beginnings

Christmas is over, right? It’s New Year’s Day, time to look ahead. Time to get down to business. But the birth of Jesus was just the beginning. It was Jesus’ life that made a difference, and his death. 

For the next few months, in the absence of a defined reading plan from our church, I’m going to spend some time on the life of Jesus. I got started this morning reading in Matthew 3, Luke 3 and Mark 1, looking at the ministry of John the Baptist.

Here’s a good summary, from Mark 1:1-4: 

“The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way’ —

‘a voice of one calling in the wilderness,

“Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for him.”’

“And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

Jesus was in the world, but the world wasn’t ready for Jesus. Before life after Christmas could go on, the people had to decide how they would respond to the coming of the Messiah. That was John’s job: to prepare the Jews for Jesus. He did that by reminding them of the prophecy, and calling them to repentance.

That seems like a good way to start a new year. There were things I did in 2018 that disappointed God. Some were inadvertent, some I clung to stubbornly. If I want to walk with Jesus into 2019, I should start where John the Baptist told us to start: by seeing my own sin and begging forgiveness for it.

After all, according to this passage, that’s the beginning of the good news.