Mark
The Gospel of Mark
The Gospel of Mark begins with the preaching of John the Baptist. It Does not contain any of Jesus' early life or genealogy like that of Matthew 1-2.
Mark begins with the prophecy Isaiah 40:3 being fulfilled (John the Baptist preparing the way for the christ). This is important to understand the Jewish context of the Messiah and His’ forerunner. At this point in time, the Jews are almost worked up into a fever pitch waiting for the Messiah. John appears in the wilderness teaching "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." Mark says all of the country of Judea was going out to him and were being baptized by John in the Jordan River confessing their sins. Both Matthew and Male record he was clothed in camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist. His diet was locust and honey.
Jesus enters the scene to be baptized by John. Matthew would record that John protested to baptizing Jesus but Mark does not record that. It Just records he was baptized and the heavens opened and the spirit descended like a dove while a voice came out of heaven, "You are my beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased."
I've previously made the argument in my Matthew notes that if Baptism was good enough for Jesus, its good enough for me. I still stand by that, when we consider what is being taught in the Gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and what the Apostles taught (1 Peter 3:21; Acts 19:1-5; Colossians 2:12; Ephesians 4:5; Romans 6:4… I can keep going on baptism scriptures), I think their is a very strong argument that we should be baptized. We will see in Mark 16:15-16, Jesus expressly commanding, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.” Many argue that it is not necessary because John the Baptized said," I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” I do admit my understanding of the later portion regarding baptism by the Holy Spirit is incomplete, but I do not see how you can skirt around a ritual sacrament Jesus expressly commanded. Furthermore, we clearly see baptism for the remission of sins taught by Paul, well after the death and resurrection of Jesus. Considering the preponderance of the evidence, the burden is on those who claim baptism is not necessary. I believe the unescapable truth is Christians are baptized in Christ. Stop the “ works vs. grace” arguments and the “what if someone dies on the way to be baptized” arguments and accept what is commanded and allow God’s grace to take care of the what-ifs.
After His baptism, Jesus leaves for the wilderness to meditate and is tempted (Mark does not record much here). The point I'd like to mention is going to the wilderness for solitude and meditation. We might need more of that in our lives.
Mark records that Jesus' ministry began after John had been taken into custody. At this time, he begins to recruit disciples. It was common for Rabbis' to have followers who would travel with the teacher and be taught. I am always amazed by the faith of the disciples in that they would leave all to follow Jesus. Surely they were around Jesus much longer then the text indicates.
Mark records less about casting out a demon in Capernaum than Matthew. When Jesus was in close proximity to a man with a demon, the demon knew Jesus and Jesus’ authority. By simple words, Jesus casts out the demon from the man. News of Jesus proves His authority and spreads throughout Galilee.
In vs. 29, Mark records that Jesus heals Simon's mother-in-law and that she gets us and waits on them. Now that is a servant. Matthew would record this event Chapter 8:14, after the Sermon on the Mount. After the healing of Simon's mother-in-law, we see Jesus healing many others. It also records that Jesus would wake early and travel to remote places to pray and meditate, again a practice we should perhaps immolate.
Mark ends the Chapter with Jesus healing a leper. We see the leper had faith that Jess could heal him of his infirmities. Jesus commands him not to tell anyone (spoiler alert, he tells everyone) and to present himself to the priest for a ceremonial cleansing (as opposed to a moral cleansing in the case of a sin offering). The leper would have been ceremonially unclean.
Jesus And His disciples return to Capernaum. A crowd forms at the home he is at and four men enter carrying a paralytic man. They cannot get to Jesus because of the crowd so they pull back a portion of the roof and lower the paralytic man in. Jesus seeing their faith says, "Son your sins are forgiven."
But some of the scribes, hearing this, start accusing Jesus of blasphemy in their hearts. Jesus perceives them "in His Spirit,’ and He responds, "why are you thinking these things in your heart... Which is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘your sins are forgiven’; or... ‘Get up, and pick up your pullet and walk?’ But so that may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins."
By healing the paralytic, as well as forging his sins, Jesus demonstrated to all present that he had authority and divine power, and He also refers to himself as the "Son of Man" (Daniel 7 prophecy). The Jews that were present would have understood what Jesus was saying here. I have written before on a fairly pervasive argument amongst unbelievers that says Jesus did not claim to be the Christ, the son of God. Here is Jesus claiming to be the "Son of Man," who in Daniel 7 is seen presented to the Ancient of Days and is given dominion, glory and an everlasting Kingdom. Only a pure and holy being could be presented before God and only the Son of God could posses that power to sit at the right hand of God.
In vs. 14, we see Jesus call Matthew (or Levi) the tax collector. Tax collectors were agents of Rome and the most despised by Jews as tax collector was often a non- Roman who was appointed a quota to raise in taxes. He made his money by collecting over the allotted amount and keeping the difference. This often incentivized the tax collector to collect much more than necessary and they sometimes laid huge burdens on their own people. They were viewed as traitors by their own countrymen. It’s interesting that amongst Jesus’ closest followers are a tax collector and a Zealot. This would have been unheard of in Jewish society and to me, evidence of the new Kingdom to come and an example of Christian (or what will become Christian) unity and brotherly bonds. Christians are people of peace and unity, not creating divides.
Jesus then eats with the tax collators and sinners. The scribes of the Pharisees see this and grumble, for no righteous man would dare eat with deplorables such as these. Jesus, hearing them, says to them," It is not those who are healthy who need a doctor but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." This should be humbling. Jesus fellowships with the most despised - why? Because He loves them and they need Him! How often do we (or better yet, I) burden ourselves, with the needy?
Followers of John (the Baptizer) and the scribes are fasting and observe that Jesus' followers do not. They question Jesus on this. Jesus says while the bridegroom is present, the attendants do not fast, but when the bridegroom is taken away they will. There is much I do not understand but I do get the sense He is harkening to His death and possibly His resurrection and ascension when he will be taken away. He also compares old wine shins a new wine, and new patches on old garments. This may allude to old ways of ceremonial fasting with the new ways under Christ’s Kingdom? The old law vs. new law?
He is further questioned when His disciples pick grain heads as they walk on the Sabbath. Jesus asks if they have ever read when David and his men ate the consecrated bread (when he was fleeing from Saul)? He further says that the Son of Man is Lord over the Sabbath. The only meaning I can think of is Jesus is over the Sabbath and man, and man is over Sabbath, which was made for man, so they are not beholden to their views or interpretations on the Sabbath.
Jesus enters the synagogue and there is a man there who has a withered hand. It appears at this point the scribes and the Pharisees know who Jesus is and do not like Him. Like vultures, they watch Jesus to see if He would heal this man with the withered hand on the Sabbath.
Knowing their intentions, Jesus asks the man to come forward. Jesus then asks," Is it lawful to do good or a harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or kill?" At this point many (if not most) of the Jewish religious elite weaponized the Sabbath. Tradition of men supplanted the commandants and intentions of God. Instead of a Holy ordained rest, it was a binder and a chain. They should have had known the right answer (do good) but the hardness of their hearts prevented Pharisees and religious elite from seeing. Jesus healed the man’s hand and the Jewish leaders left to begin conspiring how they could kill Jesus. It should serve as a grave warning that our capacity to do evil in the name of God can be easily justifiable. Humble yourself.
Jesus leaves to the sea and a large crowd gathers to hear Jesus and to be healed, we are told he healed many. Demons even acknowledged that He was the Son of God. He also told many not to tell others He was the son of God, I'd imagine He planned to keep a tight lid as not to hinder His evangelism at this point.
Jesus travels up the mountain, summoning disciples and appoints the twelve. It has always been interesting to me the make up of the twelve. We had a tax collector and a zealot. How is it they co-existed as disciples? I would venture to say unity and not the unity we narrowly define as same thought as if we were the borg from Star Trek. We know better!
The Pharisees try to arrest Jesus, claiming He is possessed by Beelzebub and casts out demons by the ruler of demons. Jesus responds," How can Satan cast out Satan? If a Kingdom is divided against itself, that Kingdom cannot stand..." Jesus is saying it is not possible for Satan, or a demon, to cast out demons. It, or that power, is not divisible in itself. The later put of the parable is confusing to me— I do not understand the unpardonable sin.Further study is needed by me.
Chapter 3 ends with another lesson on unity. Jesus is teaching and his mother and brothers cannot enter because of the Crowd. The Crowd lets Jesus know that His mother and bothers are outside and He signals to them and says," Who are My Mother And My brothers... Behold My My mother and my brother (I imagine Him waiving his hand to the Crowd), for whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and Mother.""
I believe this later part teaches us that the followers of Christ exist in unity. We come to Christ from diverse backgrounds. We might have been assassins and terrorists (Simon the zealot) or a tax collector (apostates of Judaism and who the zealots killed), yet in Christ we coexist in unity. This is unity! Not some hive mind. A house divided against itself cannot stand.
At this point, large crowds are forming around Jesus so He gets into a boat and starts to teach to the crowd from the sea. I’d imagine without some sort of barrier they’d be pressing in. He begins teaching parables to the crowd.
In the parable of the sower, there is a sower who is sowing seed into several different soil. Some soil fell on the road and birds ate it up immediately. In this parable the soil is those who hear the word of the Kingdom and the devil immediately snatches them up. Some seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It immediately sprang up but because it had no depth, it was scorched by the sum and died. These are the folks who hear and are excited initially, but when struggles come (and they will), they stumble and fall away. Jesus says these two are similar for when affliction and persecution arise, they wither and die and fall away.
Still other seed fell among the thorns and thistles. The thorns came up and chocked it and it yielded no crop. These are the ones that hear the word, but the worries of life, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke them and they bear no fruit. I would venture to say most practicing Christians struggle here, myself included.
Yet still more seed fell into good soil and grew and produced an abundance of fruit. Some produced thirty fold, sixty fold, yet some hundreds. This is the desired soil and heart of the ideal christian.
Jesus continues telling them you do not hide a lamp, do you? It is to be put on a lamp stand. Likewise the Christian should, "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:16) The light also reveals what is hidden and reveals what is secret.
Additionally, Jesus goes on to say that by what standard we measure other people to, will be measured to us, perhaps even more so. We are to give abundant grace to others!
And whoever haves, to him more shall be given, and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him... This could be, more specifically and contextually mean, who has been given more grace, should give more grace, and who has been given grace, but does not give grace, his grace should be taken away. I have heard this described as the Law of Abundance and it is easy for me describe as such: It is easier for a rich man to get richer than a poor man. Once you generate an abundance of something, develop the skill and the disciplines, you can then replicate, grow, scale, and accumulate an abundance at a faster rate. This applies to knowledge, to faith, grace, to all facets of life.
Leaning to develop the skill will create success that stacks. It applies to everything. Consider relationships and how you learn to love your spouse and live with them in harmony. This is learned but once learned it can be replicated and if repeated, continue to grow. Jesus then says the Kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil, goes to bed, and the seed grows, but the man does not know how. The crop then grows and the God harvests it when it is ready. I think the parable means this: man plants and God takes care of the rest. The word is the seed. Man sows the seed into various types of soil (see above parable), but man does not grow the plant, God does. God grows the seed and works on the plat. Some will wither, or die, but a good plant in good soil will grow and when the plant is ready, God will harvest.
Jesus then asks, "how shall we picture the Kingdom of God?" He then compares it to the mustard seed, which is a small unassuming seed, but when it grows it becomes larger than all the garden plants. I think the reference to the garden carries with it the garden of Eden and a time when man was one with God. The tree then spreads so, "that the birds of the air can nest under its shade." (Eze. 12:23, Eze. 31: 6, Ps. 104:12, & Da. 4:12. These all paint a picture that represents harmony and oneness between the creation and the creator.)
Jesus and the disciples then leave by boat. That evening a fierce gale of wind picks up and the boat is sinking. Jesus, who is still asleep, is waken by the disciples who are afraid. He rebukes them for their lack of faith and they are amazed he can control nature. It is a little comfort that even the disciples’ faith wavered at times. We would do well to remember we serve the one true God and put our faith in this deliverance.
Jesus and the disciples arrive to the other side of the sea in the county of the Gerasenes. Immediately, a man with unclean spirits comes up to them. He had lived in the tombs, was of unstable of mind, and possessed great strength. The man comes up to Jesus falling on his knees, for the demons recognized Jesus. He claimed Jesus as the son of the Most High God.
There is much we do not know about this world. They can speak, they can identify Jesus and they can inhabit other mediums - swine in this case.
The demons “implore (Jesus) earnestly” that they do not send then out of the country. Jesus grants the request, which is very interesting to me, and sends the into the swine. The swine then run into the sea and drowned. The herdsmen run to the city and report everything to a crowd. Hearing all that happened, the crowd implores Jesus to leave. A man is saved and they ask him to leave. It appears living with a demon possessed man was preferred!
The formerly possessed man wants to travel with Jesus but He tells him to go back to this people and proclaim what has happened. The man traveled to Decapolis and proclaimed what great things Jesus did for Him. His news was received with amazement.
Jesus and His disciples cross back over to the other side of the sea. A large crowd gathers around Him and He begins teaching them. One of the synagogue officials comes to Jesus and begs Him to heal His 12 year old daughter. This would likely put him at odds with the other synagogue officials, but what would you do to save your child? Jesus agrees and leaves with him,
On the way to heal the sick daughter the crowd is pressing in on Jesus. A woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years is in the crowd to see Jesus. There might be some importance with the number twelve? Mark says she reasoned with herself that if she just touches the cloak she will get well. She reaches out and touches his cloak and Jesus perceives the power leave Him. Jesus begins questioning the crowd who touched his cloak? Im not sure how much detail it is worth discussing the whole story here but Jesus commends her for her faith and tells her it has made her well.
While they are talking a messenger comes up to Darius the synagogue official to tell him his daughter is dead. Overhearing, Jesus tells Darius not to be afraid, just believe. When they get to the house there is a large commotion of people morning. Jesus asks," Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep? The crowd begins to laugh at Him. Unwavering, he enters the room with the father, mother and His companions. He takes the little girls hand and tells her to arise. The Bible says she immediately got up and began to walk. Jesus gives them warning not to tell anyone, which in my mind, would be difficult considering there was a crown mourning in the home.
Jesus travels back to His hometown. On Sabbath, He begins teaching in the synagogue, and many were astonished by His teaching. But they also questioned and were skeptical for this was the boy who grew up there, the carpenter, the son of Mary who had many siblings there who they knew. This appears to have created a stir there for many did not believe.
Jesus says, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, and among his relatives and in his own household." Amongst us mortals, it seems we sometimes have to leave our hometown to escape the baggage associated with the people we grew up with.
Jesus began to send the twelve out in pairs to teach and to heal. He instructs them to take no extra tunic, no bread, no bag, no money tie. Just sandals, a tunic and a staff. I wonder if this was to strengthen their faith? Consider that they would have to rely on God's support and the generosity of the people they were teaching-not their own. The Apostles go out and casted out demons and healed the sick.
King Herod hears of Jesus and wonders if John the Baptizer is alive or risen from the dead? John was arrested by Herod for John was preaching against him because Herod married his brother's wife, who was also his step-sister (if memory serves me). Herodias' under age daughter danced a sensual dance in front of Herod and his guests and He, like a drunken fool, pledged up to half his Kingdom to her. After consulting her mother, the underage girl asked for John the Baptizers head on a platter.
Hearing of John's fate, Jesus and the disciples head for a secluded place to rest awhile.
Mark records that the people gathered together before Jesus and His apostles got to the place they were going, and that Jesus had compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd." Jesus begins teaching them many things. As it gets late, Jesus’ disciples point out to Jesus it is late, it is a desolate place, and the people should be released so they could eat. Jesus responds, "You give them something to eat!" They counter saying it would cost 200 denarii (200 days wage) to feed them all.
Jesus asks them how much food they have, and orders the disciples to break the crowd up and sit them in groups of one hundred and groups of fifty. Jesus then blessed the food and began dividing the fish and the bread performing a miracle. Mark records that 5,000 men were fed (which does not include women & children).
After feeding the crowds, Jesus orders His disciples back into the boat to leave for Bethsaida, located on the other side of the sea. when it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea battling wind and waves, as Jesus was sitting on the land. Jesus, seeing them strain, walks on the water towards them intending to walk by them. Which is a bit strange. His disciples see Him and began to be fearful supposing He is some sort of ghost. Jesus tells them, "Take Courage: it is I, do not be afraid." Jesus gets into the boat and the winds die down. Mark does not record Peter walking on the water like other gospel accounts. Mark makes it a point to also state the disciples did not gain any insight on faith after the loaves of bread. We would do well to put our faith in the creator and not harden on hearts.
Some of the Pharisees and scribes come from Jerusalem are around Jesus' disciples. It is not clear if they had been hearing about Jesus and left to investigate or this is a detail that merely states they were from Jerusalem. I lean towards if it is here then there is a reason for it. They observe that the disciples do not wash their hands. Over time, Jews had developed many traditions revolving around washing and purification. I would say the intent, originally, was good, however, these traditions became a law unto themselves and the religious elite bound them as law as if God commanded this. The Pharisees question Jesus about this.
Jesus responds quoting Isaiah 29:13. This passage is a warming to Jerusalem by Isaiah the prophet and this verse specifically says they will '“honor [God] with their lips, but their heart is far away from [God].” Jesus does not quote the final sentence as is sometimes the case in Jewish writing were the context and intent is given without including the whole passage, but it states, “And their reverence for Me consists of the commandment of men that is taught.” This last part says the rulers will bind their own teaching on the people. "Neglecting the Commandant of God, you hold to the the tradition of men," Jesus says in Mark. This position is easy for us to take. For example, a strong Christin will not neglect the gathering of the saints, and a strong church must have two services on Sunday… Thus, you must attend twice on Sunday and once on Wednesday night.
Back to the text: in vs. 9, Jesus says the Pharisees “are experts at setting aside the commandments of God in order to keep tradition.” He then goes back to Moses who said "honor your father & mother’,” and compares this against a teaching of the Pharisees which says if you've dedicated something to God, you cannot then give that, even to your parents if they are in need. By this teaching, and many like it, Jesus says the Pharisees invalidate the word of God by teaching their traditions. Man's traditions are not God's law and God's law is supreme.
Jesus then calls the crowd to Him and proceeds to say, "there is notting outside the man which can defile him if it goes into Him, but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile him.” The Jews had very strict rules regarding clean and unclean food. It did not stop there, but Jesus only mentioned the food aspect. The Pharisees greatly emphasized the food and purity laws but neglected the intent of the laws: to create a righteous and holy people, zealous to do good work. This evolves a changed and pure heart. The Pharisees would condemn a man based on what food they ate, not the heart of then man (or themselves). Jesus tells His disciples that all sorts of evil proceed from the heart: evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. These evil things proceed from the heart and defile him.
The following versus is one of the most difficult comments Jesus makes to our modern ears. Jesus travels to the region of Tyre. He attempts to travel without being noticed but everyone recognizes Him and Crowds gather. One being a gentile woman of the Syrophoenician race who requested her demon possessed daughter be healed. Jesus initially ignores her, but then responds, "Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.." Yes, he called her a dog, a common term used by Jews to describe Gentiles. His response shows His Jewishness and also the focus of His ministry and the order of salvation: Jews first, and then to the Gentiles which is heavily reinforced in Matthew.
Her response is what made this exchange noteworthy enough to record it in the Gospels. She says,"Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children's crumbs." Her response showed great humility and faith that this Jewish man could speak a word and save her daughter. This is the kind of faith Jesus requires. Jesus tells her, her faith has healed her daughter.
After this exchange the crowd brings him a deaf and nearly mute man, imploring Him to heal the man of His infirmity. He does so and His fame as a healer and teacher continues to spread across the region.
