Introduction
Mark begins his account of the Gospel as he introduces us to John the Baptist, the herald who prepares the way for the coming Messiah.
Context
- David Unsworth has returned to relative anonymity and his role as coach to his club’s Under-23 team, having been replaced as interim head coach at Everton by ‘Big’ Sam Allardyce. Unsworth’s last game, after an inauspicious period in charge, was a 4-0 win over West Ham.
- Two unheralded footballers made the news this week. Alberto Brignoli, Benevento’s goalkeeper scored an injury time goal to secure a draw and his team’s first point of the season after 14 defeats so far this season. Joe Bryan, one of Bristol City’s full backs, has arranged to pay for an amateur footballer’s physiotherapy to help him recover from a serious leg injury.
- A 98-year-old woman took the role of a donkey in a nativity play.
- A policeman held on to a truck with his hands to stop it falling over a bridge.
- Elton John’s mother, to whom the performer has recently been reconciled, has died aged 92.
- Early previews of The Darkest Hour, a film set in May 1940, have praised Gary Oldman’s performance as Winston Churchill.
- Depending on when you are reading this – and also your position regarding Brexit – the news may be good or bad concerning Brexit and the Irish border conundrum.
Reflection
We can reflect upon the mental state of John the Baptist. He pointed his disciples towards Jesus as the Lamb of God, but he later second-guessed his own judgement when the preacher from Nazareth didn’t conform to John’s notion of what a Messiah ‘looked like’. One’s feelings regarding one’s successor will often be mixed. On the one hand, if one has invested in a project – whether it be a football team or a church – one wants to see that project continue to succeed. On the other hand, most of us would admit to praying for on-going success, but not too much. David Unsworth inherited a team that was underachieving after hiring a ‘name’ coach and making a number of expensive signings. For whatever reason, this did not result in points gained in the League, and Unsworth’s spell in charge rarely looked like improving that situation…until his last game when Sam Allardyce, the renowned rescuer of lost causes, had already been given the job to which he himself aspired.
It is likely that John the Baptist was part of one of the communities that withdrew from the world to live in the desert, but it was he whom God called to herald God’s new work. We have seen examples of unexpected people fulfilling important roles, whether it be through being in the right place at the right time, or seeing a need to be filled. ‘…be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.’ (Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Act 2, Scene 5.)
Elton John’s relationship with his mother did not run smoothly. However, he acknowledged that while his father was an amateur musician, it was his mother who fostered his love of popular music. Without her, it is possible that Reg Dwight would never have become Elton John – Superstar.
Knowing what is good news sometimes requires the 20:20 vision of hindsight. Within the life times of those who wrote the Gospel stories, there were those who questioned whether what they had heard or seen was really good news.
The Darkest Hour is likely to receive Oscar nominations, not least for Gary Oldman’s portrayal of Churchill in what is a companion piece to last summer’s Dunkirk. Where that film looked at the evacuation of Dunkirk from the perspective of those on the beach, in the sea and in the air. The Darkest Hour’s perspective is from London – Buckingham Palace and Whitehall. While Churchill is the main protagonist, the film addresses his relationship with Chamberlain, ‘the one who went before’. It is also a reminder that, there are different ways of retelling the same events. This was the case with the way that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John telling of ‘the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ’.
Prayer
Our God, we pray for those who have become famous.
Some of these people will have sought fame and power,
while for others this will have come as a product of their role or their achievements.
We pray for those who have been forced into the limelight and find this difficult.
We thank you for women and men for whom circumstance or conscience forces them into acts of great valour.
We thank you that you call and use ordinary people for the work of the kingdom.
We thank you for those who have influenced us – those who have ‘gone before us’ – may we have the grace to ‘go before’ others and revel in their success.
We continue to pray for those involved in the Brexit negotiations and especially we pray for a mutually beneficial solution to the problem of the Irish border might be found.
Amen.
Questions
- John the Baptist stood out from his contemporaries in how he lived. Who in our day could be compared to John?
- It has often been said that without John Smith, there would have been no New Labour government. Are there other examples of people who would not have led or have been so successful in leading without someone to ‘go before’ them?
Action
A very practical and literal example of ‘going before’ someone is to pay for the coffee of the person after you in the queue. Try it and see what sort of response you get!
Young People
I’m a Celebrity will be crowning a King or Queen of the Jungle this weekend. John the Baptist would have won it hands down, if he had been competing. What’s the strangest thing that you’ve ever eaten?
Simon Carver is a Baptist Minister in St Albans and takes a particular interest in film and sport.
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