The Gospel of Mark starts out with these words,

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Mark 1:1

I like that it starts with those words. The good news of Jesus Christ isn’t reserved for some time in the past. The good news of Jesus Christ isn’t being set aside for some day in the future. We are told that the good news begins with Jesus Christ and that it continues on making it relevant for today as well. This year of 2020 is a year that we would all like to put behind us. The political turmoil, a raging pandemic and environmental impacts leave us with an urgent plea for good news to ring out, calling us to hope for today.

The reading cites Isaiah speaking of a voice calling out from the wilderness. The voice urges one and all to make the way for the coming of the Lord to be straight: take out the potholes and other obstacles in life that get in way. John the Baptist is presented as that voice. He wears clothing made from camel hair to bring to mind the prophet Elijah. He also ate a diet of honey and locusts which left him independent from others, except for his dependence upon God.

John the Baptist spoke from the wilderness and the people gathered from all around to hear him. The wilderness was a place considered inhospitable for people to live. Wild animals lived there and so did thieves and criminals. Demons dwelt there too. So why go out to such a place? The people had heard the speeches before from those living in mansions and places of political power but there was no good news to be heard, just the same old lines that kept the status quo. John the Baptist spoke in the wilderness news that was different. He told of the coming of one who will baptize not with mere water but with the Holy Spirit. The result is that we would be guided not by the edicts of the powerful but by God. Jesus was the one to whom John the Baptist pointed.

Jesus came preaching a word of liberation to those held unjustly in bondage by political systems. He fed the hungry and healed the sick: he paid special attention to the weakest of society. Jesus welcomed those cast aside by society. He spoke truth in the face of power. John the Baptist was that voice but he was pointing out to a greater voice; Jesus was and is the Word of God en-fleshed calling out to us in 2020’s wilderness which is good news to hear.

So what is John the Baptist telling us to do? He is telling us to repent. Repentance is more than simply saying that we are sorry. Repentance means to turns our lives around and take life in a different direction that Jesus lived out for us to see. Yes, we are living in 2020’s wilderness but a voice is calling out for us to take life on a new path. If we are willing to listen, then we’ll begin on a new journey that is good news for all in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Peace