Mark chapter 1

We're about to start a sermon series on Mark at church, and I have to preach on Mark, so I figured, even though I have so many OT books to go through, I should do Mark.

vs 1

Mark doesn't mess around. We're jumping straight into the good stuff.

vs 2

Yes, this is not a quote from Isaiah - the next one is, though. It's a quote from Malachi. Some people say that in such situations, the proper thing was to give name to the major prophet over the minor prophet. Could he have just made a mistake? That really depends on how you think about the Bible, its inerrancy, and its inspiration. Because if you believe that the Holy Spirit inspired the words, then you are somewhat less likely to accept that Mark's mistakes were going to be allowed to end up on paper. After all, if he made a mistake remembering which quotes come from Isaiah, and which come from Malachi, then couldn't he have made a mistake about what Peter said Jesus said?

Some people say that the exact words aren't inspired, but the message behind them is - so that the conceptual point (for example, here, the fact that the prophets spoke of the coming of the Messiah) is sound, even if the exact details are a little skewed. This then has people asking all sorts of questions about the legitimacy of the historical statements. Were there two beggars, one beggar, two gates, one gate? Honestly, does that matter? And that's the thing - no, it doesn't matter if there was one or two beggars. Yes, it does matter if the Bible is inspired, which is what's at the crux of such arguments. Is there space for a paradox here? I would think so, since we have space for them in so many other places.

Anyway, the verse he is quoting is about how there will be a messenger that comes first.

vs 3

The thing about this, of course, is that it can also be read, "A voice calling, 'In the wilderness... etc'" (as it does in (T)NIV and NASB, but not KJV). It's being slightly differently read here, to show that it refers also to John the Baptist.

vs 4

The tameness of this verse, in comparison with the somewhat striking beginning, makes it sound like, "And so, one day, God's prophecy was fulfilled, and someone turned up to fill it." John the Baptist is a fantastic guy. He's like a rock star of the ancient world. He's in every gospel. In Acts, we find that he has been heard of in places Jesus hasn't! He is just a regular guy with a fantastic message.

vs 5

This is like a pre-messianic revival in Judea. John TB is the Billy Graham of the time. People are called to faith, and are renewed in their faith through baptism.

vs 6

We learn more about this in other gospels, but a hair shirt generally marks someone out as being humble. It also marks him out as someone who actually lived - some small details about his life we don't really need to know.

vs 7

Like he says, he's just the messenger. He's the pathfinder, and someone is going to come down that path who you really, really want to meet.

vs 8

This is not something John made up - this is revealed in the prophets. But to hear that this great messiah figure is coming, and for that to be the crux of John TB's ministry, and for it to be so successful, shows you just how desperate people were at the time for a messiah.

vs 9

Everyone else was doing it, after all, and part of Jesus' job is to sympathise with us. He didn't have anything to repent, though. But then, Job made sacrifices for sinful thoughts his kids might have had.

vs 10

Did anyone else see it, or just him? Doesn't say.

vs 11

Did anyone else hear it, or just him? Did Jesus know that this was his destiny? The other gospels show that there was a bit more of a back-and-forthing between Jesus and John TB (not even mentioning childhood Jesus' time in th temple), so I would say this was not a revelation to Jesus of his divinity, although I have heard some people say so. I've always thought that the voice was audible, and so people were like, "Woah, that's mega." You may as well assume miracle after miracle in the gospels, since it doesn't matter how many happen in or around or because of Jesus, people still don't believe. That's the thing about miracles.

vs 12

At once is possibly a bit rich, but he was sort of out in the wilderness already.

vs 13

This is a fantastic job of summarisation. You can read more detail in another gospel, but here you just get wilderness, satan, tempted, animals, angels. Bam. Let's get back to the excitement!

vs 14

John being put in prison is almost skipped over. But it's an important happening. It kicks off Jesus' ministry, according to Mark.

vs 15

It's a very similar message to John TB's. There is no reason people wouldn't get caught up in it, seeing as it's the same message.

vs 16

If they were hairdressers, it would have been slightly stranger.

vs 17

The old 'fishers of men' has fallen, which doesn't really bother me. The point is that Jesus is offering to change them from fishermen into people who grab people (obviously not literally in nets to eat them).

vs 18

And so they left to follow him. Of course Peter would include this in this gospel, since he is Simon.

vs 19

Jesus has a thing for fishermen. Okay, that sounds a little strange. I wonder if it's just because this is where his ministry started, so this is who he ends up with. If he'd started somewhere else, he might have had all leatherworkers, or encyclopaedia salesmen.

vs 20

I assume that they had at the least heard Jesus speak before. This idea of going off and joining a travelling teacher is not unheard of. It was something people did. It's actually incredible how long people can just scrape together a living for such things, right up to today in some places. Probably not worth trying it in Australia, though.

vs 21

This was not out of place. After all, guy turns up, has a following - he is probably a good teacher, may as well give him the floor.

vs 22

Now you see why people followed him. When Jesus spoke about God, he spoke as if he knew exactly what it was about. Some people might just say he was really confident, but then Jesus himself claims to be God, which you have to admit would also help his preaching.

vs 23

Evil spirit posession was just a fact of life back then. I can't really say if it's as prevalent, or more or less, than it was then. Different people say different things. Certainly I wouldn't put it past demons to be traipsing about, considering most everyone ignores their very existence. But honestly, I wouldn't begin to know how to tell them apart - such spiritual sensitivity is not my forte, I don't think.

vs 24

Satan and his minions are always out to try and ruin the story. They are trying to tell everyone that he is the Messiah. This might sound like a stupid strategy - I mean, if they are demons, then surely they're in the know. But the fact is, if you knew someone was demon-possessed, would you listen to what they said? By them saying it, they could actually undermine Jesus' position.

vs 25

Hence, Jesus tells him to shut up. He also tells the demon to take a hike. Now, I have heard people make arguments like, "If Jesus is so powerful, why didn't he destroy the demon, instead of just casting it out?" It's not an unfair question, I suppose, but it is akin to asking, "If God hates sinners, why doesn't he strike us with lightning every time we sin?" Think about the world we would live in were that the case. God knows better, thankfully. There is a time for final judgement, and it is the end of days.

vs 26

That is how it goes, I suppose.

vs 27

If his words of authority on scripture weren't enough, his power to drive out demons simply by telling (that is, really, commanding) them to leave is astonishingly cool.

vs 28

The miracle backs up the teaching. That's what miracles are for. You can't just trust miracles themselves, because they don't really give a message.

vs 29

Perhaps they were on the synagogue hospitality roster for visiting speakers.

vs 30

Immediately! Mark loves his adverbs.

vs 31

There's nothing worse than when your mum is too sick to serve you dinner. Seriously, though, this is another incredible miracle. There are only the disciples around now, and it's Simon and Andrew's mum we're talking about, so it's not like Jesus could have planted her, like a stage magician.

vs 32

News travels fast when free health services are on offer.

vs 33

That's a lot of people.

vs 34

It would be like letting your enemies write your resume. It's the difference between Barak Obama saying, "He's an American soldier," and Osama Bin Laden saying, "He's an American soldier!"

vs 35

So either he snuck out while people were sleeping, or he went out the back door or something.

vs 36

After all, they probably woke up and thought, "Uh oh, we lost the messiah."

vs 37

There's a lot of wisdom teeth problems that need your attention!

vs 38

Jesus healed people out of compassion, but that was not the focus of his ministry. He wanted to tell people his message. If healing people would help them listen, sure. But he didn't come, this time, to end suffering. That comes when he returns. This is just a taste.

vs 39

This is the early days of Jesus' tour. They're still doing the pub circuit, but they've got a new sound that a big record label will no doubt pick up soon. They're on their way to stardom.

vs 40

Leprosy is just a convenient name for skin diseases. But skin diseases suck, not just because they are awful, but because they make you unclean. Hence the guy doesn't ask for curing, but for cleaning.

vs 41

Indignant! Apparently a lot of manuscripts say "filled with compassion", which is the Jesus we know and love, I suppose. Why would he be indignant? Perhaps he was angry with the skin disease, and the fact that someone could be considered unclean and their whole religious life could be destroyed (see, that way, he still sounds nice and gentle towards the person).

But, perhaps he didn't like having unclean people jump him in the street, and so to make him go away, he says, "Sure, be clean, get out of my way!" That doesn't really sound right, though.

vs 42

Regardless, the guy gets healed, and that's pretty much a new life for him. And anyone who has had their life changed by Jesus knows what this is like.

vs 43

Now we start getting into weird territory.

vs 44

The Messianic secret, as it's called. Okay, so when demons say things, Jesus tells them to shut their traps. But when a guy who was healed is told to be quiet, what is the purpose? Is it reverse psychology? Is it because Jesus doesn't want crowds of sick following him around (that would sort of fit with the indignant above!)? Is it perhaps because the guy would be bragging about being healed by Jesus? Matthew Henry says it's because Jesus was being humble (he also points out that the 'strong warning' is more literally 'prohibiting with threats' - so maybe Jesus was indignant with him). While I know Jesus was humble to a degree, I think he also strives to glorify his father, so this doesn't really work for me. Aquinus says that he was setting an example of humility for his disciples, which sounds a little fairer. Others say that it was because he didn't want his message to get spread out so quickly, and still others say that he was only prohibited from telling people until he had made his restitution at the temple (which is important in itself, because it shows that he wants the guy to fulfil his legal obligation to God under the law, thus giving glory to God for the healing).

vs 45

Of course, the guy doesn't listen (this is nothing new) and so Jesus finds himself crowded out of town, and even quiet places are haunted by people looking for a free Medicare bulk-billed heal.