FOLLOWING JESUS THROUGH MARK’S GOSPEL
INTRODUCTION
Our journey with Jesus must inevitably take us through the gospels because they are the record of much of His life and teachings that we are called to understand and to imitate.
Why Mark’s Gospel first?
According to Biblical scholarship, it is the first and earliest written record of the life and teachings of Jesus and it is the main source of Matthew and Luke.
It is the shortest and simplest gospel, written for Gentile readers, especially the Romans with explanations of some of the Jewish beliefs and practices.
It presents Jesus as the servant of the Lord, which is a powerful model for the disciple to follow.
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 1: Verses 1-8
| The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, | |
| 2 | as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way” — |
| 3 | “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ’Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” |
| 4 | And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. |
| 5 | The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. |
| 6 | John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. |
| 7 | And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. |
| 8 | I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” |
Matthew and Luke begin their stories with the previous generation, Joseph and Mary, Zachariah and Elizabeth, and the events leading up to the birth of their respective sons. Mark’s story is open-ended – no record of who John was, who his parents were, and how he came to be carrying out a prophetic role; no record of Jesus’ human origins. He plonks the reader down in the middle of a story and leaves the other gospel writers to fill in the gaps.
At the same time, though, there’s a kingly majesty about the human figure of Jesus. He has a crier announcing His coming and preparing the way for Him. In true godly fashion, His forerunner is not dressed in finery, coming from the royal court in pomp and ceremony. He bursts from the wilderness because anywhere is God’s royal throne room. He appears from the courts of heaven, from years of tutoring in the wilderness school of God, dressed simply and eating simply. The focus is not on the messenger but on the message.
John was not merely mouthing the words of the prophet Isaiah. He was soaked, marinated in the words of the prophet. He had a burden and a burning in his spirit which, like Jeremiah, he could not keep shut up in his bones. It was a passion so fiery that he released it by shouting it to the wind. At first no-one heard it. He announced it to nature and nature listened.
Then one here, one there, who happened to be in earshot, began to hear, to listen and to call in a friend, a neighbour, a brother, to come and listen. It was a radical message like no other message they had ever heard. Messiah! Kingdom! Holy Spirit! New life! Change! Repent! God is here!
What was this? They had not heard from God in 400 years. Now a strange, scantily clad, wild man appears, shouting so convincingly that they had to respond. A tide of hope begins to rise within them. No man speaks so boldly unless he knows and speaks the truth.