MESSIANIC MINISTRY.

 THE WORDS  OF ISAIAH 40:3 (MARK 1:3) ARE FOUND IN ALL FOUR GOSPELS AND DEFINE THE SIGNIFICANCE  OF JESUS APPROACHING MINISTRY. ISAIAH FIRST SPOKE THESE WORDS TO THE EXILES IN BABYLON. HE ASSURED THEM THAT WAS  ABOUT TO RESCUE THEM FROM CAPTIVITY  AND LEAD THEM BACK TO THEIR HOMELAND!
 THEIR MESSAGE IN THE GOSPELS IS: GOD IS ABOUT TO CARRY OUT THE GREAT AND FINAL RESCUE OF HIS PEOPLE. THEY ARE BEING HELD CAPTIVE, NOT TO EGYPT, ASSYRIA OR BABYLON, BUT TO THE POWER OF SIN, SATAN AND DEATH. THEY ARE CAPTIVE TO THEIR TRADITIONS AND RITUALS, AND TO THEIR OBSESSIONS WITH THE DESCENT FROM ABRAHAM AND FAMILY GENEALOGIES. JESUS IS COMING TO FREE THEM FROM THESE BONDS, AND TO LEAD THEM INTO LIBERTY OF TRUE SONSHIP WITH GOD. AS MALACHI OF OLD PREDICTED (3:1, 4:5), ONE HAD BEEN SENT TO PREPARE THE WAY FOR THE MESSIAH. JOHN THE BAPTIST HAD CARRIED OUT HIS MISSION IN THE WILDERNESS, THE PLACE OF EXPECTATIONS, NEW BEGINNINGS, THE PLACE GOD TOOK HIS PEOPLE TO RENEW THEM. AND DRAW THEM CLOSER TO HIMSELF.  APPARENTLY, CONSIDERABLE  NUMBERS WENT OUT INTO THE WILDERNESS TO HEAR JOHN AND BE BAPTIZED BY HIM. THAT JEWS SHOULD HAVE SUBMITTED TO HIS BAPTISM IS REMARKABLE, FOR TRADITIONALLY ONLY GENTILES WERE BAPTIZED WHEN THEY CONVERTED TO JUDAISM. AS THE OLA SON OF GOD PASSED THROUGH THE WATERS OF THE RED SEA AND THE JORDAN, SO THE NEW SON OF GOD MUST PASS THROUGH WATER, THE WATER OF JOHN'S BAPTISM. HE WOULD LEAD HIS PEOPLE INTO THE INHERITANCE OF AN ETERNAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER. WHEN JESUS WAS COMING UP OUT OF THE WATER AFTER HIS BAPTISM, " HE SAW THE HEAVENS OPENED AND THE SPIRIT DESCENDING UPON HIM LIKE A DOVE," 1:1O. CENTURIES BEFORE, THE PROPHET HAD CRIED OUT, " O THAT THOU WOULDEST REND THE HEAVENS ASUNDER AND COME DOWN," ISAIAH 64:1. AT JESUS BAPTISM THE HEAVENS WERE INDEED RENT, AND THE SPIRIT HIMSELF CAME DOWN IN A FORM THAT RESEMBLED A DOVE. AND HOVERED OVER THE HEAD OF JESUS. THE RABBIS (TEACHERS) SPOKE OF A DOVE AS A SYMBOL OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL. AT JESUS BAPTISM, THE SPIRIT IN THE FORM OF A DOVE HOVERED OVER THE HEAD OF THE NEW "SON OF GOD," THE TRUE ISRAEL. HE WAS TO LEAD A LIFE DIRECTED ENTIRELY BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. AT HIS BAPTISM JESUS WAS ANOINTED BY THE VOICE FROM HEAVEN: " THOU ART MY BELOVED SON: WE THEE I AM WELL PLEASED. THIS STATEMENT SPEAKS VOLUMES. "THOU ART MY BELOVED SON," REFLECTS PSALM 2:7. THIS PSALM WAS USED IN ANCIENT ISRAEL AT THE CORONATION OF A KING FROM THE LINE OF DAVID. THE VOICE AT JESUS BAPTISM DECLARED THAT GOD HAD KEPT HIS PROMISE AND HAD NOT LET THE LINE O DAVID TO DIE OUT.
 JESUS WAS INDEED, THE LONG AWAITED  DESCENDANT OF DAVID, THE LONG--EXPECTED MESSIANIC KING WHO HAD COME TO RULE GOD'S PEOPLE THAT THEY MIGHT FIND THE ULTIMATE BLESSEDNESS WHICH HAD BEEN THE FOCUS OF ALL THEIR HOPES. THE DIRECTION THE LIFE OF THIS MESSIANIC KING WOULD TAKE WOULD BE DIFFERENT FROM WHAT MANY WERE EXPECTING. " WITH THEE I AM WELL PLEASED" IS A QUOTATION FROM ONE OF ISAIAH'S SERVANT SONGS (42:1-4; NOTE V. 1).  AS MESSIANIC KING JESUS WOULD BE THE SERVANT.. HE WOULD BE DESPISED, REJECTED, AND HIS PEOPLE WOULD DO THEIR VERY WORST TO HIM.
 THEY WOULD CRUCIFY HIM! HOWEVER, THROUGH HIS DEATH HE WOULD LAVISH ON THEM THE OFFER OF A COMPLETE, PERFECT AND ETERNAL PARDON,  AND DRAW
 THEM INTO A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIMSELF, WHICH THEY WOULD HAVE LIFE, NOW AND FOREVER. AFTER JESUS WAS ANOINTED INTO OFFICE AS THE LONG AWAITED KING, AND THE NATURE OF HIS KINGSHIP DEFINED., HE WAS LED BY THE SPIRIT INTO THE WILDERNESS. OLD ISRAEL HAD BEEN TAKEN INTO A WILDERNESS AFTER PASSING THROUGH WATER. SHE HAD BEEN TAKEN THERE TO BE TESTED AND TRIED, AND HAD DONE LITTLE ELSE BUT SIN.  THE RECORD OF HER "FORTY YEARS" IN THE WILDERNESS IS A MISERABLE ONE. THE NEW ISRAEL, THE NEW SON OF GOD, WAS LED BY THE SPIRIT INTO THE WILDERNESS, TO BE TESTED AND TRIED BY SATAN FOR "FORTY DAYS."  THERE JESUS PUT AN END TO SATAN'S RUN OF SUCCESSES WITH THE HUMAN RACE--HE DID NOT YIELD TO HIM. IN CHRIST, SATAN DID NOT MEET HIS MATCH, HE MET HIS CONQUEROR!
 MARK STATES IN 1;3b, " JESUS WAS WITH THE WILD BEASTS, AND THE ANGELS MINISTERED TO HIM". SOME SEE IN THIS VERSE A REFERENCE TO THE ARRIVAL OF THE MESSIANIC AGE IN TERMS OF " PARADISE RESTORED," ISAIAH 11:6-9; 65:25; HOSEA 2:18. SOME SEE IN IT A REFERENCE TO THE NEW ADAM REGAINING CONTROL OVER THE REALM OF NATURE ON A COSMIC SCALE. OTHERS SEE IN THIS VERSE A SUBTLE SUGGESTION THAT JESUS REMAINED "IN THE WILDERNESS OF TEMPTATION," LOCKED IN COMBAT WITH SATAN THROUGHOUT HIS MINISTRY. MATTHEW 4:11 AND LUKE 4:13; SOME SAY THAT SATAN LEFT JESUS AFTER THE TEMPTATION. THAT COMMENT IS NOT MADE IN MARK, WHERE THE CONFLICT BETWEEN JESUS AND SATAN CONTINUES TO THE CROSS WHERE THE APPARENT CONQUEROR (SATAN) IS CONQUERED. ( NOTE: THAT THE FIRST MIRACLE JESUS PERFORMS IN MARK AFTER HIS TEMPTATION INVOLVES A STRUGGLE WITH A DEMONIAC.) AFTER JOHN THE BAPTIST IS ARRESTED, JESUS GOES INTO GALILEE WHERE HE PROCLAIMS:" THE TIME IS FULFILLED, AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND, REPENT, AND BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL,"1:15.  WITH THIS, JESUS MESSIANIC MINISTRY GETS UNDER WAY. WHAT HAPPENS? THE TRUE ISRAEL BEGINS TO GATHER ABOUT HIMSELF A NEW PEOPLE. HE CONFRONTS PETER AND ANDREW, JAMES AND JOHN, AND SAYS, "FOLLOW ME! " 1:17. THEY FOLLOW. THERE IS NO TEST TO ASCERTAIN WHETHER THEY ARE WORTHY OF BEING IN JESUS' COMPANY. NO STUDY IS MADE OF THEIR FAMILY BACKGROUND TO CHECK OUT THEIR PEDIGREE. THERE IS ONLY AN URGENT SUMMONS, 2:13,14. A LITTLE LATER, THE TWELVE ARE SET SIDE AS THE NUCLEUS OF THE NEW ISRAEL THAT IS BEING FORMED 3: 13,14.  THE MESSIANIC MINISTRY IS INDEED GETTING UNDER WAY.