Mission of St John the Baptist

St Mark Chapter I : Verses 1-8

There cometh after me one mightier than I... J-J Tissot

[1] The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 

[2] As it is written in Isaias the prophet: Behold I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare the way before thee. 

[3] A voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. 

[4] John was in the desert baptizing, and preaching the baptism of penance, unto remission of sins. 

[5] And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all they of Jerusalem, and were baptized by him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

[6] And John was clothed with camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and he ate locusts and wild honey. 

[7] And he preached, saying: There cometh after me one mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy *to stoop down and loose. 

[8] I have baptized you with water; but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.

[1] Initium Evangelii Jesu Christi, Filii Dei. 

[2] Sicut scriptum est in Isaia propheta : Ecce ego mitto angelum meum ante faciem tuam, qui præparabit viam tuam ante te. 

[3] Vox clamantis in deserto : Parate viam Domini, rectas facite semitas ejus. 

[4] Fuit Joannes in deserto baptizans, et praedicans baptismum poenitentiae in remissionem peccatorum. 

[5] Et egrediebatur ad eum omnis Judææ regio, et Jerosolymitae universi, et baptizabantur ab illo in Jordanis flumine, confitentes peccata sua.

[6] Et erat Joannes vestitus pilis cameli, et zona pellicea circa lumbos ejus, et locustas et mel silvestre edebat. 

[7] Et prædicabat dicens : Venit fortior post me, cujus non sum dignus *procumbens solvere corrigiam calceamentorum ejus. 

[8] Ego baptizavi vos aqua, ille vero baptizabit vos Spiritu Sancto.

*  All details peculiar to St Mark are printed in italics in the text of the Gospel.

Notes

1. Most writers regard this verse as the title of the book.

Gospel , i.e. the tidings of salvation, or the story of the life of Jesus Christ (see Intro., p. 15).

Jesus = Saviour. Christ = Anointed. Kings, priests and prophets were anointed, and Jesus was all three.

2. In Isaias the prophet : The voice of one crying in the desert : Prepare ye the way of the Lord , make straight in the wilderness the paths of our God (xl. 3). St Mark, however, begins by a quotation from Malachias, Behold , I send My angel , and he shall prepare the way before My face (iii. 1). Our Lord Himself applies these words to St John. This is he of whom it is written: Behold , I send, etc. (St Matt. xi. 10.)

In Isaias : St Mark, as historian, only quotes the Old Testament twice ; here and in chap. xv. 28, And with the wicked He was reputed. The passage concerning the angel who should prepare the way, referred primarily to the return of the Jews from their exile in Babylon, lout the doctors of the law saw in this prophecy a secondary allusion to the Messiah.

3. A voice of one crying. A reference to a herald preceding a monarch and proclaiming his coming.

in the desert. The desert in which St John preached, was a tract of very thinly-inhabited land, lying east of Jerusalem and north of the Dead Sea.

Prepare ye the way of the Lord. St John exhorted his hearers to do this, by confessing their sins and bringing forth worthy fruits of penance.

make straight his paths. An allusion to the Eastern custom of sending out workmen to prepare the roads for the passage of a monarch.

It consisted in filling valleys, levelling hills, and making devious paths straight and even.

4. baptizing. The use of the present participle denotes an action frequently repeated.

preaching. St John preached before he baptized; the order is here inverted. Baptizing was the characteristic feature of his ministry.

baptism of penance. Not the Sacrament of Baptism but a penitential rite to prepare them for the preaching of our Lord. This “ baptism of penance ” could not, of itself, take away sin.

5. all the country, etc. This is one of St Mark’s graphic touches. The other Gospels mention the various classes of people who listened to St John — soldiers, tax-gatherers (St Luke iii. 10-14).

river of Jordan = river Jordan.

confessing their sins, — i.e. “ declaring their deeds.” These words do not refer to the Sacrament of Penance, which was not then instituted. The Law of Moses prescribed a detailed confession of certain sins, e.g. unjust or rash oaths. Leviticus : Let him do penance for his sin , and offer of the flocks an ewe lamb or a she- goat, and the priest shall pray for him and for his sin (v. 5-6).

6. camel's hair. A rough cloth made from coarse camel’s hair. St John the Baptist led a life of penance, hence his clothes and food were of the poorest.

leathern girdle. The rich wore expensive girdles ; the poor used a plain leathern strap such as the Arabs of the desert still wear.

locusts. A rather large-winged insect considered “ clean ” by the Jews. The food of the poor. The locusts were dried in the sun and sometimes made into cakes.

wild honey was found in quantities in the clefts of the rocks in the desert, or the term may mean the tree-honey, a gum found exuding from certain trees.

7. after me. St John the Baptist was born about six months before our Lord. As no Jew was allowed to preach before his thirtieth year, Jesus began His public life about six months later than St John.

mightier than I. Note the Baptist’s humility, Jesus is “the Mighty God.” Cf. Compare this with the testimony  to  St  John  given  by  Christ Himself. “ Amen  I  say  to  you,  there  hath  not  risen  among  them  that  are  born of  women,  a  greater  than  John  the  Baptist.” [Matt.  xi.  11] 

to stoop down. A minute detail proper to St Mark.

and loose. To loose and carry the shoes was the work of the slave, who performed this office for his master, when the latter entered a temple or a banqueting hall.

latchet. The leathern strap which bound the sandal to the foot.

8. I have baptised you with water, etc. The Baptist exalts Christ’s baptism, which conferred the Holy Ghost, and regenerated the soul.

Additional Notes

2. As it is written. “ It ” is a representative subject, standing for the real subject, viz., the prophecies quoted. The sense would seem to be: “John was in the desert baptizing .... as these two prophecies foretell.”

in Isaias the prophet. The Greek MS. gives, “in the prophets,” but the greater number of MSS. have “ in Isaias.” Probably St Mark followed the Jewish custom, which divided the Scriptures into “ the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms.” Isaias would thus be used as standing for the prophetical books in general.

my angel, — i.e. “ messenger.” St John the Baptist was the forerunner of our Lord. As such, he had a mission to —

(a) Exhort to penance,

(b) Announce the proximity of the kingdom of God,

(c) Declare certain prophecies to be fulfilled in His own person.

The effects of St Johns preaching were that: —

(a) Multitudes of all conditions flocked to hear him.

(b) They received the baptism of penance.

(c) They confessed their sins.

(d) They followed Christ (later on). 

3. A voice. St John the Baptist is not called “ a voice.” It is as if the prophet had heard a voice in the distance and had exclaimed, “ Behold, I hear a voice,” etc.

Who was St Mark? 

He is the John, surnamed Mark, referred to by St Luke in Acts xii. He is mentioned both in the Acts and in the Epistles, and we find him called John Mark, John, or Mark. The latter name is more generally employed. The Jewish name "John" signifies the grace of God. The Latin name "Marcus" was a surname and it is easy to understand why the name of Marcus was retained rather than that of "John," since there were already in the early Church two eminent men who bore that name - St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist.

River Jordan

This is the chief  river  of Palestine.  It rises in  Anti-Lebanon, flows due south through the Waters of Meron  and the Sea of Galilee. Its course is very winding and rapid.  Its length is about 200 miles between the Sea of Galilee and  the Dead Sea, though  the distance  between  these  lakes “as the crow  flies” is only 70 miles.  In width, the Jordan varies from  80 to 150 feet; its bed lies in a deep valley. The river is fed  by  the mountains of Lebanon,  and receives numerous tributaries in its course.  St John the Baptist preached in the land about  Jordan, and he baptized our Lord in this river.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.