December 17th, 2023

It should be no surprise that this week is called the Third Sunday in Advent. It should also not be surprising that since the Gospel according to Mark is so short, this Sunday we are looking at the Gospel according to John [1:6-8, 19-28] for the gospel reading. We will do that again later in the year.

The first chapter of that gospel account certainly appears on Christmas Day, and it appears there all three years. But some of that chapter is also appropriate during the Advent season, and it is certainly enjoyed by many on this Sunday.

God willing, we will eventually get to the Gospel according to John with these writings. But for now, we are still looking at the first chapter of the Gospel according to Mark.
Last week’s writing started abruptly with Jesus being already grown up and John the Baptist being given a solid Old Testament grounding and described with a great amount of New Testament popularity. Sometimes a commentary might include the point that, if this gospel writer would have known anything about the birth of Jesus, he certainly would have included it in this gospel account. Although this sounds good, it may not necessarily be true.

There is strong manuscript evidence that the four gospel accounts were basically always together; each one of them was given a significant and important perspective that was slightly different from the others. It is much like the four living creatures of the LORD’s throne (see Ezekiel 1) having four different perspectives if each would look up at their LORD.

Traditionally the Gospel according to Mark has been connected to the living creature of the lion. An easy connection could be made with this gospel account to the living creature of a man, and that connection should be obvious; Jesus, after all, is starting this account as a man. In ancient history, it was not unusual to connect a lion with an important person such as a king.  And lions have appeared on the thrones of kings in the past.

The type of historical presents that are found within this gospel account should be the important factor that connects to the living creatures. A logical connection could be made between LIVING creatures, creatures that are now alive, with historical PRESENTS, verbs that relate something that is happening now, in the present.

The following text is a somewhat-literal translation of the next section of the Gospel according to Mark (1:9-13), and it contains the first of many historical presents (which will be given in bold print):

And it happened, in those the days, he came, Jesus, from Nazareth of the Galilee, and he was baptized into the Jordan by John. And straightway, going up out of the water, he saw being torn the heavens, and the Spirit, as a dove, coming down into him.

And a voice happened from of the heavens, “You, yourself, are the Son of Me, the loved; in you I was well pleased.” And straightway the Spirit, him, he throws out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by the Satan, and he was with the wild ones, and the angels served him.

These words could be translated in so many different ways. And so much could be said about the above.

More could be said about the Spirit throwing out Jesus into the wilderness. That certainly sounds a bit rough. But Jesus can handle it. And a lion could handle it as well.
One should not forget that Adam was also thrown out of the Garden of Eden (See Genesis 3:24). That also sounds a bit rough. It should also be noted that, in the previous verse, it states that he was ‘sent out’ of the Garden. That sounds a bit nicer. But either way—or both—ultimately it was for Adam’s good that he was out of the Garden. It was an extremely good thing that he did not eat from the tree of life and live forever in such a sinful and selfish condition.
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It could also be noted that this word, to be thrown out, in the language of the Old Testament, is very similar to the word for ‘grain’. Sometimes things have to be thrown out so that they can grow. And although Jesus, at this time, is certainly fully God, it could also be said that things connected to Jesus are about to grow.