Mark 1 (Introduction)
Notes
Transcript
Mark 1 (Introduction)
Mark 1 (Introduction)
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,
“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way,
the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’ ”
John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.
And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.
And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.
And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.
This is the introduction to the Gospel of Mark
It is fast paced and there are a number of things that are covered in these 45 verses.
Most will say that Mark is written for non-Jews so they understand the gospel.
I tend to disagree.
Because if you are a non-Jew and you go to a synagogue and try ti find the first verse reference you won’t find it in Isaiah
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ”
The first part of that verse is found in Malachi 3:1
The second part is found in Isaiah 40:3
And after, John appears, implying that John the Baptizer is the messenger spoken of by these two prophets.
If you don’t know these prophets, and you don’t know the story, then you have no idea the context.
But for a Jew, they would immediately recognize this.
Regardless, the stage is set from the beginning that this is a story about Israel’s God and their history.
The language of the prophets are closely tied to the story of an exodus of some form
Israel is scattered, for the most part, among the nations
A new exodus is underway to draw Israel and Non-Israelites from the nations
The second and third ones are Mark 1:10
And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
There are several moments where the heavens are opened and in Psalm 2:7, it records the LORD saying, ‘You are my son, today I have begotten you.’
Every Jew of the day would have been aware of these passages.
But, the concept of a ‘Son of God’ is not unusual among the Romans
Hercules is a Son of God, so the idea of an offspring from a god is not strange to their ears.
And the fourth major reference is Mark 1:44-45
and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.
After healing the man of leprosy, Jesus sends him to follow the Law of Moses to be restored to fellowship.
This passage sets us up for the one that we will read next week.
The man with leprosy is ritually impure
The man next week will be forgiven his sins too
Showing that Jesus has authority to heal both.
And there are many more:
The sandals are a reference to Abraham that wherever he puts his foot is God’s land
Also, the sandals are a reference that Jesus does not have to remove his shoes in the presence of the LORD (Moses, Joshua)
Fishing for people is a direct reference to Jer 16:16
“Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the Lord, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks.
He teaches differently than the scribes: The scribes are chastised in the prophets for drawing people away from Torah because of their writings and teachings
Jesus observes the Sabbath
He drives out unclean spirits
But primarily, the Jews of the day would recognize the following:
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
This will become the core messages for his followers
During the next few months, we are going to read through Mark.
And my hope is that you can hear the message of the Gospel
You can see your place in the Big Story of God
You can see that God is calling everyone from all nations to join him as fishers of people.
Mark 1 (Introduction)
Mark 1 (Introduction)
