Episode 7 Remembering the Thin Places

Mark tells no back stories: no theological images like John, no genealogy like Matthew, and no birth narrative like Luke. Mark begins with John the Baptist.   Jesus was about 30 years old, the age when many men got married,  when he decided to travel to the Judean wilderness to hear John the Baptist preach. John was a powerful, prophetic, political preacher who drew large and diverse crowds out into the wilderness with fiery sermons. Regular folks, leading priests, politicians, and even Roman Soldiers came to the wilderness. I grew up thinking about Jesus’ baptism as a formality, as an “according to all righteousness” box the Holy One checked for our benefit, after all orthodoxy teaches that Jesus had nothing to repent. But I’m beginning to wonder if Jesus’ baptism and wilderness experience are  pivotal moments, where Jesus discerns what his life will be about? Lent Invites us to slow down and ponder deeper questions like: who will we be?