Now that we can watch all of our favorite shows on DVR, Amazon Prime, Netflix, or any one of a zillion ways, we no longer have the experience we used to have, of watching something and then turning to a friend and saying, “What did he say?”, “What was that mumble?” or “Where are they going?” Anything we miss, we can just rewind and see again.

This story from Mark’s gospel, starting us off in the season of Lent, is one we want to rewind, again and again. A lot — a lot — happens in these seven verses. Mark is known for being the most spare of all the gospels. He has way less detailed than Matthew and Luke, and he wrote with a kind of “just the facts” approach. In these few verses, Jesus was baptized, made his way into the wilderness, and started his public ministry.

Jesus might want to rewind,…