GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 1:4

Symbols Are Important     In high school, I was on the wrestling team, in the 165 lb weight class—oh, those were the days, sigh. We all had a letterman’s jacket with the wrestling insignia proudly affixed to it. When we went to a contest, we all wore our jackets so everyone would identify us as part of the team.
    Identification for humans is important—identification as part of a group, a movement, or culture. There are few individuals who practice a hermit life, but even they are identified by the “hermit” label.
    St. Mark began his gospel with the sudden appearance of John. He wrote, “John came baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (1:4) John’s audience understood the meaning and importance of baptism. Anyone who converted to Judaism had to undergo three things to be identified as a Jew: circumcision, a sacrifice for atonement, and baptism, which symbolized his cleansing from all the pollution of his past life.
    The people in John’s audience repented of their sins and received baptism as a symbol of the forgiveness of their sins. Without going into the theology of baptism, which has its roots in Jewish culture, at its base, somewhat analogous to the letterman’s jacket, baptism is the universal symbol of identification with Christianity. Directory

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