Mark 1 - What's the point?
Updated: Jan 17, 2022
Don't just follow the crowd. Know exactly why it is that Jesus came.
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Mark 1 (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.”
16 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.
17 And Jesus said to them,
“Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
19 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.
20 And immediately he called them,
and they left their father Zebedee
in the boat
with the hired servants
and followed him.
21 And they went into Capernaum,
and immediately on the Sabbath
he entered the synagogue
and was teaching.
22 And they were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one who had authority,
and not as the scribes.
23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit.
And he cried out,
24 “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.”
25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying,
“Be silent,
and come out of him!”
26 And the unclean spirit,
convulsing him
and crying out with a loud voice,
came out of him.
27 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.”
28 And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.
29 And immediately
he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.
30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever,
and immediately they told him about her.
31 And he came
and took her by the hand
and lifted her up,
and
the fever left her,
and she began to serve them.
32 That evening at sundown
they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons.
33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door.
34 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.
35 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.
36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him,
37 and
they found him and said to him,
“Everyone is looking for you.”
38 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.”
39 And he went throughout all Galilee,
preaching in their synagogues
and casting out demons.
40 And a leper came to him,
imploring him,
and kneeling said to him,
“If you will,
you can make me clean.”
41 Moved with pity,
he stretched out his hand
and touched him
and said to him,
“I will;
be clean.”
42 And immediately
the leprosy left him,
and he was made clean.
43 And Jesus
sternly charged him and sent him away at once,
44 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.”
45 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.
Watch / Listen to the DIG DEEPER video:
Mark 1 Summary
v1-8 - The gospel begins using the same opening words as Genesis ("the beginning") and by showing how John the Baptist fulfills Old Testament prophecy.
v9-13 - Jesus' baptism & temptation are described in Mark's trademark rapid fire manner.
v14-45 - Jesus begins His ministry by announcing that the Kingdom of God is near. Mark quickly moves from one event to the other, using the word 'immediately' nine times.
Dig Deeper
Nearly everyone, believers and nonbelievers alike, have a theory as to what Jesus' ministry was all about, but most people get it wrong. Jesus didn't come to end poverty, solve social justice issues or establish a Christian nation. Rather, He makes His intentions clear right off the bat in verse 15:
The
time is fulfilled,
and the Kingdom of God is at hand;
[therefore] repent and believe in the gospel.
Some people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught with authority. When Jesus called the first disciples, they immediately dropped what they were doing and followed Him.
But that's not what most people wanted from Jesus. The crowds were enamored with healings and miracles. They could care less about the Kingdom of God; they just wanted their immediate problems solved, and they saw Jesus had the power to do this, so His fame spread.
But Jesus stayed on mission. Instead of capitalizing on His fame, Jesus withdrew to a desolate place so that He could spend time in silence and in prayer (which is a habit we should emulate).
His new disciples finally find Him, eager to bring Him back to the crowds so the miracle parade can continue, but Jesus rebuffs them, telling them it was time to move on, so that I may preach..., for that is why I came out.
Be sure that you know why Jesus came, and put yourself in a position in life to hear His gospel preached as much as possible.
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who tore heaven open to express His pleasure with Christ
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for a strong appetite to hear the gospel preached.
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
