He Will Turn the Hearts of the Parents to Their Children and the Disobedient to the Wisdom of the Righteous (Mark 1:6-8)
After the prophet Malachi, there was a four-hundred-year silence. Then a voice shattered that silence. Mark opens his gospel by declaring that voice as “the beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). That voice was the forerunner of Jesus—John the Baptist. He preached “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4), and many people came to him and were baptized. This shows how urgent it is to receive the gospel of Christ for salvation, and how important it is to bear fruit—love and forgiveness—that comes from the Holy Spirit, as a sign of genuine repentance.
Mark 1:6–8 describes who is great before God and the purpose of baptism.
In the Spirit and Power of Elijah
“John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.” (Mark 1:6)
John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah. His birth and ministry were foretold by an angel to his father Zechariah, a priest. Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth had no children because they were old (Luke 1:7). During his priestly service in the temple, Zechariah was chosen by lot to enter and burn incense. There, the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said:
“Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.” (Luke 1:13)
It is extremely rare for a heavenly messenger to announce both the birth and the name of a child. Jesus’ birth is the only other example. Normally, parents name their children with no heavenly announcement. Yet, God knows every person even before birth. As the Lord said:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” (Jeremiah 1:5)
The angel continued:
“He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to 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.” (Luke 1:14–17)
John’s birth brought joy and gladness to his long-childless parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, and also to many others, because he would prepare the way for Jesus Christ, the true Savior. The angel declared he would be great in the sight of the Lord. Jesus Himself said:
“Among those born of women there is no one greater than John.” (Luke 7:28; see also Matthew 11:11)
Later, John boldly rebuked King Herod for taking his
brother’s wife, Herodias. She deeply resented him, and when the opportunity
came, John was beheaded.
How could such a righteous man suffer such a tragic death and still be called
the greatest? Because greatness in God’s eyes is very different from the
world’s standards.
First, those filled with the Holy Spirit are great before God. Like Samson, John was a Nazirite, consecrated to God, and filled with the Holy Spirit. He turned many people back to God. Those who believe in Jesus Christ also receive the promised Holy Spirit, who lives with them forever.
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever.” (John 14:16)
Second, John was great because he came “in the spirit and power of Elijah,” preparing the people for the Lord. He turned the hearts of the parents to their children and led the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous. This is what it means to prepare the way for the Lord.
John lived in the wilderness, dressed in camel’s hair with a leather belt, eating locusts and wild honey—just like the prophet Elijah (2 Kings 1:8). Elijah had confronted idol-worshiping kings and people with God’s zeal. On Mount Carmel, he challenged over 800 prophets of Baal and Asherah to prove who the true God was (1 Kings 18:17–40). He also prayed, and drought struck the land for years (1 Kings 17:1). Elijah called the people to repent and return to the Lord. That was the unchanging love of God toward sinners.
Nothing is more urgent and important than turning to God in repentance and receiving eternal life.
For example, Jesus spoke of the lost sheep and said:
“Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents…” (Luke 15:6–7)
Jesus welcomed the tax collector Zacchaeus when he repented. He went to his house, declared salvation had come to him, and said he too was a son of Abraham (Luke 19:7–9). Tax collectors were seen as public sinners, like prostitutes. They were expelled from society and could not even enter synagogues.
Look at Jesus Himself. Though He was equal with God, He came down and took on the nature of a servant.
He, the highest, became the lowest. He was the Son of God and Messiah, but He was not welcomed. Instead, He was falsely accused and condemned. Ultimately, He was sentenced to death under the charge “King of the Jews” and was crucified.
Jesus was born in a lowly manger and lived with no possessions. Yet through His shed blood, He brought forgiveness of sins to all and gave eternal life.
Then the Father raised Him from the dead and exalted Him to the highest place:
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9–11)
He Will Baptize You With The Holy Spirit
7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:7–8)
John the Baptist was a forerunner who prepared the way for the coming of the Savior, Jesus Christ. His message began with a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. That’s because the authority to forgive sins belongs to Jesus Christ alone. It is only through the power of His blood shed on the cross that anyone who believes can receive forgiveness.
John cried out to those who came to him for baptism, telling them someone far more powerful than he was coming. That someone is the Son of God, Jesus Christ. John said he wasn’t even worthy to stoop down and untie His sandals. Jesus is greater than John because while John baptized with water, Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit.
John’s baptism was with water. Baptism (immersion) is a symbolic act of going under water and then being raised back up again. It represents dying to sin and being brought back to life. Spiritually, it symbolizes dying with Christ, who died because of the sins of the world, and rising again with Him, just as He rose from the dead after three days.
The apostle Paul explained baptism this way in Romans:
“3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Romans 6:3–5)
The people of Israel, after escaping Egypt, walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. Paul explained that this was like being baptized in the cloud and in the sea. That’s why John the Baptist proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins—because baptism marks the entrance into the way of salvation through Christ.
“1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” (1 Corinthians 10:1–2)
But water baptism is only a shadow that points to the forgiveness and new life God gives in Christ. The water itself doesn’t make a person clean. It is possible to receive baptism only as a formality, without truly believing in the heart. True forgiveness comes only when someone believes with the heart and confesses Jesus Christ as Lord.
The real substance behind water baptism is Spirit baptism. To those who repent of sin and confess Jesus as Lord in faith, He gives the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit baptism cleanses and purifies us through forgiveness and clothes us in the righteousness of God.
So both water baptism and Spirit baptism are essential. In order to receive the gospel of God’s Son, Christ, a person must first confess and repent of sin. Jesus told Nicodemus:
“Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.” (John 3:5)
At its core, baptism means death. Every person must die because of sin:
“For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23)
Baptism is a sign that one recognizes and believes this solemn truth. Yes, it refers to the physical death of the body. The body has nothing in it that can please God. It is full of sin—rebellious, resistant, and disobedient toward God:
“The mind governed by the flesh is death… The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.” (Romans 8:6–7)
So the flesh must die.
But baptism also means being raised to life again. Those baptized into Christ by His blood no longer live by the flesh, but now live through Jesus Christ who dwells in them. Therefore, they no longer bear the fruit of sin, but rather the fruit of Christ—love, peace, and joy.
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but
Christ lives in me.
The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
June 15, 2025
Buffalo Livingstone Church ©2025,
David Lee Ministries ©2025 – All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotes are from the NIV.
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