How It Began

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the Prophets:

​​“Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
​​Who will prepare Your way before You.”
  -- Mark 1:1-2

For about a month we have been learning of the beginning of the gospel with the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem. But one of the gospels tells us of the beginning being back in the prophets. We knew that of course from the many prophecies pointed out in Matthew and Luke, but it's nice to see it stated as well. John takes it a step further by showing the beginning was before the Creation, but this isn't a contest of gospellers. All four accounts agree that the one to kick off the preaching of the gospel was that relative of Jesus, John the Baptizer; the messenger who went before the face of Jesus.

John was a wilderness man living a simple life on a simple diet of locusts and wild honey, and wearing a simple wardrobe that didn't require a lot of thought each morning. But why did John live out there in the first place? Born to elderly parents, John probably lost them to old age when he was not even come of age himself. It is quite possible that John went out to the wilderness to grieve, and then just stayed there with God, learning the message he would soon preach. And that message hit like the proverbial bombshell. "You, yes you, Jews of the Law of Moses, with your priests and sacrifices in the temple: Repent! For the kingdom of God is at hand."

Repent means that they were doing something wrong. We can well imagine how that message went over the religious authorities.

Rejoice in the Good News of Jesus,

Bucky