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| Chapter 1 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in the Prophets: "Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee." 3 "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.’" 4 John baptized in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judea and those of Jerusalem; and they were all baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 And John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a girdle of a skin about his loins, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, "There cometh after me One mightier than I, the strap of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. 8 I indeed have baptized you with water, but He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit." 9 ¶ And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And straightway coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him. 11 And there came a voice from Heaven, saying, "THOU ART MY BELOVED SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED." 12 And immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. 13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto Him. 14 ¶ Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye and believe the Gospel." 16 Now as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. 17 And Jesus said unto them, "Come ye after Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men." 18 And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed Him. 19 And when He had gone a little farther thence, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. 20 And straightway He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him. 21 And they went into Capernaum, and straightway on the Sabbath day He entered into the synagogue and taught. 22 And they were astonished at His doctrine, for He taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. 23 ¶ And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 saying, "Let us alone. What have we to do with Thee, Thou Jesus of Nazareth? Hast Thou come to destroy us? I know Thee and who Thou art--the Holy One of God!" 25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Hold thy peace, and come out of him!" 26 And when the unclean spirit had torn him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. 27 And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What thing is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority he commandeth even the unclean spirits, and they obey him." 28 And immediately His fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee. 29 ¶ And forthwith when they had come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and at once they told Him of her. 31 And He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them. 32 And at evening, when the sun had set, they brought unto Him all who were diseased and those who were possessed with devils. 33 And all the city was gathered together at the door. 34 And He healed many who were sick with divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and He suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew Him. 35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with Him followed after Him. 37 And when they had found Him, they said unto Him, "All men seek for thee." 38 And He said unto them, "Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also; for therefore came I forth." 39 And He preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils. 40 ¶ And there came a leper to Him, beseeching Him and kneeling down to Him and saying unto Him, "If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean." 41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth His hand and touched him, and said unto him, "I will; be thou clean." 42 And as soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. 43 And He strictly charged him, and forthwith sent him away, 44 saying unto him, "See that thou say nothing to any man; but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony unto them." 45 But he went out and began to proclaim it much and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, and was outside in desert places. And they came to Him from every quarter. |
Mark’s Gospel was written with the Romans in mind, so he gives a record of what Jesus did as He moved from place to place. He spends no time on the early life of Jesus neither does he spend time on listing the relatives and genealogy. You will also find that Mark only records a few of the sermons of Jesus, he is trying to centre on what Jesus did. "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ" shows the content of this book, the beginning of the Good News of salvation through Jesus. The position of Jesus as "the Son of God" is also important to Mark. John Mark, the author, brings in witnesses to prove who Jesus was and did, his aim is to identify "Jesus as the Servant." Mark himself is the first witness, he also calls upon the prophets as witnesses v2,3, he uses two quotations from Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3. v4-8 Mark now calls in the third witness, John the Baptist. "As it is written" v2 shows that John’s ministry was as Scripture. The word "wilderness" did not just mean an area of sand, desert, it also applied to sandy area’s on the banks of rivers and lakes, it is thought that the ministry of John the Baptist was centered either upon the western shore of the Dead Sea or a similar area near Jericho. John’s Baptism was a full immersion, this was not knew to the Jew as when a non Jew took on the Jewish faith, a proselyte, self-immersion was part of the ceremony. John’s message was that the Jews were in a "spiritual wilderness," lost from God, they needed to repent of their sins. Many people were going out to see and hear John’s message, turning away from their sinful lives in preparation for the coming Messiah. v7,8 John was giving a warning, proclaiming of a person soon to come, a person who felt that he was not worthy to be even a slave, to undo His shoes. This person will baptize with the Spirit of God. v9-11 The final witnesses confirm the identity of the Jesus, When Jesus was baptized the Spirit came upon Him, and a voice from heaven confirmed who Jesus was. The word "beloved" is not only a word of affection, but also has a meaning of "the only one." Though Mark shows Jesus as the Servant he also identifies Him as the Son of God. Mark 1:1 ; Mark 1:11 ; Mark 3:11 ; Mark 5:7 ; Mark 9:7; Mark 12:1-11; Mark 13:32; Mark 14:61-62; Mark 15:39. A very unusual Servant, The Son of God. v12-13 The Temptation Matt 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13. Mark does not give a full account as Matthew and Luke do, though Mark says that Jesus was "driven" by the Holy Spirit in to the wilderness for the temptation by Satan. The Servant had a task to perform, no time to respond to the voice from heaven, He immediately obeyed. v14-22 The Servant Preaches. v14 "After" shows that Mark missed certain events, Jesus had already started His ministry John 1:35 to 4:45, Jesus had left Judea because of the arrest of John by Herod. v15 "The time is fulfilled,," the time prophesied by the Prophets is now in place, just as God planned, His kingdom is about to appear. "Repent," (to change their minds), on its own is not sufficient, there is a need to have "belief in the Gospel" as well. v16-20 In John 1:35-49 we find that Jesus had already met Peter, Andrew, James and John so this was not their initial call to faith, this was a call to follow and become a disciple. In v20 we are told that Zebedee also had hired servants in the fishing boats so his business was successful, the departure of his sons would not be so serious. John 21:1-3 suggests that some of the other disciples were also fishermen. v21-22 Capernaum was an important town on the road to Damascus. The synagogue developed as a place of worship for the Jew when the people were in Babylon and the temple had been destroyed. If there were more than ten Jewish men over the age of twelve then a synagogue could be created. It was not used for sacrifice, that was only in the temple, but it was a place to read and study the scriptures, prayer and worship. No priests were involved in the service. The synagogue was operated with a board of elders and a "ruler," one of the elders chosen to be in charge. Mark 5:22. A visiting rabbis was often asked to read the scriptures and teach. This is why Jesus was invited to speak this Sabbath. v22 As you read Mark’s Gospel you will see that he often records the responses of the people. As Jesus spoke the listeners were "astonished" as he spoke, he spoke with "authority," The scribe always referred back to a previous priest or prophet, Jesus spoke without using another persons thoughts or statements. v23-28 In the synagogue was a man who was demon possessed, there is no mention that he was also a visitor so he may have been to the meeting many times and no one realized his condition. The presence of Jesus made the demons reveal their presence. Not only did Jesus expose him but He also commanded it to leave the man. It is interesting that Jesus also commanded the demon to be quite about who he was. The Son of God does not want or need the help of Satan to identify him. Compare Acts 16:16-24. The demon knew all about Jesus because he referred to his human side,"Jesus of Nazareth" and His deity "Holy One of God.." The demon also indicated that he was subject to the judgement of Jesus "Hast Thou come to destroy us?" The people are amazed and are afraid, "what does this mean? " a new teaching and power. v28 The news of this ‘man’ now spreads fast. v29-45 The Servant at work. Jesus and the four disciples left the synagogue and go to the house of Peter and Andrew. Peter was married and his wife was caring for her mother’s illness so perhaps the meal was not ready when they arrive. Jesus was told of her illness and immediately he went to her and healed her. She was now able to serve the Son of God. At the end of the Sabbath, when the sun set, the whole city came to see this man at the house of Peter. The Lord must have been weary by then yet he healed them all. It may have been very late that night when Jesus was allowed to rest. v35 A late night did not stop the Son of God going to communicate with His Father early next morning. v37 The crowds want to see Jesus again, to be healed and see miracles but not listen to His teaching. The Lord knew of the peoples hearts so moves on to the next towns, His task was to bring the message from His Father, not just heal sickness. v40 Leprosy is a nasty disease, anyone who was a leper had to warn people of their presence and not come near anyone to stop the disease being passed on. Jesus healed by His Word and His touch, for Jesus to touch him as part of the healing act shows great love, it may have been a long time since that man had been touched by anyone. See Lev 13:38-46 for regulation for lepers. v44 Again Jesus told the man to tell no one, to just go to the priest and follow the instructions of Leviticus 14. v45 The man took no notice of Jesus not to tell anyone, he told everyone, this forced Jesus out of the towns into the open country because so many people wanted to see Him. |
Easy English Translation
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| St.Mark’s Gospel |
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