NOTES: 1] Compare where MK begins his Gospel with the beginnings of the other evangelists. 2] Look at the context of IS 40:3. 3] Baptism as a symbol of spiritual cleansing was practised among some Jews of Jesus' day, but JB's is more than that. 4] Noted scholar J.D. Crossan thinks JB baptises where he does so that 'converts' have to re-cross Jordan & re-enter the 'Promised Land' & conquer it afresh for God, in a different sense this time.

WARMING UP: How do we feel about 'wilderness', or haven't we been there?

TREASURES OLD & NEW: Identify God in anything that's happened this week?

ENTERING INTO THE STORY:

(1-3)   Why might MK opt to start his Gospel where he does? Where is the 'beginning of the good news' (the Gospel) for us? Are we as conscious as MK is of those, like Isaiah & JB, who were forerunners of Jesus? Are we well-enough grounded in the Hebrew Scriptures so as to be conscious of such connections? If we're not, & it's important to us, what could we do to bridge that gap? Do we ever feel we are 'a voice crying in the wilderness' about something? Something concerning God? What does it mean to 'prepare the way of the Lord'? How on earth can we make God's paths straight?

4-5    'Turning your life around in God's direction' is a reasonable rendering of what JB asks. Have we made that turn, or do we still need to do it? Is it a one-off, something we need to repeat, or both? If 'forgiveness' means something isn't held  against us any more, how conscious are we that: a) God has forgiven us? b) we've been forgiven by another person? c) we've forgiven someone else? Do we detect any sense of mass-movement in our community towards repentance, confession, & forgiveness (with or without baptism) today? Is such a thing even on the community's 'radar'? What about our own 'radar'? Or are we all just bogged down somewhere in our various wildernesses?

6- 8   How much does what a religious leader looks like (or sounds like?) affect how much we pay attention to / act on what they tell us today? How important to JB's message, how validating of that message, is his insistence that Jesus is 'the one more powerful..'rather than him blowing some sort of trumpet of his own? If we made a list of what we are not worthy to do, what kinds of things would be on it? Is baptism as we practise it ever really just with water, or is Holy Spirit always active in it?
Can we  / can't we discern the presence or absence of the Spirit from a person, a belief, a motive, an action, etc.?

9-11  If Jesus is the Son of God, why would he want to be baptised 'for repentance & forgiveness of sins'? If we haven't exactly seen the heavens 'torn apart' as Jesus does, do 'the heavens' play any significant role in our own faith? How do we reconcile God speaking from 'up there somewhere' with a recognition that God is among us? Where does God's voice speak to us from today? Are we conscious of ways in which God tells us we're his sons & daughters today, beloved, & that he's well pleased with us? Or is that stretching things too far?