Hosted By
Hosting Service
Part One
a Grace Notes publication
The Gospel of Mark
an expositional Bible study by
Dr. Daniel Hill, Pastor
Southwood Bible Church
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Edited by Warren Doud
The Gospel of Mark
Table of Contents
Foreword 13
Introduction 14
OUTLINE 14
MARK, THE HUMAN WRITER 14
THE SETTING AND DESTINATION: 14
ILLUSTRATION: 14
Chapter 1 15
Mark 1:1 15
Mark 1:2 15
Mark 1:3 16
Mark 1:4 17
Mark 1:5 18
Mark 1:6 18
Mark 1:7,8 18
Mark 1:9-11 19
Mark 1:12,13 22
Mark 1:14 24
Mark 1:15 24
Mark 1:16-20 25
Mark 1:21 26
Mark 1:22 27
Mark 1:23 29
Mark 1:24 29
Mark 1:25 29
Mark 1:26 30
Mark 1:27,28 30
Mark 1:29-31 30
Mark 1:32-34 31
Mark 1:35-39 32
Mark 1:40 34
Mark 1:41 36
Mark 1:42 36
Mark 1:43 36
Mark 1:44 37
Mark 1:45 37
Chapter 2 38
Mark 2:1 38
Mark 2:2 38
Mark 2:3 39
Mark 2:4 39
Mark 2:5 39
Mark 2:6 43
Mark 2:7 43
Mark 2:8 44
Mark 2:9 44
Mark 2:10 44
Mark 2:11 44
Mark 2:12 45
Mark 2:13-17 45
Mark 2:13 46
Mark 2:14 46
Mark 2:15 48
Mark 2:16 48
Mark 2:17 49
Mark 2:18 49
Mark 2:19 50
Mark 2:20 50
Mark 2:21 50
Mark 2:22 51
Mark 2:23, 24 53
Mark 2:25,26 54
Mark 2:27 55
Mark 2:28 56
Chapter 3 56
Mark 3:1 56
Mark 3:2 56
Mark 3:3 57
Mark 3:4 57
Mark 3:5 58
Mark 3:6 58
Mark 3:7, 8 59
Mark 3:9-12 60
Mark 3:13 60
Mark 3:14, 15 60
Mark 3:16-21 61
Mark 3:20,21 61
Mark 3:22 62
Mark 3:23 62
Mark 3:24 62
Mark 3:25 63
Mark 3:26 63
Mark 3:27 63
Mark 3:28-30 63
Mark 3:31 64
Mark 3:32 64
Mark 3:33-35 64
Chapter 4 68
Mark 4:1 68
Mark 4:2 69
Mark 4:3-9 69
Mark 4:10 70
Mark 4:11 70
Mark 4:12,13 70
Mark 4:14 72
Mark 4:15 72
Mark 4:16,17 72
Mark 4:18,19 73
Mark 4:20 74
Mark 4:21-24 74
Mark 4:25 76
Mark 4:26 78
Mark 4:27 78
Mark 4:28 79
Mark 4:29 79
Mark 4:30-32 79
Mark 4:33-35 80
Mark 4:36 81
Mark 4:37 81
Mark 4:38 81
Mark 4:39 82
Mark 4:40 82
Mark 4:41 83
Chapter 5 83
Mark 5:1 83
Mark 5:2 83
Mark 5:3-5 84
Mark 5:6 85
Mark 5:7 85
Mark 5:8 85
Mark 5:9 85
Mark 5:10 85
Mark 5:11, 12 85
Mark 2:13 86
Mark 2:14-17 86
Mark 5:18-20 86
Mark 5:21 86
Mark 5:22,23 87
Mark 5:24 88
Mark 5:25-27 88
Mark 5:28 89
Mark 5:29 89
Mark 5:30,31 89
Mark 5:32 90
Mark 5:33 90
Mark 5:34 90
Mark 5:35 91
Mark 5:36 91
Mark 5:37 91
Mark 5:38,39 91
Mark 5:40 92
Mark 5:41 92
Mark 5:42 92
Mark 5:43 93
Chapter 6 93
Mark 6:1 93
Mark 6:2 94
Mark 6:3 94
Mark 6:4 95
Mark 6:5 95
Mark 6:6 95
Mark 6:7 96
Mark 6:8,9 97
Mark 6:10 97
Mark 6:11 98
Mark 6:12,13 99
Mark 6:14 100
Mark 6:15 100
Mark 6:16,17 100
Mark 6:18 100
Mark 6:19,20 101
Mark 6:21-23 101
Mark 6:24-25 101
Mark 6:26-29 101
Mark 6:30,31 103
Mark 6:32,33 104
Mark 6:34 104
Mark 6:35,36 104
Mark 6:37 105
Mark 6:38 105
Mark 6:39,40 105
Mark 6:41 105
Mark 6:42-44 105
Mark 6:45,46 106
Mark 6:47 107
Mark 6:48 107
Mark 6:49 108
Mark 6:50 108
Mark 6:51 109
Mark 6:52 109
Mark 6:53 109
Mark 6:54-56 109
Chapter 7 110
Mark 7:1 110
Mark 7:2 110
Mark 7:3,4 110
Mark 7:5 111
Mark 7:6-9 111
Mark 7:10 113
Mark 7:11,12 113
Mark 7:13 114
Mark 7:14,15 115
Mark 7:17 116
Mark 7:18 116
Mark 7:19 116
Mark 7:20 116
Mark 7:21,22 117
Mark 7:23 117
Mark 7:24 117
Mark 7:25,26 118
Mark 7:27 118
Mark 7:28 119
Mark 7:29 120
Mark 7:30 120
Mark 7:31 121
Mark 7:32 121
Mark 7:33,34 122
Mark 7:35 123
Mark 7:36 123
Mark 7:37 123
Chapter 8 123
Mark 8:1,2 124
Mark 8:3 124
Mark 8:4 125
Mark 8:5 125
Mark 8:6 125
Mark 8:7 127
Mark 8:8 127
Mark 8:9 127
Mark 8:10,11 127
Mark 8:12 128
Mark 8:13,14 129
Mark 8:15 129
Mark 8:16 129
Mark 8:17,18 129
Mark 8:19,20 130
Mark 8:21 131
Mark 8:22 131
Mark 8:26 134
Mark 8:27 134
Mark 8:28 135
Mark 8:29 135
Mark 8:30,31 136
Mark 8:32 136
Mark 8:33 137
Mark 8:34 138
Mark 8:35 140
Mark 8:36 142
Mark 8:37 142
Mark 8:38 142
Chapter 9 143
Mark 9:1 143
Mark 9:2 144
Mark 9:3 144
Mark 9:4 145
Mark 9:5,6 145
Mark 9:7 146
Mark 9:8,9 147
Mark 9:10 148
Mark 9:11 150
Mark 9:12 151
Mark 9:13 152
Mark 9:14-16 153
Mark 9:16 154
Mark 9:17,18 154
Mark 9:19 154
Mark 9:20-22 155
Mark 9:23 155
Mark 9:24 155
Mark 9:30 157
Mark 9:31 157
Mark 9:32 158
Mark 9:33 158
Mark 9:34 158
Mark 9:35 159
Mark 9:36,37 160
Mark 9:38 160
Mark 8:39 161
Mark 9:40 161
Mark 9:41 161
Mark 9:42 162
Mark 9:43,48 162
Mark 9:49,50 163
Chapter 10 164
Mark 10:1 164
Mark 10:2 164
Mark 10:3 165
Mark 10:4 165
Mark 10:5 165
Mark 10:6-9 165
Mark 10:10 166
Mark 10:11 166
Mark 10:12 167
Mark 10:13 167
Mark 10:14 168
Mark 10:15 169
Mark 10:16 170
Mark 10:17 170
Mark 10:18 171
Mark 10:19,20 171
Mark 10:21 172
Mark 10:22 174
Mark 10:23 174
Mark 10:24 175
Mark 10:25 175
Mark 10:26 175
Mark 10:27 176
Mark 10:28 177
Mark 10:29,30 177
Mark 10:31 178
Mark 10:32 178
Mark 10:35-37 179
Mark 10:38 179
Mark 10:39 180
Mark 10:40 180
Mark 10:41 180
Mark 10:42,43 181
Mark 10:44 182
Mark 10:45 182
Mark 10:46 185
Mark 10:47 185
Mark 10:48 186
Mark 10:49 186
Mark 10:50 186
Mark 10:51 187
Mark 10:52 188
Chapter 11 188
Mark 11:1-3 188
Mark 11:4-7 189
Mark 11:8-10 190
Mark 11:11 191
Mark 11:12 191
Mark 11:13 192
Mark 11:14 192
Mark 11:15 194
Mark 11:15,16 195
Mark 11:17 196
Mark 11:18,19 197
Mark 11:20,21 198
Mark 11:22 198
Mark 11:23 198
Mark 11:24 200
Mark 11:25 200
Mark 11:27 201
Mark 11:28 201
Mark 11:29 202
Mark 11:30 202
Mark 11:31,32 202
Mark 11:33 203
Chapter 12 203
Mark 12:1 204
Mark 12:2-5 204
Mark 12:6 204
Mark 12:7 205
Mark 12:8 205
Mark 12:9 205
Mark 12:10,11 205
Mark 12:12 206
Mark 12:13 206
Mark 12:14 207
Mark 12:15 207
Mark 12:16,17 208
Mark 12:18 210
Mark 12:19 210
Mark 12:20-23 211
Mark 12:24 211
Mark 12:25 211
Mark 12:26,27 212
Mark 12:28 213
Mark 12:29 213
Mark 12:30 214
Mark 12:31 214
Mark 12:32,33 215
Mark 12:34 215
Mark 12:35 216
Mark 12:37 217
Mark 12:38,39 218
Mark 12:40 220
Mark 12:41 221
Mark 12:42 221
Mark 12:43,44 221
Chapter 13 222
Mark 13:2 223
Mark 13:5-8 224
Mark 13:9 225
Mark 13:10 227
Mark 13:12 227
Mark 13:13 228
Mark 13:14 229
Mark 14b-18 230
Mark 13:19,20 231
Mark 12:21,22 231
Mark 12:23 231
Mark 12:24,25 231
Mark 13:26,27 232
Mark 13:28,29 232
Mark 13:30 232
Mark 13:31 232
Mark 13:32 233
Mark 13:33 233
Mark 13:34-36 233
Mark 12:37 235
Chapter 14 235
Mark 14:1 235
Mark 14:2 236
Mark 14:3 238
Mark 14:4,5 240
Mark 14:6 240
Mark 14:7 241
Mark 14:8 241
Mark 14:9 241
Mark 14:10,11 242
Mark 14:12 244
Mark 14:17 248
Mark 14:18 249
Mark 14:19 250
Mark 14:20 250
Mark 14:21 251
Mark 14:22 252
Mark 14:23 254
Mark 14:24 254
Mark 14:25 254
Mark 14:26 255
Mark 14:27 255
Mark 14:28 256
Mark 14:29 257
Mark 14:30 257
Mark 14:31 258
Mark 14:32 259
Mark 14:33 260
Mark 14:34 260
Mark 14:35 261
Mark 14:36 261
Mark 14:37 262
Mark 14:38 262
Mark 14:39 263
Mark 14:40 263
Mark 14:41 263
Mark 14:42 263
Mark 14:43-45 263
Mark 14:46 264
Mark 14:47 264
Mark 14:48,49 265
Mark 14:50 266
Mark 14:51,52 266
Mark 14:53 267
Mark 14:54 267
Mark 14:55 267
Mark 14:56-59 268
Mark 14:60,61a 269
Mark 14:61b 270
Mark 14:62 270
Mark 14:63 271
Mark 14:64 271
Mark 14:65 271
Mark 14:66-71 273
Chapter 15 279
Mark 15:1 279
Mark 15:2 281
Mark 15:3-5 282
Mark 15:6-13 283
Mark 15:14,15 285
Mark 15:16-20 286
Mark 15:21 289
Mark 15:23 292
Mark 15:24 295
Mark 15:25,26 295
Mark 15:27,28 296
Mark 15:29,30 296
Mark 15:31,32 297
Mark 15:33 299
Mark 15:33 (additional notes) 301
Mark 15:34 304
Mark 15:35,36 304
Chapter 16 307
Mark 16:1 307
Mark 16:2 307
Mark 16:3 308
Mark 16:4 308
Mark 16:5 309
Mark 16:6 309
Mark 16:7 309
Mark 16:8 310
Mark 16:9-20 311
Foreword
These studies in the Gospel of Mark have been compiled and written by Rev. Daniel Hill, PhD, pastor of Southwood Bible Church of Tulsa, Oklahoma. He has graciously provided his notes so that they can be made available by E-mail and on the World Wide Web.
After graduating from high school in Scottsdale, Arizona, Dan Hill served in the United States Navy. Upon receiving his honorable discharge in 1965 he attended Arizona State University where he received a degree in Speech and History. Dan and his wife Patricia were married in 1970. Pat is also a graduate of Arizona State University and is the Executive Administrator for Village Missions International, which has its headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Following three years of teaching in the public schools, Dr. Hill enrolled at Dallas Theological Seminary where he received his Masters degree in Theology in 1976. During that time he also was working on research that earned him a Doctorate from the California Graduate School of Theology in 1977.
Dr. Hill pastored Grace Bible Church in Prescott, Arizona for three years, then returned to Phoenix where he was the Bible editor for Alpha Omega Publications and assistant pastor of West Side Bible Church. In 1987, the Hills moved to Hope, Arkansas where Dr. Hill served as pastor of Hope Community Church. In 1990, Dr. Hill accepted his present pastorate at Southwood Bible Church in Tulsa.
Grace Notes
Grace Notes is a Bible study ministry which began in 1994 using the Internet to distribute lessons and articles to people who are interested in God's Word. Thousands of Christians, in more than 110 countries around the world, receive weekly Grace Notes lessons on the Internet, by E-mail and the World Wide Web. All courses and materials are distributed free of charge, and the work is supported by believers who want to see the ministry continue and grow. Grace Notes studies are also distributed on diskette and CD-ROM in order to reach those who do not have Internet access.
Verse-by-verse courses are available in more than 30 books of the Bible. Some of the courses include word studies (categorical doctrine) or historical articles (isagogics) that are relevant to the passages being discussed. Other courses offered are Bible character studies, comprehensive studies of the Christian Life and Basics of the Christian Life, an extensive series on the Person and Word of Jesus Christ, and a thorough study of the Attributes of God. You are invited to write to the address below, or write by e-mail, to inquire about Grace Notes materials.
Warren Doud, Director
1705 Aggie Lane, Austin, Texas 78757
E-Mail: wdoud@bga.com Web Site: http://www.realtime.net/~wdoud/
Introduction
The four Gospels paint for us a portrait of our Savior. To Matthew our Lord was the King of the line of David, the Son of David. To Luke He was the Perfect man, the Son of Man. To John He was the Divine Son of God and the Mark the Lord Jesus Christ was the obedient servant.
The Gospel of Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels and deals mostly with the ministry of Christ.
Matthew spent considerable time relating the Savior to Israel and John's emphasis was to show the Church at the end of the First century a portrait of Christ. Dr. Luke, the beloved physician, spent much of His Gospel writing about the unique virgin birth of our Savior and the miracles of healing accomplished by our Savior.
Mark portrays Christ as a servant who came to minister and save mankind.
MAJOR THEME: The Ruler who came to Serve . . . The Servant who will come to Rule.
OUTLINE
The Sixteen Chapters of Mark fall into in Four Divisions:
The Servant's Coming: (Mark 1:1-13)
The Servant's Work: (Mark 1:14 through 13:37)
The Servant's Death: (Mark 14:1 through 15:47)
The Servant's Resurrection: - (Mark 16:1-20)
MARK, THE HUMAN WRITER
Mark is referred to in the Bible as Mark, John Mark, Marcus
He was raised in Jerusalem in a wealthy and formal Jewish setting. His mother was one of the Marys referred to in the Bible.
He went first with Paul and Barnabas on Paul's first missionary journey. But in Perga he became afraid of the robber barons and deserted them going back home.
Many Christians come under chastisement and testing and do not have the personal faith in Christ that helps them cope with this. Mark eventually ended up traveling with Peter and became to Peter what Luke was to Paul, an aide-de-camp, or right-hand man, executive officer.
Hence, much of what we read in Mark is a compilation of Peter's sermons.
Mark was eventually sent to Alexandria North Africa by Peter and there is given the highest honor. He was martyred for his faith . . . drawn and quartered by the army and he was not afraid.
We can find a great principle in the life of Mark. He was rejected by Paul because he had failed in faith, but he did not hold a grudge although Paul, for a while, did!
Acts 15:36-40 is the scene of the great disagreement and Paul’s unforgiving attitude.
He took the rebuke and accepted Paul's attitude towards him although Paul was wrong. He didn't whine or pout, he moved on to maturity in doctrine.
Eventually Paul even reconsidered his attitude towards Mark and in Colossians 4:10 and in 2 Tim 4:11 compliments him and commends him to the Church.
THE SETTING AND DESTINATION:
Mark is writing from Rome and writing to Gentile Believers, mostly Romans. An interesting paradox is that in writing to Romans who valued strength so highly, he portrays Christ as a servant.
But here is Jesus Christ, God himself who possesses all authority, sovereignty, and strength - who is strong enough to become a servant. The ruler who serves -
ILLUSTRATION:
It is said that Henry IV, king of France, was visiting a certain village one day with some members of his court when they approached a very poor man who bowed himself completely to the ground. The monarch responded by doing the same thing. Those with him were astonished. When one of them asked why he condescended to return the salutation in the same manner, Henry IV quickly replied, Would your king be excelled in politeness by one of the most lowly of his subjects?
Chapter 1
Mark 1:1
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
This is like the title to the entire Gospel:
Most manuscripts do not include the title Son of God, not because it would be incorrect but because Mark will reserve the privilege of this title to be bestowed by God the Father in Mark 1:11
“Gospel” in the Greek [EUANGELLOS] is the word that becomes EVANGELISM in English. It means a good message or good news. It was used in secular Greek for the royal dispatches of the king.
This GOOD NEWS belongs to Jesus Christ, He is the one who secured the Gospel for mankind.
JESUS CHRIST
This is both a name and a title, a fulfillment of prophecies and promises, and a look to future prophecies.
JESUS is the Greek transliteration of Hebrew name JOSHUA which means: Jehovah is Salvation.
It is the Savior’s personal name and was given by prophecy from God to Mary in Matthew 1:21.
It was a common name given to an uncommon person. While others had and even today in Spanish speaking countries have this personal name, there is only one who is truly Jehovah the Savior.
“Christ” is the Greek CHRISTOS ” and is translated from the Hebrew word Messiah or anointed one. The Messiah or Christ is the one who would deliver Israel from her enemies.
This title presents the Savior as:
1. True Humanity: He has a human name, Joshua/Jesus
2. Deity: He is the promised Messiah, the Christ
3. Uniqueness: He is humanity and deity in one person
4. And He is the possessor of Good News
Here is something else interesting, almost paradoxical in Mark. Remember that Mark presents Christ as a Servant. Thus, there is no genealogy as we find in Matthew and in Luke. A servant doesn’t need a genealogy. But here the Servant has something that is normally only associated with royalty - a herald to announce his coming.
Two Reasons for this:
1. Mark is going to tell us what happens to John the Baptizer in this Gospel so he introduces him at this point
2. Mark knows the end of the story and that by the last chapters Jesus Christ the Servant will be called the ”King• of Israel” on five• occasions.
So he is setting the stage for the Ruler who Serves
Mark 1:2
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way;
The prophecy concerns the ministry of John the Baptizer:
Mark refers to Isaiah, the major writing prophet of the Old Testament, and quotes both Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1
Isaiah 40:3, The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Malachi 3:1, Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mark combines these two prophecies into the statement in this verse.
This verse tells us about John the man, his method, his message:
1. The man John was an appointed messenger, a herald of Jesus Christ. He announced Jesus Christ as a herald would announce a king.
2. His method was to go to the desert and cry out. A public ministry in which the public came to him.
3. His message: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.
In Galatians 4:4 we find that the coming of Christ, heralded by John the Baptist, occurred at the perfect time, at the fullness of time. There has never been nor will be a more perfect time for Messiah to come - politically, economically, linguistically, socially, in every way.
Spiritually, however, things then were not unlike the situation today. Israel had fallen into a tradition of dead orthodoxy with no life to their religion. Legalism and ritual prevailed.
The Gentiles had fallen into a cynicism and viewed spiritual values as folly, old tales and myths -which they were for Greece and Rome.
Israel needed to be shocked out of their dead tradition and the Gentiles needed the truth for a change. Both would get what they needed for revival from Jesus Christ.
Today, our society needs the same thing. Rightfully many people are cynical regarding the Church and its dead legalism and ritual - it need the same thing Jesus brought to earth - the TRUTH.
Mark 1:3
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the lord, make his paths straight
Tells us of the three point method and message of John.
A voice crying in the desert
Present tense - “kept on crying out with a loud shout.”
The word “crying” is used to express strong emotions and strong feelings. John inhabited the desert and cried out with great emotion regarding the Messiah who was coming.
The fact that John is referred to as a VOICE indicates that the real issue is not the man, but the message.
Prepare ye the way of the Lord:
An ancient custom is referred to in this statement. It was the custom for a road crew to precede the travels of a king. They would prepare the road, so that the King would have a smooth surface on which to travel.
“The Way” refers to a well traveled path or road:
The path that Christ would travel was well traveled by the prophets, judges, priests, and kings of the Old Testament. who foresaw his coming and Cross.
Make straight His paths
This idiom means to shorten the distance and level the way.
This looks at arriving at the objective, the goal in the most expeditious manner.
Jesus Christ had a priority. and nothing, not even the constant harassing of the opposition, would distract him from the path he would travel.
Having presented the messenger, his method, and his message, Mark now gives us information about the ministry and the man, John the Baptizer.
Mark, who at one time had been rejected by Paul, writes about another who was rejected, John the herald of Jesus Christ.
John was out at the Jordan River preaching and baptizing. The closest point of the Jordan River to Jerusalem is about twenty miles - yet the people came because that is where the Word was being taught.
A Few Observations Regarding John's Ministry:
Four things John's ministry was not:
1. It was not a ministry of self but pointed to another. Any ministry we have must point to Jesus Christ. Whether it Isa ministry of the Word, or Prayer, or Helps, or Comfort, the objective, the focal point must not be ourselves but Christ.
John was a herald, one who announced the Savior. The apostle Paul would later tell the Corinthian church regarding his ministry that
2 Corinthians 4:5 - we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord.
Even God the Holy Spirit, the third member of the trinity, does not speak of himself:
John 16:13 Howbeit when the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.
2. John's ministry did not conform. This was a time when institutional religion was at its zenith in Judea. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, and Rabbis were highly organized and had been functioning according to a human standard for nerly300 years. But their standard, their system, their method, their purpose was false.
John did not do what every other minister did. He did what God wanted him to do.
We are told that organized religion did not like this. John 1:24,25 tells us that the religious leaders traveled the twenty miles to see this preacher and then criticized him because he did not conform.
3. John's ministry was not a ministry of convenience: People had to travel more than 20 miles to get to the place were John was teaching and baptizing.
4. John's ministry was not one of pleasant platitudes but of power:
His message was of the coming Kingdom of God, a kingdom that would come with power. He told the people not what they wanted to hear but what God wanted them to hear.
When the religious crowd came around we are told:
Matthew 3:7 - he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
But what was John's ministry:
1. A ministry of prophecy (verses 2,3). John's ministry was spoken of by the prophets 700 years prior to Jesus' Day.
And he gave prophecy regarding the coming Savior (verses 7,8)
2. A ministry of Preaching (verses 4 and 7): He did not discuss, he did not philosophize, he communicated truth.
3. A ministry of Repentance (verse 4): He knew that his preaching must effect a change of mind.
4. A ministry of People (verse 5): His ministry was not to ritual or rules or conventions, but to the people who needed salvation.
5. A ministry of Proper Perspective (verse 7): He realized he was nothing and that Christ was everything. He was humble in his M.A.
6. A ministry of Power (verse 8): His ministry pointed the way to the omnipotent Son of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Your ministry, according to your spiritual gift and your geographical location is the same ministry.
Prophecy: The Bible addresses the act that every believer is equipped to ministry
Preaching: You ministry communicates either by your lips or by your life. You communicate truth in how you live.
Repentance: When you meet an unbeliever you should have one thought in mind, bringing them to a saving knowledge of Christ, to encourage them to change their mind regarding Christ.
When you meet a believer who is not learning Doctrine on a consistent basis, you should also desire their repentance, their change of mind - to get with God’s program.
People: No one is called to minister to the walls or the rocks. God is in the business of Saving people and we are to be about our Father's business.
Proper Perspective: We are nothing more than servants to the Ruler who serve, Jesus Christ
Power: Not our power, not our ability, only our availability and using the power that God has provided. That alone will cut it in life.
In order to fully appreciate the two baptisms mentioned in these opening verses of Mark, we need to quickly examine the Doctrine of Baptism. By Doctrine we mean the sum of the Scriptural teaching regarding a particular subject.
Topic: Baptism
By listing all the baptisms of the Bible we can now see that our passage refers to John's unique baptism for believing Israel and Jesus' unique baptism in obedience to His Father's plan.
But there is another aspect of John's baptism that bears mentioning. And that is what this baptism meant to the people of Judah with their long heritage of faith in God.
Mark 1:4
John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Here is what he proclaimed or preached:
1. A baptism that belongs or goes along with or attends repentance.
Repentance is METANOEW, to change the mind.
This change of mind was demonstrated by those who had already repented (changed their minds) by baptism in the River Jordan by John
2. Second proclamation was looking at or with a view towards the forgiveness of sins.
Elementary to forgiveness of sins is to recognize that you are a sinner. For many of the religious arrogant types in Judea that would be difficult, they indeed thought that they were without sins.
Mark 1:5
And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
The people came the 20+ miles to hear John and they did change their minds and they were forgiven of their sins, and they were baptized.
We are told here that they confessed their sins and that word is a little different than the word we have for confess in 1 John 1:9. There, the word means to agree in words with God regarding your sins.
Here the Greek word means to admit, face up to, recognize that you are a sinner in need of salvation.
This word and what these people were coming to grips with is something that we need to face up to today.
No amount of good deeds or works or religion can eliminate the fact that we are sinners.
But Israel's religious leaders had rationalized their sins, had minimized their culpability and rejected responsibility for their own actions - much like people today.
So what did God hit them with to shake them up, to get them to realize the depravity of their position of being lost? BAPTISM!
What we do not see in this passage is the tremendous affront John's baptism was to these people who came from Jerusalem to hear him.
BACKGROUND ON JOHN'S BAPTISM:
1. The idea of baptism was not completely new in Israel although the way John used it was new.
2. As early as Genesis 35:2 we see Jacob instructing his family to be cleansed before returning to Bethel.
3. Cleansing by way of immersion in water became one of the parts of the ritual for a proselyte in Israel.
When an unbelieving Gentile believed in Jehovah he would be ceremonially cleansed, similar to baptism.
4. That was for the Gentile but here we have John adding this cleansing, this baptism to his ministry.
He was approaching Israel as though they were Gentiles in need of conversion.
How that must have shaken the sensibilities of these Jews who traveled the miles to the Jordan to hear this new preacher, just to have him tell them they were no better than Gentile unbelievers.
BY WAY OF APPLICATION, what does God have to put in front of us to shake us out of the error of our thinking - a thinking that we are something special and that God should be impressed with us. What is it going to take?
Mark 1:6
John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and wild honey.
John's unusual dress and manner of life are mentioned in this verse. In many ways the ministry of John was similar to the ministry of Elijah 800 years earlier. Both men of God preached against the false religions of their days and encouraged people to return to true faith in Jehovah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Basically, John looked like a mountain man and lived like a mountain man.
Mark 1:7,8
And he was preaching, and saying, ""After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals.
I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
The correct perspective and priority of his ministry:
There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
When in the King James Version you see the word GHOST it is the same as the word SPIRIT and the better translations have corrected this mistranslation.
Here John mentions that real Baptism of the Holy Spirit that occurs at the moment of salvation when the Holy Spirit identifies us with Jesus Christ and we are IN CHRIST.
John was ministering to people by pointing to another, to Jesus Christ - this is the correct perspective of any ministry.
Mark 1:9-11
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him;
And a voice came out of the heavens: You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.
The Baptism of Jesus Christ: why was Jesus Baptized?
1. The baptism of Jesus Christ had nothing to do with sins because the innocent Son of God had no sins.
2. The baptism of Jesus Christ identified the Son of God with the plan of the heavenly Father.
A public attestation at the beginning of His public ministry that he was about His Father's business.
3. This baptism also allowed the herald, John, to announce the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. It showed the people that this is the one John had been preaching about.
4. In Jesus' three fold ministry of prophet, priest, and king, a priest and a king had to be anointed at the inception of their service.
As the only prophet of his day, John anointed the Son of God for service as priest and king in the waters of the Jordan.
MODE: Immersion: Going under the water Jesus said Yes I will die for the sins of the human race. Coming up out of the water he said Yes, I will be raised from the dead to rule forever.
Therefore, the most important aspect of the Baptism of Jesus is that, he was, as he did often, identifying himself with the plan for our salvation.
The divine response is the most important response:
Three things occurred:
1. The heavens rolled back: Greek word is SCHIZO and the beginning and end of Christ's earthly ministry was marked by a SCHIZO.
Here the Heavens are torn apart and when Jesus died on the Cross the veil in the Temple was torn apart from top to bottom (Mark 15:38).
This demonstrates that Jesus Christ is in control of all thing, whether in heaven or on earth.
2. The Holy Spirit descended, like a dove.
The Holy Spirit was not a dove but descended as a dove. The Lord had from His physical birth been indwelled and dependant upon the Spirit but here the Spirit of God is seen by the assembled multitude coming upon Jesus Christ.
3. The Father spoke: You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Six times in the Scriptures we find that the heavenly Father spoke of his pleasure in the decisions of his Son. Each time in reference to his willingness to go to the Cross.
Baptism looks at identification. For John's baptism, identification with the coming kingdom and its king.
For Christ's baptism, identification with the will and plan of the Father.
We may have been baptized with the believers baptism, but do we continue in the reality of that ritual?
Every day we have the opportunity to identify ourselves with Jesus Christ, identify ourselves with the Father perfect plan for our lives - do we?
What we see in theses baptisms are people who were willing to stand up and be counted as true believers. In their stand they were rejecting the religiousness and legalism of their day - and they were advancing towards a personal relationship with the one who had done everything for them - Jesus Christ
This opening chapter of Mark's Gospel presents us with the account of the emergence of the Son of God onto the scene of history. The chapters serves as a division between his private life and his public ministry.
Three events usher Jesus from the privacy of preparation to the public ministry that will finds its sum total at the Cross:
1. The ministry of John the Baptizer, the herald of Christ
2. The Baptism of Christ: We see Him agreeing to carry out the Salvation Plan and the pleasure this gave the heavenly Father.
3. The Temptation of Christ: The testing of both the humanity and deity of Christ as he sets forth on his journey to the Cross.
We have already discussed the uniqueness of John's ministry. He was, to say the least, unusual.
The final prophecy of the Old Testament., 400 years before the time of Mark, Chapter One, spoke of the prophet Elijah returning to warn the people prior to the judgment of God and the kingdom of God.
John was not Elijah, but his ministry was similar. It was a ministry of warning, warning the people prior to the coming not of the kingdom, but of the king.
That final prophecy in Malachi 4 ends with the curse that was perpetuated from the fall of man.
It is to people under the curse of sin that John came and is with people under the curse that Jesus would begin his public ministry.
The banks of the Jordan were not a place for the rich to flaunt their wealth or the wise to display their knowledge or the poor to be brushed aside. This was a place of common ground and the only common denominator was that these people knew they were sinners in need of a Savior.
Back in Jerusalem, the religious institutions were at their highest. The Temple activity was in full swing . . . yet it was not there that Jesus went to begin his public ministry.
Principle: Jesus chose to be with the positive receptive believers. He was even baptized in the same waters of the Jordan as they and with them witnessed the approving signs from His Father in Heaven.
QUESTION-Application: Where would Jesus be today if he were to come from heaven to earth. Would he be in a church? Which one? He would be with those who are serious regarding life and to be serious regarding life you first have to be serious about your faith.
The Church today must be a place of common ground and the only issue is: What think ye of Christ?
At His baptism Jesus shared the approval of His Father with those who would be His followers:
The final and most spectacular event was the voice of God, booming from heaven saying:
This is my beloved son in Whom I am well pleased.
God the Father was pleased in heaven by that which was done on earth. Although omniscience and having knowledge of this event from eternity past, that pre-knowledge did not diminish in any way the historical event.
As Jesus entered the waters of the Jordan he was adding his volition, his free-will, to the plan of God. He was saying yes I will die for man, yes I will be raised from the dead for the church.
Jesus volition was in view and it was his volitional decision that pleased the Father.
The Volition of the Humanity of Christ
While the volition of Jesus Christ was, from his birth to his physical death at all times set towards the will of God the Father there are certain instances revealed in the Gospels in which volition is in view.
Five times we see Jesus making a decision to set His will to completing the plan of the Father:
1. At His birth: Hebrews 10:5-10
Christ is unique and we do not often consider that he volitionally decided to be born. As ever existing God he chose to humble himself, really humiliate himself, and become man. The creator became the creation. The divine person took on human form.
2. Luke 2:41-49 Jesus at the Temple with the Rabbis:
At the age of twelve we see an incident that shows us that Jesus chose to grow in doctrine.
He stayed at the Temple and notice that even the learned men of Israel were astonished at his understanding and his answers.
These two responses included the application of wisdom and the academic facts of the Scriptures.
We see that Jesus adds: Do you not know that I must be about my Father's business, or affairs.
Here at the age of twelve we see that his volition had been set on learning the Word and would be set upon the business of His Father.
3. At His Baptism: As we studied last week, the baptism of Christ by John at the Jordan demonstrated Jesus' volitional decision to fulfill the will of God.
He set his focus upon the Cross and the Kingdom and publicly displayed his willingness to minister the will of His father.
In this the response of the Father: This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.
4. The final portrayal of the consistent positive volition of Christ was on the eve of His crucifixion, in the garden of Gethsemane.
At that time of great trial, as he faced the total unknown of sin and judgment for sin and separation from His Father he set his will, even then, about His Father's business.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record this greatest prayer of human volition:
Luke 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
When Jesus raised his head from prayer he looked at the Cross upon which his death would come, but he also looked beyond that hill of Calgary to the Kingdom and the subjects of that kingdom and you and me - and there was no question that his will would be about his Father's business.
In these events we see the consistent volitional decisions that Christ made as he carried out the will of God.
His earthly ministry is a pattern, an example, a prototype for us.
John 13:15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
1 Peter 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son.
Let me give you two points of comparison regarding the volitional decisions of Christ and our volitional decisions:
1. Every day, every moment of every day, Jesus' will was set towards accomplishing the plan of God.
In the same manner, our volitional decisions come into play every day.
One of the great failings of the church is to seek a one shot decision on the part of believers.
While salvation, entrance into the Christian Life is a decision that is made once and for all, the Christian way of life. is lived daily by the believer.
Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
2. While we must make correct decisions every day, there are also some very important decisions every believer must make in his life. These vital, essential, important decisions are parallel to the times we examined when Jesus' volition was tested and presented in the Scriptures.
As there were four times in the life of Christ that he made correct essential decisions, there are also four times in our lives when we make decisions that are critical to our life now and life in eternity:
Our essential volitional decisions:
1. As the eternal Son of God decided to be born into the human family, we must all make a decision to be born-again into the Royal Family of God.
This is a decision every member of the human race must face. Are you going to be saved by the work of Christ alone? There is no other way of salvation but by the Cross.
While this decision to be born humbled Christ, the decision to be born again exalts us, we are saved, secure the title of Christian, and are placed forever into union with Christ.
As this decision by Christ at his physical birth pleased the Father, the Father is pleased when men are born again by believing on his son.
2. When Jesus was twelve and tarried behind at the Temple he expressed two volitional decisions that he consistently made:
FIRST he demonstrated a separation from earthly relationships and set as a priority his spiritual relationships.
Matthew 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
In the same way we must come that point in our lives where we make a decision regarding who and what is really important. Family, parents, children can be a distraction to spiritual growth. Have a proper perspective and priority.
ALSO WHILE AT THE TEMPLE Jesus demonstrated what was truly important in life . . . the Word of God.
Luke 2:47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.
His decision was to understand, learn, and apply the Word of God.
Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
IN THE SAME WAY WE MUST set the Word of God as the priority in our live, learn it, understand it, apply it.
Only then can we be about our Father's business.
3. At Jesus' Baptism, he make the decision to minister. That was the advent of his public ministry and he made the decision to apply doctrine not only to self but to others in ministry.
This pleased the Father, and it pleases the Father when we make that decision to minister to others. All believers have the ministry of witnessing, every one of you can extend yourself and the doctrine you have within you soul to others . . . in help in a time of need, in comfort and encouragement, in prayer.
These first three decisions could be summarized by three words:
SALVATION ---- GROWTH ---- MINISTRY
But there is one additional decision:
4. In the garden on the night before the Cross, Jesus prayed a pray that every believer should have as a goal.
To pray this prayer takes a volitional decision but it is preceded by much more than that: It requires the time it takes to mature in the Word of God.
Jesus prayed: Not my will but thine be done.
IN HIS HUMANITY he had come to the point of knowing that the greater reality of life was the will and the word of God.
His trust, His faith, His whole life was wrapped up in the Word.
CHRISTIAN: You need to set a goal and that goal must be to set your feet solidly upon the high plateau of maturity, Jesus reached that goal when on his knees in the garden.
We need to make proper decisions every day and there are times that we have critical decisions to make that will determine our:
SALVATION ---- GROWTH ---- MINISTRY
But all that works towards a goal of being mature in Christ:
And one decision you will make when you are mature will enable you to recognize maturity in Christ when it come. You will join ranks with Christ in the garden - not will but thy will be done.
Mark 1:12,13
Immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness.
And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.
A more complete description of the temptation of Christ is given in Matthew 4, so refer to that chapter for the following discussion.
The account in Matthew begins with the word THEN, this is TOTE, which tells us to consider the context.
Prior to this we have the Baptism of Jesus where He, in his humanity agrees to do the will of the Father and the Father encourages him by saying This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.
This reception of great spiritual blessing is now followed by intense attack.
Application: We will find that Satan loves to attack on the heels of our spiritual victories.
He was led up by the Spirit to be tempted by the Devil.
Jesus, in His humanity, was led by the Spirit. He did not depend upon his own human ability nor upon His divine attributes but upon the power of the Spirit. The same power that is available to us.
Satan, who is called by more than 10 different names in the Bible, is very shrewd. He is going to tempt Jesus' humanity with the purpose of trying to get him to act independently of Divine will.
Christ depended upon the other two members of the Godhead and Satan wanted him to depend upon self or upon him.
If he could get Jesus to depend upon self or Satan he could call a win in the Angelic Conflict by eliminating the Savior who had been promised to take away all sin from the fall of man to the last sin of the Mill age.
Satan’s strategy for attacking Christ is the same as his strategy for us. Satan wants us to be independent from God, rather that dependent on God, to follow Satan rather than to be led of the Spirit.
THE FIRST ATTACK: The first of the last three, there were many other temptations during the 40 days of fasting. If, and you are (since) the Son of God, say the word and these stones might become loaves of bread.
If you have been fasting for 40 days and nights you are hungry. The purpose of fasting is to set aside the normal activities of life in order to concentrate on the intake of the Word of God. Jesus had been taking in Doctrine for 40days and nights.
He responded with the Word of God: Our primary weapon:
But he answering said: It is written (Deut. 8:3) Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the month of God.
Jesus was attacked, tempted, but used the weapon of the Word of God, a promise given to Moses 1500 years before.
ATTACK NUMBER TWO:
Since Jesus quoted Scripture, Satan decided to get into the act also.
He quotes an Old Testament prophetic promise given to the Messiah of Israel in Psalm 91:11,12
If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
NOTICE: This is Satan quoting Scripture but applying it incorrectly.
Principle: Quoting a verse can be done by Satan, an unbeliever, a reversionistic believer, an apostate, a heretic. The words are not magical.
What is Supernatural is the correct application of the promise, the principle, the precept.
Jesus answers the incorrect application with a correct application:
He quotes Deuteronomy 6:16, “Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God.”
THE FINAL ATTACK: The Kingdom without the Cross:
Here is a very subtle attack. It was the deity of Christ who created the world. It will be Jesus Christ who will rule the world in the Millennium Age.
Satan makes a legitimate offer of the world, Satan is the prince, the ruler, the god of this world.
An offer that says take it now, the easy way, why go through the pain of sacrifice, of dying for the sins of man. Forget man, you can rule them right now.
But them Jesus commands Satan to GO!
And again uses the weapon of the Word of God:
Deuteronomy 6:13 and 10:20, “Thou shall worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thy serve.
THE VICTORY:
Satan leaves and angels come to minister to the humanity of Christ. Beautiful in the Greek: “And behold, angels approached and ministered to him.
IN THE TEMPTATIONS WE SEE JESUS TEMPTED IN THREE AREAS and resisting temptation by three weapons available to every believer
a. Relationship with the Holy Spirit, Mt 4:1-4.
b. Relationship with the Word of God, Mt 4:5-7.
c. Relationship with the plan of God, Mt 4:8-10.
IN EACH TEMPTATION JESUS used a weapon of warfare that would be given to the Church:
He depended upon the power of the Holy Spirit to sustain him physically; we depend upon the Holy Spirit to sustain us in all things.
He trusted in the Word of God in His soul as we must know the Word, direct our faith to the Word, and trust in the Word.
He made a right decision regarding the plan of God. He chose the Cross and the Kingdom - just as in our decision making we must chose the Cross for salvation and then:
Matthew 6:33, “ Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
As Mark writes of the Savior he is presenting stories about the earthly ministry of Christ. He is not complete nor comprehensive but selective as he paints a portrait of the Ruler who has come to Serve and the Servant who will Rule.
Between the times of verses 13 and 14 in the first chapter of Mark, we have a break of more than a year, about 15 months, during which time Jesus ministered in Judea and near Jerusalem.
Mark 1:14
Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God,
Upon reading this you may think that Jesus was going off to a safer haven - but that is just the opposite of what he was doing.
John the Baptizer had been imprisoned and would later be beheaded by Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. And Herod Antipas was the Tetrarch of Galilee.
Therefore, Jesus did not go north to escape what had happened to John, but rather, went right to the place of the problem.
John had been ministering in Galilee while Jesus was in Judea and it was in Galilee that the Roman ruler of Galilee illegally arrested John.
The RESULT of John's ministry was that he was arrested. But someone else was to come to his street corner in Galilee.
Mark 1:15
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.
This tells us what Jesus did when he went to Galilee: Jesus went to Galilee and continue to proclaim the same message that John had proclaimed - repent - and believe the Gospel.
Principle:
John and Jesus functioned as a team. We see here a principle of teamwork under the direct guidance of God.Now John and Jesus may have not even seen each other after the time at the Jordan, but God was leading and directing both and their ministries were actually one ministry of proclaiming the Gospel.
God allowed John to be imprisoned and then lead Jesus to pick up where John left off in Galilee.
Application: Christian service, ministry, the exercise of your spiritual gifts, all function in the framework of a team. Sometimes you may have contact with other team members, other times you will not..
At verse 15 we also have a summary of the MESSAGE:
We have in this proclamation two declarations and two commands:
FIRST DECLARATION: The time is fulfilled. The word for time here is significant in that it refers to an epoch of time rather than chronology.
This might be translated the time is right, rather than the time has come.
Conditions existing in the world at that time make it a perfect time for the Messiah to come.
Later on Paul is going to refer to this perfect time in Galatians 4:4 by saying:
. . . when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.
Principle: Proper timing is as essential as proper procedure. Jesus' timing was perfect.
2. SECOND DECLARATION: The Kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus was the Messiah, the king of Israel, and the offer of the kingdom would be made to Israel - but they rejected the king and the kingdom.
John would say of this in John 1:11 That Jesus came unto his own, and his own received him not.
However, from that rejection, the Gospel went forth to the Gentiles and the Church Age began - and well, here we are.
Principle: The lack of expected results should never interfere with proper timing and proper doing.
We may have one result in mind, God may have another - and His plan is far better.
3. FIRST COMMAND: Repent. Prior to belief there must be a change of mind. This is not regret nor is it cleaning up your act. To repent means to have a change of mind.
The people of Galilee had to have a change of mind regarding the Gospel, the truth of God.
For 400 years the people of Judea and Galilee had been forming opinions about God and the Messiah. But now the Messiah was here among them, and many of their opinions were wrong - they need to change their minds.
Application: In like manner today we have a lot of opinion about God, who He is and what He is doing. We need people who are willing to repent, change their minds away from the opinion and to the fact. And that fact is given to us in the next command.
4. SECOND COMMAND: Believe the Gospel. In the Greek text, believing is the verb form of Faith. These concepts are transitive and demand an object.
Believe in something, have faith in something.
That something can be either right or wrong but here the object is given.
Believe in the GOSPEL: The Greek word from which we get Evangelism, EUANGELOS or “good message.”
That good message is the same good message we share today, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved.
This was the message of Jesus and this had been the message of John. Now that John was off the field of ministry, Jesus took up where he left off. That is teamwork and that same teamwork exists today as Jesus is off the field of ministry, seated at the Father's right hand, and we take up He left off with the same message.
THAT IS ONE TYPE OF TEAMWORK but in the next five verse we see another type of teamwork. Jesus, in calling his disciples formed a ministry team that would spend the next two years with Him in service and ministry.
Mark 1:16-20
As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen.
And Jesus said to them, Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.''
Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.
Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets.
Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.
The calling of the disciples occasions some confusion in the biblical account because of the relating of the various and numerous calls of the disciples.
In John 1 the calling of the disciples was a call to believe in Christ unto salvation
A year later in our passage, we see a call to follow Christ and become his disciples, his students. Here the emphasis is on learning and growth.
In Mark 3 (also Matthew 10 and Luke 6) we have a final call of the Twelve disciples which was a call to ministry.
These three calls of the disciples parallel the three critical decisions that we studied previously, decisions we make for -
SALVATION - GROWTH - MINISTRY
So here in Mark 1 we are seeing a call to growth in Christ as his disciple, as a part of his team.
Here we have the call of Simon (Peter), Andrew his brother, James, and John (writer of Gospel of John and the youngest disciple).
We can observe seven principles in the calling of these disciples:
1. These four were all busy doing their jobs where they were. We are told they were fishermen by trade and they were busy at their trade.
Principle: You must first be busy where you are before you can expect to busy where you wish to be. Too often we live only looking ahead, we need to be busy right now. Too many people wait on the Lord by doing nothing.
SECOND Principle: When God seeks someone to use for a special mission, he finds the person who is already busy where he is and with what has been entrusted to him.
2. Jesus, who they had already known and traveled with, gave them a short precise order:
Come after me - DEUTE OPIOW, Join with me, stay with me
Principle: Our orders in the Christian way of life. are not complex but precise - stick with the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. With the orders Jesus gave them a promise.
I will make you to become fishers of men.
Jesus related a future promise to them in terms that they understood, fishing. The use of the two verbs indicates that this would be a process that would take time. But it will occur:
Principle: The promise was long range but these men saw its value and went with Jesus Christ. There is great promise in following the Lord Jesus Christ.
4. Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
There was no discussion, no committee meeting, no inquiry as to contract or length of service, they knew Jesus Christ and that was all that mattered.
They left a very profitable business for a greater prophet, Jesus Christ.
Principle: They put the spiritual opportunity of being with Jesus Christ over and above everything else. They immediately grabbed the opportunity.
5. With James and John we see two fishermen by trade who are not fishing. They are mending nets.
Principle: James and John saw the value of proper preparation and of taking care of what they already had.
Spiritually, Jesus in calling them would make them menders of people.
That same word for mending nets is used for the ministry of the word in Ephesians 4:12
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
6. James and John left their father Zebedee to follow Jesus:
Principle: They put family and the profits of business all secondary to being with Jesus Christ.
They left family for a royal family. In Mark 3:32-35 the mother of Jesus along with his brothers and sisters sought him and he responded by saying -
Who is my mother, or my brethren? For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
7. The last principle looks at the ones left behind. James and John left the hired servants in the boat.
Principle:
Being a follower of Christ is not a job you are hired to, no hired servants but willing followers, disciples of Jesus Christ.The call of Peter and Andrew, James and John began the formation of a team that would eventually number twelve.
These were called and chose to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, but not everyone who was called chose to follow him.
Matthew 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
Just as there were three calls extended to the disciples Jesus Christ extends three calls to us:
A call to Salvation
A call to Growth
A call to Service.
Mark 1:21
They went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach.
In previous verses we saw that Jesus, more than a year into his public ministry, was beginning to put together a ministry team. He called Peter, Andrew, James, and John.
Between verse 20 and 21 we have a number of things that happened over a period of weeks that are recorded in other Gospels: e.g., the sermon on the mount, the call of some of the other disciples, and the reason Jesus and his ministry team moved on to Capernaum, his rejection at his home town of Nazareth at which time he said a prophet is not without honor except in his own town and among his own people.
The loss to Nazareth would be a tremendous gain to Capernaum, a city where Jesus would spend more time than any other city, a place of more miracles, more parables, more teaching than anywhere else.
In ancient Israel, the people of God gathered for worship on the Sabbath, Saturday morning.
The Talmudic Rabbis had taught the people to hurry to the synagogue taking brisk steps and return home slowly, taking leisurely steps. The Rabbis had a lot to say about conduct during the Sabbath and the people's attendance at the Synagogue.
During the time that God was not sending Prophets to speak to his people, the whole concept of the Rabbis and the synagogue arose.
The initial idea was good: An established place where people could come and learn the Word of God from men who had dedicated their lives to teaching . . .
But as with many things, man's viewpoint soon entered in and the synagogue service became regulated, complex, and empty.
MEN LOVE TO CONTROL, TO INFLUENCE, to regulate. Even in Jesus' day men could not stand the simplicity of the synagogue. One way to control was to add superfluous activity and order to the service.
Soon formal prayers were introduced, prayers written by men Next, someone wrote a Jewish creed and that became mandatory. No less than six benedictions eventually became part of the service. And then the concluding eulogies spoken every week the same way
In addition to control through regulation and formality, their was also control through complexity. Make the service so complex that nothing was really accomplished and no real teaching ever went forth.
No less than seven men would be called upon to read portions of the Law and the Prophets. This was followed by a message but usually given by a scribe or a distinguished visitor. In both Matthew and Mark we read about teaching that is described as the Scribes taught.
How did the Scribes teach, well, certainly not with authority. They would give the opinion of others regarding a certain passage. Often these opinions would number into the hundreds. This Rabbi says this - that Rabbi says that, and so on and so on.
After the message the congregation could ask questions, and we will see in Mark 1 what happens during this question and answer period.
Is there something similar today in which God's people are gathering together on a weekly basis to engage in some complex type of activity where formality and opinion dilute the truth that is found in Jesus Christ?
THE CHURCH, it has been said, has become many things today. It has become a place of meeting where friends gather to meet with friends. It has become a social club where people who reject the normal conventions of social activity find a refuge. A place for ball, bingo, and other games. The church has become a place to put young people when you do not want them on the streets. It has become an organization with all its attending power struggles, petty controls, and machinations. The church has become a news service an opinion market where views are assimilated and speculation is promoted. Indeed the church has become so many things it has lost what it was intended to be - the simple place where Christians gather to learn God's word and worship their heavenly father.
The synagogue of Israel had also lost it simplicity and now it was many things but no longer a place of true worship and learning.
Mark 1:22
They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
It is into that situation that Jesus was to come one Sabbath day and as one who was already well known, he was invited to take the place normally held by the scribes and read and comment on the Scriptures.
We are not told what he taught, but we are told that he taught: The Greek word in our passage means an extended discourse, not merely a proclamation. The tense is imperfect so we see that he taught for a period of time. While we are not told of the content we are told of the reaction:
We actually have two reactions: First, a reaction from the congregation of the synagogue which is found in verse 22 and again in verse 27. Secondly, we have the reaction of one man who is possessed by a demon, his story is found in verses 23 through 26.
When something, anything is perceived by the senses, you have one of two actions you can take. You can either react or you can respond.
Reaction means to act against, to engage in an opposing action. When a problem comes you can fight it, you can run away, you can go into panic. These actions of fight, flight, and fear are reactions.
With response we deal with the situation perceived. We don't run away, we don't panic, we don't fly off the handle and try to solve our problems with a fight.
When respond we use what is available in our souls to deal with the situation.
Now there are some things in life that demand a reaction. We are told to flee sin, that is a reaction. we are told to flee Satan and his systems of evil, we are told to run from anything that would take us away from our relationship with our Savior Christ Jesus.
But most things in life require a response, and that does not mean to go along with it but to deal with the problems and the tests of life (whether they might be people or situations or systems) and deal with them by thinking, by using the doctrine in our souls.
The word for astonished is a very strong word that means to be struck with amazement. To be shocked at what was heard.
The tremendous power and authority of the Lord and His word struck these people with amazement.
The impact was partly due to the fact that they had never heard anything like this before. They were accustomed to the droning of the scribes giving this opinion and that.
The one thing that they noticed above everything else was that he taught:
As one that had authority and not as the scribes.
The Authority With Which Christ taught came from two sources:
1. His authority was delegated to him by the Father in heaven who has sent His only begotten Son into the world
2. His authority was delegated to him by the Word of God which he taught.
We as Christians have the same authority delegated to us. We have the authority of the Father who has left us in the world as ambassadors of His Son. And whenever we use the Word of God, any promise, precept, principle, we can do so with authority.
The scribes never did this, they gave opinion or thoughts that were shared. Here was for the first time the very delegated authority of God in their midst.
Notice also what struck them with amazement: His Doctrine:
This is the noun form of “teaching” and means “a statement of belief consisting of formulated teaching.”
In other words, Jesus did not just teach from the heart, he formulated his message through preparation.
Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
But to be amazed, to be astonished, to even be impressed with that which was different is not belief, or faith, or receiving the teaching into the soul.
You see we have this astonishment in an imperfect tense and that means that it was only for a time, but soon the time past, the astonishment faded . . . and it was back to old system.
Principle: Unless the Word that is taught, the message that is given effects you as much on Monday morning as it did on Sunday morning, you astonishment is a mere reaction, imperfect, and fades with time.
Consistency, persistence, endurance are all factors that accompany response rather than reaction
There was one man in the synagogue that had a more extreme reaction than the others.
Mark 1:23
Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,
Notice the possessive pronoun, their synagogue.
This indicates that this man was not a regular member of the Capernaum synagogue.
He is said to have an unclean spirit.
This man was inhabited by a demonic spirit, a demon.
The man was an unbelieving Jew who was possessed by a demon. Demons were at one time angelic beings who sided in a revolt against Satan and fell from the grace and protection of God.
In Jesus' day and now they are Satan's army and they can possess a person.
Movies such as The Exorcist and other creeper features give the idea that people who are demon possessed are always foul and unclean, their heads can turn around, are physically abnormal.
But this man was just sitting in the synagogue, no physical or emotional abnormalities until he heard Jesus teaching doctrine with authority.
Then the man, controlled by the demon, screamed out.
He could take the redundant rhetoric of the scribes giving the various opinions but he could not handle the teaching of doctrine with authority.
Principle: Some people have told me that doctrinal teaching makes them uncomfortable. Some people have walked out of a Bible class when the word is taught as with authority. They are numbering themselves with this demon possessed man.
Mark 1:24
saying, What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are the Holy One of God!
The first intelligible thing out of the man's mouth is an insult.
Like asking What do we have in common. But then addressing him with a title of derision, Jesus of Nazareth.
Not Jesus of God, but Jesus of Nazareth. Remember that shortly prior to this Jesus had been rejected by the people of Nazareth. This looks at him as did the people in his home town, as the son of Mary, a carpenter.
In the KJV it appears that he asks a question but this is more of a statement in which he tells the facts, the reason Jesus has come to earth.
You are come to destroy us, I know who you are, you are the Holy One of God.
This demon was attempting to show superiority over Christ by way of knowledge.
Jesus time to destroy sin and Satan would be at the Cross as our Lord often said, His time had not yet come.
He was unfolding his purpose and his plan. This demon goes right to the heart of the purpose of Christ.
Mark 1:25
And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be quiet, and come out of him!
There are two words for rebuke used in the New Testament. One means a rebuke that leads to a desired result, a change of mind. The other word, used here, refers to a rebuke that does not lead to a conviction of sin, a change of mind.
Satan and his fallen crew are incorrigible, they refuse to be convicted of their rebellion, there is no repentance or changing of mind.
Hold thy peace, translators see this as being very close to the idiom we have, shut your mouth.
The rebuke was strong and it was from one who had the very authority of God and the authority of the Word.
When our Lord command the demon to come out, the demon had to leave the man. This is commonly termed exorcism, the expunging of a daemon from possessing a human being.
DEMONS DO NOT LIKE THIS - not only do they lose control of another one of God's creatures but also they are from that moment on incarcerated in Tartarus.
Tartarus is referred to in 2 Peter 2:4 and is the temporary abode or hell for demons prior to their eternity in the Lake of Fire.
So this demon was on his way, very quickly, to hell.
Mark 1:26
Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him.
There was a physical reaction. And he shouted with a loud voice. This is not the same as we had back in verse 23.
Here we have a screech, a death cry, that droned on and on.
This is a participle which means it went along with the exorcism and resulted from the demons knowledge of what was in store for him.
We have the misplaced idea that Satan and his demons reside in Hell or that they rule in Hell. A philosopher once said it was that it would be better to rule in hell than serve in heaven.
WRONG: Even Satan will not be ruling in hell. Hell is outer darkness, isolation, fire and pain, and it lasts for ever.
If the unbeliever knew, as did this demon, that eternity for them was hell, every unbeliever who died would do so with a loud scream that would go on and on until death came.
But a believer, can face death with a smile on his face and hope, assurance, in his soul. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
Mark 1:27,28
They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.
Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.
What has just happened has given these people in Capernaum something else to deal with. Will they react or respond?
Again they reacted with amazement:
They questioned among themselves ...
In a synagogue service the speaker would take questions from the congregation. These people could have asked questions to the Lord himself, but instead they preferred to debate it among themselves.
This is total subjectivity, when the source of truth is standing right in front of you and you would rather get in a debate with others as ignorant as you . . . that goes beyond ignorance to stupidity.
Here were their topic for debate:
1. What new doctrine is this: I have never heard it before so it must not be true.
2. What is this man's authority: Where did he go to school, what degrees does he have, which Rabbis have approved of him?
3. He commands the demons and they obey HIM: HIM is a dative of advantage and in this question these men are making a subtle implication that he may be in charge of demons.
That is exactly what i mean by reacting rather than responding!
Subjectivity, reaction, arrogance even today refuse to come to the source of truth, the Word of God, for answers.
Life is going to full of things that you will not understand, that be confusing, that seem at odds with much of what you might have thought was true - are you going to react or respond.
Are you going to come to that source of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding that is the Bible, the Word of God, the mind of Christ?
In verses 29 through 39 of Mark's Gospel we have the writer presenting us with Christ's ministry in Galilee.
This section begins with the wide spread ministry of miracles that our Lord engaged in and - it ends with a very curious statement by our Lord regarding his true purpose.
Mark 1:29-31
And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.
Now Simon's mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they spoke to Jesus about her.
And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them.
And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.
Now the custom of the day was for family and friends to gather after the morning spent at the Synagogue.
Here, Jesus and four of his disciples went to Peter's home. Peter's mother and law was the matriarch