Gospel of Mark Chapter 1 Vs. 7

 John the Baptist Prepares the Way

Mark 1:7 “And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.”

Preached, saying, There... Denotes a continuous activity. This is John’s characteristic message. Better translated: proclaiming. John was Jesus’ herald, sent to announce His coming (Ref. Verse 4).

There cometh one... The 1st New Testament prophecy in Mark (Mar. 1:7-8, fulfilled and being fulfilled). Next, Mar. 2:20.

the latchet of... Refers to the thong of a sandal. John is concerned to make clear both his inferiority so as not to distract from the future-oriented focus of his message, and the Coming One’s superiority so as to cultivate longing and expectancy. Many of the ancient shoes were only soles with strings or thongs to tie around the foot. Unlatching shoes was considered a mark of respect on the part of a disciple to a master.

And unloose

Compare to bear; Mat. 3:11.

I am not... The most menial task a slave could perform. John vividly expressed his humility.

To stoop down

A detail peculiar to Mark.

We see here, a humble man. John the Baptist knew that he was nothing compared to Jesus. Our ministers of today could take a lesson from John. We are nothing but a voice fulfilling the ministry that God has called us to. The person of the preacher is not the important thing. The message is the important thing, for by the foolishness of preaching people are saved.

As John the Baptist elevated Jesus to His rightful position as God manifest in the flesh, so should every follower of Jesus and especially the ministers of His Word. Get our minds and messages off of mortal men and onto the mighty God, Jesus Christ our Lord. At the presence of the Lord, every knee will bow as John did.

Phil. 2:10-11 “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth;” “And [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

We must all remember with John that we are not worthy to unloose His shoes.

IT was when all men mused in their hearts whether John was the Christ or no, that he announced the coming of a Stronger One. By thus promptly silencing a whisper, so honorable to himself, he showed how strong he really was, and how unselfish a friend of the Bridegroom. Nor was this the vague humility of phrase which is content to be lowly in general, so long as no specified individual stands higher. His word is definite and accepts much for himself. The Stronger One than I cometh, and it is in presence of the might of Jesus whom, yet this fiery reformer called a Lamb, that he feels himself unworthy to bend to the dust and unbind the latchets or laces of His shoe.

So then, though asceticism be sometimes good, it is consciously not the highest nor the most effective goodness. Perhaps it is the most impressive. Without a miracle, the preaching of John shook the nation as widely as that of Jesus melted it, and prepared men’s hearts for His. A king consulted and feared him. And when the Pharisees were at open feud with Jesus, they feared to be stoned if they should pronounce John’s baptism to be of men.

Yet is there weakness lurking even in the very quality which gives asceticism its power. That stern seclusion from an evil world, that peremptory denial of its charms, why are they so impressive? Because they set an example to those who are hard beset, of the one way of escape, the cutting off of the hand and foot, the plucking out of the eye. And our Lord enjoins such mutilation of the life upon those whom its gifts betray. Yet is it as the halt and maimed that such men enter into life. The ascetic is a man who needs to sternly repress and deny his impulses, who is conscious of traitors within his breast that may revolt if the enemy be suffered to approach too near.

It is harder to be a holy friend of publicans and sinners, a witness for God while eating and drinking with these, than to remain in the desert undefiled. It is greater to convert a sinful woman in familiar converse by the well, than to shake trembling multitudes by threats of the fire for the chaff and the axe for the barren tree. And John confesses this. In the supreme moment of his life, he added his own confession to that of all his nation. This rugged ascetic had need to be baptized of Him who came eating and drinking.

John’s Message As A Prophet

The opening words are literally, And he was proclaiming as a herald, saying… (cf. Mar. 1:4). Mark summarized John’s message in order to focus on its main theme, the announcement of a greater Person still to come who would baptize people with the Holy Spirit (Mar. 1:8).

The words, after me in time will come One echo Mal. 3:1 and Mal. 4:5, but the precise identity of the Coming One remained hidden even to John till after Jesus’ baptism (cf. John 1:29-34). No doubt Mark avoided the term Messiah because of popular misconceptions associated with it. Mar. 1:8 suggests why the Coming One is more powerful than John.

John emphasized the importance of the Coming One and showed his own humility (cf. John 3:27-30) by declaring that he was not worthy to stoop down words recorded only by Mark and untie the thongs leather straps used to fasten His sandals. Even a Hebrew slave was not required to do this menial task for his master!