#adventchallenge #markadvent. I’m gonna try to mark advent by reading Mark, and blogging some/all of the days
Things I particularly noticed:
1) The purpose of John’s work
You might be aware that John was preparing the way for Jesus. I was, but I didn’t really know what that meant. Here we’re told there are two things: “he will […] turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous - to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (v17).
Parents’ hearts will be turned to their children.
Perhaps this means the parents will think about the life they want for their children, the things that are really important in live. People people a little bit selfish and thinking about how to bless others, and what is the kind of world they’d long to exist in the future. That sounds like a bigger, better, more Godly world, and way to get there.
The disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous.
All people seeing the wisdom of God. People living right with God, following his rules, are following a better path. These are not restrictive rules, but life-giving guidelines and help. People will see the benefit of following God’s rules and ways, and will turn to God as a result.
These are both, hopefully, things I can do, to prepare the way for Jesus. I can live in a righteous way, to enjoy the good life with God, showing others its a better way, because it is. I can also encourage us to think about the future generations, and children specifically listening to them and all that they have to say or show.
2) Zechariah’s first response to being able to speak.
He’s spent ages not being able to speak. So many things he probably want to tell everyone about what happened, that he loves his wife, the great jokes he’s been saving up, he’s probably been thinking about what he’ll say or do for ages. So, what does he do? He praises God! “Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.” (v64). This must have been heartfelt praise. I get the impression that he went off singing, a bit crazy, dancing around so joyful.
3) What happened after Zechariah praised God.
And then “Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied” (v67). This is great. Zechariah’s first response was worship, and then out of that worship, God moved, God took it to something new, and revealed to Zechariah and those around him more of his unfolding story. It must have been really encouraging and inspiring. Also, it helped the people answer the question they were asking (v66) “What then is this child going to be?” The questions we ask, can be answered through God, and that might just follow times of extravagant, joy-filled worship.
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