John Appeared

(Thoughts from Mark 1:1-8) Isn't it funny that the story of Jesus doesn't start with Jesus?

Instead, there's this mysterious, resonate prophesy about a messenger--a voice crying out in the wilderness. Then in verse 4, "John appeared," (I like to mentally insert a parenthetical "poof!" here) "baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins."

That phrasing really grabs hold of me. "John appeared..." as if he had just suddenly popped into existence.

The word choice fits well with Mark's fast-paced, action-oriented tone at the beginning, but I think there's more going on here than Mark's style. God is trying to tell us something.

God brought John into the world like any man--that's easy enough to find in the other gospels--but the working of God's power made manifest or the presence of His truth once spoken is like a light appearing in the darkness.

God called John forth to His purpose, and to the wilderness it seemed as if he had suddenly appeared. To John, as to many men and women of faith, it likely seemed the only right next step--the path on which his God was leading him all along. To God, I daresay, it simply is.

For His Will permeates everything. It's wide, and the faithful can see it go on without beginning or end. But it's also deep, and if, at once, the depth of His Will for one man, woman or child is made known to us, then will that one seem to us to have suddenly appeared though we had known him all his life.

And there are moments in my life, and yours I expect, when the fog is lifted and I appear to myself as Myself. Better still, others appear to me as well, and I see a small glimpse of the glory God gives.

Do not underestimate God's Will for another or for yourself.

God would have You appear, and that is no small thing.