Mark 1:1-13 9/21

Background on Mark

So the reason we are starting in Mark and not Matthew is that Mark was actually the first Gospel written. See for some reason the Bible is not always in chronological order and this is a case of that. Mark decided to be the first to write a Gospel. When reading the New Testament there is only one Mark, even with it being a very common name. The Mark mentioned in the New Testament is John Mark found in Acts 12:25.

Acts 12:25 ESV

25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.

So this is the same Mark that is attributed to writing this Gospel. Early Church tradition believes that Mark was basically Peters the disciple and Apostles assistant. Peter being an uneducated fisherman would not of possessed great linguistic skills as an author or translator. We know he was a great speaker and given that Gift in Acts 3. Peter being the lead Apostle and cornerstone of the Church Mark felt it best to follow and write for Peter. So Mark actually does not name himself as the Author it is through other sources and early church Fathers that distinguish him as the author.

Acts 15:37–39 ESV

37 Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus,

It is believed that after this split they encountered Peter and joined Peter and then he wrote for Peter as he once did for Paul. This would be around the year 65 AD because in the year 70 AD Jerusalem is destroyed. It was also written to Rome most likely right around the time Peter was martyred and hung upside down on a cross. Christians were being persecuted at this time and the Roman Emperor Nero is burning them alive and responsible for Peter and Paul’s death.

Mark is a gospel of action and not of teaching, he is not worried about the details of everything, he shares brief explanations of everything and moves on very fast. he uses the word “Immediately ” often.

Matthew and Mark Major Themes

Mark highlights Jesus as the suffering Son of Man and Servant proportionately more than any other Gospel. In fact, nine of thirteen uses of the “Son of Man” title look to Jesus’ suffering.

Overall Mark Highlights two themes, first being Jesus being a suffering Servant.

second, is how to walk with God in a world that rejects those sent by God.

Matthew and Mark Major Themes

In summary, Mark addresses a church under duress and suffering rejection as their Teacher had before them. The antidote to their stressful situation is to persevere and to look to Jesus as their example. The Gospel of Mark gives us one of the earliest glimpses as to how the church presented Jesus and his life to others who needed to be established in their walk with God.

So now that we know all this information we can dive into scripture.

Scripture

Mark 1:1–15 ESV

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ” 4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 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. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 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. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” 9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 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. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” 12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 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. 14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Hook

Okay so I have been camping. Have any of you ever been camping before?

When I went camping it was one of the worse experiences of my life. I was in 8th grade little nerd, i was not an outdoorsy guy then, and still am not. I was with my Sunday school class and us guys for some reason went camping, bunch of scrawny kids. Well that night it thunderstorm and poured rain all night and we did not have a tent cover so our tent started flooding and when we woke up at like 2 am it was several inches deep of water. I instantly woke up and said nope not worth it. took out my sliding phone and called my mom to pick me up cause I was dripping wet and scared. It was an awful experience, half of us left and went home, while the other half stayed and left at like 8am. Jesus camped here for 40 days and fasted for 40 days, I can fast for about 24 hours but that is pushing it. Camping I cannot do for one night much less 40 days like Jesus did. This is not often regarded as a miracle but in terms of today’s culture it is pretty impressive.

Transition

Jesus spent most of his life wandering the dessert Matthew 8:20

Matthew 8:20 ESV

20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

Jesus spent most of his ministry life traveling without a home.

Look

we are going to go through verse by verse through Mark. So verse one it says The Beginning just like Genesis. verse two and three are quoting Isaiah a Prophet from the Old Testament. these verses are actually not talking about Jesus but of John the Baptist. when looking at the verses we can understand that because Mark says, “my messenger before your face” then “prepare your way” John is also known to live in the wilderness fulltime and eat weird things like Locust and bugs. “He also says prepare the way of the Lord” showing that he is going before the Lord because in order to prepare for something you must do that before hand. He was meant to prepare peoples hearts for Jesus.

I Imagine John being like a smelly hippy, with dreads, rotted teeth and he is preaching about a coming Messiah and King who will save the world and everyone is just like who is this psycho? eating bugs, and preaching about a Messiah.

Verse 4-8 shows what John is doing, he is going through the wilderness preaching about Jesus and preparing their hearts and souls for his start of ministry. John was baptizing them in repentance. this means they were not saved or believed in Jesus as Lord but believed they were sinners and needs to repent of their sins.

Mark: An Introduction and Commentary B. The Forerunner (1:2–8)

John’s baptism was not in the name of Jesus, nor was it directly associated with the gift of the Holy Spirit (8), as baptism by the Messiah was to be. Disciples of John are therefore re-baptized by Paul, as being ignorant of the coming of the Spirit, and as not having been baptized ‘in the name’ of Jesus.

They accept their re baptism and become disciples and followers of Jesus, acknowledging he was the one John preached about.

Then it describes John in detail, I think the smelly hippy with braids was pretty accurate.

Mark 1:7–8 ESV

7 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. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

These next few verses is one of the coolest sections in scripture. Mark 1:9-11

Mark 1:9–11 ESV

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 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. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

John gets to baptize Jesus, that's insane that a man, a sinner, someone who is unclean and unworthy is able to baptize Jesus. Jesus being the holy, clean spiritually, and pure allowed a gross, locust eating sinner to baptize him. No one is worthy of that privilege and yet Jesus allowed John to baptize him.

Jesus saw the heavens open up and saw the Holy Spirit descend as a dove and heard God speak to him.

Imagine being a disciple of John and not really understanding everything but then all of a sudden the heavens open, an awesome dove comes and lands on Jesus, then a voice from Heave says “You are my beloved son with you I am well pleased.” I would just be in shock like taking several minutes to process. then realizing that I had just witnessed the SON OF GOD BEING BAPTIZED

So when Jesus was being baptized it was not for repentance, being Holy and sinless he had no need for repenting, this was more symbolic and a way to usher in his new ministry.

IMMEDIATELY after being baptized the Spirit told him to go into the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted by Satan.

Matthew 4:3–11 ESV

3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Matthew gives us a deeper insight on what Jesus was being tempted by. So I am obsessed with Angels and have written many papers on them and actually know the different types of them.

John is now arrested once Jesus enters Galilee and is proclaiming the Gospel. He has officially started his ministry and is calling people to believe in Him as their saviour.

Look

Jesus has called all of us to be disciples as well, because the Kingdom of God is at hand, it is here, and there is no time like now to start a life with Jesus and be baptized, as John baptized Jesus.

Pray