 2:33 and 11:15, 16).

Verse 9-11. The baptism of Jesus. From what place did Jesus come? How far? (About 60 miles). Did He regard baptism as important and necessary? (See Matt. 3:14, 15). Where was Jesus baptized? [23] (According to the Greek He was baptized "into the Jordan." See R. V. margin).

NOTES AND TEACHING POINTS.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK.

      With this new year we begin the study of the life and work of our Lord Jesus Christ as recorded in the gospel of Mark.

      Mark's gospel is the shortest of the four gospels. He is very brief, terse, to the point. Very few scripture-quotations, very few of the Lord's words are given in Mark. From start to finish we see Jesus at work as God's humble Servant, in unceasing labor and service, till at last He gives Himself to do on the cross. Mark's peculiar word is "straightway," marking swift and ready action.

JOHN THE BAPTIST.

      John was "a man sent from God," (John 1:6) the forerunner and herald of the Lord Jesus Christ. John's coming was foretold in the prophets. His birth and the nature of the work he was to do was made known beforehand to his father Zacharias. See Luke 1:13-17.

      Mark tells us but little about John's preaching (v. 4). In Matt. 3 we have a fuller account of it. John was a man of simple life. His few wants were supplied from the desert. He was independent, fearless, ruggedly honest, faithful to his God. The Lord Jesus pronounced the highest eulogy upon John. See Matt. 11:7-11.

REPENTANCE.

      In order to prepare the way of the Lord John preached repentance. It is sin that bars the road for Jesus, so long as sin is our choice and intent. John's work was to turn the people from their sins by calling them to repentance. Repentance is turning in one's heart from sin unto God. His call to repentance was fortified on the one hand by the promise that "the kingdom of heaven is at hand" and the announcement of the "Coming One"; on the other hand by predictions of imminent judgment and solemn warning. John's preaching created a profound sensation throughout the land, and many of the children of Israel did he turn to the Lord their God. Does sin still bar the entrance of Jesus into our hearts and lives? Must such barriers still be removed by repentance? Is promise and warning still given as motive to repentance?

THE BAPTISM OF JOHN.

      The baptism of John was the outward acknowledgment and open profession of repentance, and it introduced a life of repentance. Hence it is called "the baptism of repentance." God offered forgiveness of sin to the repenting, even in the Old Testament dispensation. (See for example, Ezek. 33:15, 16). So the repentance when expressed in this baptism of repentance was "unto remission of sins."

      The baptism of John was of heaven, not of men. (Matt. 21:24, 25). It was by the authority of God. Those who refused to be baptized of John rejected the counsel of God against themselves. (Luke 7:29, 30). The Lord Jesus walked 60 miles to be baptized/ Evidently he considered it an important thing. But in Him was no sin; so His baptism was not like that of the rest "unto remission of sin." Jesus was baptized to "fulfil all righteousness" (Matt. 3:15) and through this act He was made manifest to John and thus to Israel. (John 1:31-34).

CHRISTIAN BAPTISM.

      The baptism of our dispensation is not the same as that of John. That was preparatory, ours is initiatory. That was with a view toward a Savior who was yet to come (Acts 19:4)--ours in obedience of faith to Him who has come, and Himself commanded it. (Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:16). By it we are baptized into Christ (Rom. 6:3, 4), unto remission of sins, and also receive what none received before, "the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). If John's baptism was from heaven, so surely and more so if possible, is this. To reject it, to despise it, to refuse it, to set it aside on any pretext, is now to reject the counsel of God against oneself. [24]

Source: First Lord's Day Lesson of January. Lesson 1. January 1, 1928. John the Baptist and Jesus (Mark