{"id":51884,"date":"2014-12-16T17:37:35","date_gmt":"2014-12-17T00:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/?page_id=51884"},"modified":"2014-12-16T17:46:18","modified_gmt":"2014-12-17T00:46:18","slug":"chapter-1","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/commentary\/mark\/chapter-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/span>The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark identifies Jesus<\/p>\n

2\u00a0<\/sup>As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cBehold, I send my messenger before thy face,<\/span>
\nwho shall prepare thy way;<\/span>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>the voice of one crying in the wilderness:<\/span>
\nPrepare the way of the Lord,<\/span>
\nmake his paths straight\u2014\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This is an amalgamated quotation from different prophets, referring to John the Baptist.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

4\u00a0<\/sup>John the baptizer appeared\u00a0in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mark doesn’t begin with a genealogy or infancy narratives, but jumps straight in with John, preaching in the wilderness.<\/p>\n

5\u00a0<\/sup>And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

John was very popular.<\/p>\n

<\/span>6\u00a0<\/sup>Now John was clothed with camel\u2019s hair, and had a leather girdle around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He looks like Elijah.<\/p>\n

7\u00a0<\/sup>And he preached, saying, \u201cAfter me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. <\/span>8\u00a0<\/sup>I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

John foretells Jesus, the Messiah.<\/p>\n

The Baptism of Jesus<\/span><\/h3>\n

9\u00a0<\/sup>In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus comes to John<\/p>\n

10\u00a0<\/sup>And when he came up out of the water, immediately…<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Immediately. This word is characteristic of Mark.<\/p>\n

…he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove; <\/span>11\u00a0<\/sup>and a voice came from heaven, \u201cThou art my beloved Son;[d<\/a>]<\/sup> with thee I am well pleased.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This is a theophany. The Spirit is represented by the dove, the voice is spoken by the Father and the Son is baptized.<\/p>\n

The Temptation of Jesus<\/span><\/h3>\n

12\u00a0<\/sup>The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. <\/span>13\u00a0<\/sup>And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to him.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This is a recapitulation of what happened to Israel in the wilderness.<\/p>\n

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry<\/span><\/h3>\n

14\u00a0<\/sup>Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, <\/span>15\u00a0<\/sup>and saying, \u201cThe time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus picks up John’s baton and takes his place.<\/p>\n

Jesus Calls the First Disciples<\/span><\/h3>\n

16\u00a0<\/sup>And passing 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. <\/span>17\u00a0<\/sup>And Jesus said to them, \u201cFollow me and I will make you become fishers of men.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This phrase is found in the prophets.<\/p>\n

18\u00a0<\/sup>And immediately they left their nets and followed him. <\/span>19\u00a0<\/sup>And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zeb\u2032edee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. <\/span>20\u00a0<\/sup>And immediately he called them; and they left their father Zeb\u2032edee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

James and John leave their profitable fishing business (they had servants) and follow Jesus.<\/p>\n

The Man with an Unclean Spirit<\/span><\/h3>\n

21\u00a0<\/sup>And they went into Caper\u2032na-um; …<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This will be Jesus’ base.<\/p>\n

…and immediately… <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Immediately.<\/p>\n

…on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. <\/span>22\u00a0<\/sup>And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus teaches authoritively.<\/p>\n

23\u00a0<\/sup>And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; <\/span>24\u00a0<\/sup>and he cried out, \u201cWhat have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Others don’t know who He is, but the demon does.<\/p>\n

25\u00a0<\/sup>But Jesus rebuked him, saying, \u201cBe silent, and come out of him!\u201d<\/span>26\u00a0<\/sup>And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. <\/span>27\u00a0<\/sup>And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, \u201cWhat is this? A new teaching! With authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.\u201d <\/span>28\u00a0<\/sup>And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus’ teaching is validated by His powerful works.<\/p>\n

Jesus Heals Many at Simon\u2019s House<\/span><\/h3>\n

29\u00a0<\/sup>And immediately…<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Immediately…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

…he\u00a0left the synagogue, and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. <\/span>30\u00a0<\/sup>Now Simon\u2019s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him of her.<\/span>31\u00a0<\/sup>And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her; and she served them.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The fact that she serves them suggests that Peter could well have been a widow.<\/p>\n

32\u00a0<\/sup>That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. <\/span>33\u00a0<\/sup>And the whole city was gathered together about the door. <\/span>34\u00a0<\/sup>And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus heals many.<\/p>\n

A Preaching Tour in Galilee<\/span><\/h3>\n

35\u00a0<\/sup>And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed. <\/span>36\u00a0<\/sup>And Simon and those who were with him followed him, <\/span>37\u00a0<\/sup>and they found him and said to him, \u201cEvery one is searching for you.\u201d <\/span>38\u00a0<\/sup>And he said to them, \u201cLet us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out.\u201d <\/span>39\u00a0<\/sup>And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus keeps moving.<\/p>\n

Jesus Cleanses a Leper<\/span><\/h3>\n

40\u00a0<\/sup>And a leper came to him beseeching him, and kneeling said to him, \u201cIf you will, you can make me clean.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Leprosy is symbolic of sin.<\/p>\n

41\u00a0<\/sup>Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, \u201cI will; be clean.\u201d<\/span>42\u00a0<\/sup>And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This act would have made Jesus ritually unclean, but His goodness is greater than the uncleanliness and the man is cleaned.<\/p>\n

43\u00a0<\/sup>And he sternly charged him, and sent him away at once, <\/span>44\u00a0<\/sup>and said to him, \u201cSee that you say nothing to any one; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to the people.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus tries to keep a low profile.<\/p>\n

45\u00a0<\/sup>But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus\u00a0could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He ignores Jesus’ words!<\/p>\n

Return to Chapter Index<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark identifies Jesus 2\u00a0As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, \u201cBehold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way; 3\u00a0the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight\u2014\u201d This is an amalgamated quotation from<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":51781,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-51884","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51884"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51884\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51889,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51884\/revisions\/51889"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}