Going Backwards
“After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.” (Mark 1:14)
Mini-Message
One highlight reel moment doesn’t guarantee a thing.
Next week your game may be completely off. You may disappear.
Even worse, you could suffer a career-ending injury. Who knows?
The future may not be as glorious as your best memory.
But rest assured—the same God who was with you in the beginning, who gave you the ability to play to begin with, whom you thanked with such passion on your best day—that God is with you when things are falling apart, too.
Your job is to continue to move forward, on the same mission and with the same resiliency.
The Five-Minute Version
Now, remember, they’re cousins. Jesus and John are six months apart in age, their mothers sisters. Though we don’t know, there’s a good probability they even grew up together. Judging by their partnership, they were tight.
Mark’s story of Jesus even begins with John. He opens on action (as good stories do) - the whole countryside was coming out to see him. Then Jesus appears while John stands in the Jordan.
They were a dynamic duo, there on the riverbank.
The people saw “heaven being torn open,” and heard the very voice of God. It was an early season highlight moment for the ages, a clip to be played back for years to come. They were two young stars on the same team. The future seemed incredibly bright.
But immediately after, what happened?
Things went backwards. Very very badly.
First, as we discussed in the previous entry, Jesus was sent into the wilderness. He went AWOL. Mark gives the third-person omniscient view, telling us, oh it was okay, he was out being tested by Satan, as if that’s no biggie.
But at the time, it was even worse. Mark notes that the Spirit sent Jesus out “at once,” like he came out of the water and promptly walked off into the horizon.
But that’s not the worst of it. While Jesus is absent, the Romans come, grab John, and throw him into prison. Spoiler alert: he never gets out. It gets ugly, too.
The tragedy of this cannot be overstated. John was like a young star who played a couple of great games, and then had a career-ending injury. His moment in the sun was brief.
What makes it even worse is that the when the Romans made their move, Jesus wasn’t around to protect or help his cousin. Imagine how Jesus felt, coming back from the wilderness and finding out his partner in crime, his lifelong friend, his cousin— taken by the Romans.
What a massive disaster.
Have you ever felt like you take one step forward, and then immediately go backwards?
You master one level, but then the next one comes along and it’s completely overwhelming.
You have a decent and hopeful exchange in the long standing problem relationship, but then the same old triggers apply and it feels like you’re back to where you started.
You think you’ve got it finally built, but then one stupid little detail becomes the deal breaker.
What makes the step backwards worse is when you’re convinced God was in it before. I mean, the heavens tore open! It was so obvious, you talked about it with other people.
Now, it’s just embarrassing.
Maybe God wasn’t in it at all. How are you supposed to know? Sure seems like it isn’t working any more. Jesus went missing and John is in prison.
Sometimes it just feels like life is going backwards.
But: whoever says it’s a smooth ride up the coaster? Life isn’t locked in. It is messy, a market climb with a ton of jagged peaks and edgy valleys.
When it feels like everything is falling apart, remember: God was there at the beginning. God gave you the highlight reel moments to sustain you. God knows all about the wilderness moments and the prison guards.
God will see you through this, too.
What do we do when things are going backwards? What did Jesus do? He went into town anyway, and proclaimed the good news of God.
Prompt
What are you worried about today?
Is there a John in your life, a partner in crime?
Was there a highlight reel moment from before, or is it what’s happening now?
If you have taken a step backwards, name the loss you’ve experienced.
Prayer
Lord God, thank you for being there in the beginning. Thank you for giving me the highlight reel moment. Help me to see you in the middle of the setbacks. Show me your presence in the middle of the loss. Comfort me to grieve the backwards part and give me the strength to go into town anyway. Amen.