Last week we began our new series in the Gospel of Mark, primarily by looking at the background and occasion for the book. Now we come to the opening passage in fullness, as we see John the Baptist - the New Testament Elijah - preparing the way for Jesus. Hopefully, our past few months looking at Elijah and Elisha have also "prepared the way" for us to hear how jarring this event would be. This guy is calling religious people to repent as if they were irreligious, dresses weird, and eats insects. He is nothing less than awkward. So who are the kind of people who go into the desert to hear him? Only desperate people... people who know they need their lives to change... the kind of people who might drive out of the city to see a superbloom - just in the hopes of remembering what it means to be alive. Let's talk about what it means to "Prepare the Way" (Mark 1:1-8).
