The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

Behold, I send my messenger before your
face, who will prepare your way,
the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.

John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan , confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. 

A doctor comes from the OR and tells an anxious family the surgery went well good news. The stock market closes up for the day, setting records good news. Your accountant says your tax refund will be much bigger this year good news. The Yankees win another World Series good news. (Well there could be some debate about that in Boston , Philadelphia , and St. Louis )

The point is that there is quite a bit of good news that we've all heard at one time or another. Oh, there's plenty of bad news out there as well, and it often grabs the headlines, exiling the little stories of good news to page four or five. But what about good news that grabs headlines by its own right? What about good news that's good news for all (Not just Yankee fans)? That would be definitely good news, wouldn't it?

Mark began his Gospel with such a headline:

The "the" up front is what we call the definite article, a part of speech that clears up any doubt about the subject. Mark knew that what would follow in his narrative was not just one piece of good news among other good news. He also was convinced that what he wrote was good news for all, not just for some.

Years ago newsboys would stand on a corner holding copies of the daily edition and shout out the headlines, urging people to buy a paper and read all about it. Well, in a more fast-paced and journalistic style than his three gospel-writing colleagues, Mark was the first to broadcast widely news that was so much more than good, it was the best news ever.

God himself employed his own newsboy, if you will, in the person of John the Baptist, and that's where Mark began his Gospel. John did not stand on a busy street corner, but out in a wilderness, far from the crowds of Jerusalem . Yet John's headline, "Prepare the way of the Lord" was so compelling that crowds did come from far and wide, from the big city and from countless little villages to hear his message.

The message might not have sounded exactly like good news, it called people to repent of their sins. But many were convicted by what John proclaimed about the Lord's approach, and they responded by submitting to his baptism of water. Others stood back and just observed what John was doing, suspicious of an odd man, roughly dressed and shouting in the wilderness, and perhaps doubting that someone like him would have been God's choice to scoop all other prophets (The reporters of the day) and proclaim The good news that al Israel had been waiting centuries to hear.

For his part John, while forceful, was at the same time quite humble. When the One whose coming he was declaring arrived, John would not even be fit to untie his shoes. Even more, John made it clear that the baptisms he had been performing would be superseded by the baptism the Lord would offer, the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

In eight short verses Mark, like any good newsman, actually like a Good News man, grabbed the attention of his readers with an introduction to a story like no other, and story that could transform their lives, a story that was all but impossible to put down until you got to the end.

Today there are no few churches where Mark's words, and those of the other Evangelists, and of the entire Bible, have been reduced from The Good News to one piece of good news among many. The definite article has been replaced, making the proclamation of the Gospel rather indefinite and conditional.

But make no mistake. As God inspired Mark to write down his account of The Good News, and ordained John to announce the headline that The Lord and His kingdom were imminent, He would have those who still receive these words as The Gospel continue to share this good news, and no other, with everyone.

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Study Questions

• Mark wrote his gospel to point us to Jesus and show us that he is the Christ (Hebrew Messiah). We also note that Mark's writing style is terse and to the point, focusing on facts. Identify at least five facts Mark reported in verses 1-8.
• What is the significance that, hundreds of years before his birth, Israel's prophets revealed details about the coming of the Christ, and the messenger who would prepare the way for him?
• How do you think you would have responded to the word about the wild man in the wilderness baptizing people in the Jordan if you had been a First Century Israelite? Would you have been dismissive of such a wild report? Would you have been curious to see what was going on and followed the crowds out to the wilderness? Would you have been convicted by John's preaching and asked to be baptized? What would you have thought about John's declaration that one mightier than he would soon appear?

For those familiar with the other Gospels, particularly Matthew and Luke, Mark’s account can seem rather sparse.  Many details found in Matthew and Luke were simply omitted by Mark.  My purpose does not include an examination of the many possible reasons for the differences in the Gospel accounts, so I will just say, relying on the fact that Mark wrote what God inspired, that God did not want Mark to include the details that He gave to Matthew and Luke.  If you have to know why, ask God.

The first example of Mark’s terse style comes at the beginning.  There is no account of Christ’s birth, as in Matthew and Luke.  And there is no prologue, as in John, identifying Jesus as the Word, or logos, of God made flesh.  Mark simply tells us that he is writing about “Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (v.1) and moves on.

Looking at Mark’s account of the baptism of Jesus readers of the other Gospels will recognize that Mark doesn’t supply anywhere near the detail his colleagues did in their accounts.  Again, we are not concerned here with what Mark did not write, but with what he did.

Mark, having already made a strong connection between John, who was out in the wilderness by the banks of the Jordan River baptizing people unto repentance of their sins, and his account of the good news of Jesus, reports on the time when Jesus came to John himself to be baptized.

Don’t worry about the dialogue between Jesus and John that can be found in Matthew, Luke, and John, what does Mark tell us?  The facts.  And, though they are bare compared to the other Gospels, they can hardly be dismissed as unhelpful or unimportant.  So, what are the facts Mark gives us?  Fact—Jesus went to John and received the same baptism that everyone else had received from John.  Fact—At the very moment Jesus came up out of the Jordan the very heavens opened above Him and the Holy Spirit came down over and upon Him in the form or manner of a dove alighting on someone.  Fact—Also from above, a voice was heard declaring to and of Jesus, “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.”  These are the facts Mark has given us, what are we to make of them?

Fact 1—The Baptism

Though John had told the crowds that had come out to him that there was someone coming who would baptize in a very different way, he never imagined that the One whose coming he was foretelling would approach him requesting to be baptized.  John believed himself to be unworthy of performing for the One who was coming after him even the lowest of tasks that a bondservant might have performed, untying someone’s sandals, there was no way the Lord would ever have to submit to being baptized like, well like all those sinners who had come to John.

Yet Jesus did come to John, and for the purpose of being baptized in the very same manner as all the others who had stepped down into the Jordan.  Could John have been wrong about Jesus?  Surely He had no sins to repent of, why would Jesus have sought out John’s baptism of repentance?  Let me suggest two reasons.  First, Jesus came to be one of us.  Though free from sin, Jesus fully identified himself with all of us who are sinners by submitting to John’s baptism.  Here, though Mark did not say it explicitly, he revealed Jesus as Immanuel, the God who is with us, and with us in an unimaginably close identification with our fallen state.  Christ’s baptism was, in truth, His first step towards the Cross, where He would take upon himself the crushing weight of all our sins.  By identifying with us in baptism Jesus began the work of making it possible for those who are baptized to be identified with Him, work that would only be completed on the Cross.  But the product of Christ’s work, the good news that Mark was reporting, is that the One who spoke to Jesus upon His coming up out of the Jordan will someday address us with the same words.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  We have another fact to address first.

Fact 2—The Descent of the Holy Spirit

We next encounter the first use of one of Mark’s favorite words: immediately.  Immediately shows up 36 times in the English Standard Version of Mark, that’s eight more times than in the other three Gospels—combined!  The effect is to compel Mark’s readers to keep reading, to find out what happens next, because the action in Mark is pretty much non-stop. 

The action of Jesus being baptized was followed immediately by some very dramatic activity in the sky above.   What exactly “the heavens opening” looked like we cannot say for certain.  Was there some kind of “hole” in the sky?  Or was it more a sudden and dramatic parting of clouds?  We do not know, and following Mark’s lead, let’s not worry ourselves with those details not in evidence, and consider the detail that was. 

For descending from the rent heavens was the Holy Spirit, looking like a dove.  Doves in the Bible brought good news (GE 8.11), described beauty (Several references in the Song of Songs), and represented innocence (MT 10.16).  In Mark, and in the other Gospel accounts of Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit took on the bodily form of a dove.  Elsewhere in the Bible the Holy Spirit is reported as being powerfully manifest as fire and as wind.  But here He is a sign of the good news, as in Genesis, the revelation of the matchless beauty of God in the person of Jesus, and the affirmation that, though He had just received the baptism of repentance, here was the One who alone among all humanity was truly innocent of all sin.  Again, these are facts of great importance in the context of the Cross Jesus would die on.

Fact 3—The Heavenly Pronouncement

No doubt John and all who were eyewitnesses to the Baptism of Jesus had to have struggled with what to make of what was happening.  Mark reassures us that some of their confusion and wonder was addressed by virtue of their hearing the words spoken by the Heavenly Father.  We know it was the Father who spoke because He called Jesus His Son.  We know the Father was not like many fathers on earth who have trouble expressing their feelings towards their children, He openly declared His love for His Son.  We know that the Son was obedient to His Father, for the Father stated how pleased He was with His Son who had just been baptized. 

Having already said earlier that in His baptism Jesus identified with us, and through it we are identified with Him, we may listen again to the Heavenly Pronouncement to Jesus and hear the very same words addressed to us by the Father who in our baptism looks upon us as His beloved daughters and Sons.  I don’t want to oversell the physical act of baptism, but I cannot say enough about the spiritual reality of it.  Let me simply join Mark in presenting you with the facts we have briefly examined, and allow you to receive this good news for today.


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Study Questions

1.    What does it mean to you that “Jesus Christ, the Son of God” as Mark identified him, sought and received the same baptism as all of the other people who came to John at the Jordan?  If you have been baptized, what does it mean to you that share in the baptism of Christ?  If you have not been baptized, what do you think you would receive in sharing in Christ’s baptism?
2.    What do you think the Holy Spirit’s coming down upon Jesus as he rose from the waters of his baptism signified?  Do you believe the Holy Spirit anoints all who are baptized?  If so, what does such anointing by the Spirit mean to you?
3.    If, in baptism, we are adopted as daughters and sons of God, do you believe God the Father is well pleased with us as he is with his Son?  If so, why?  If not, why not?




The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.  And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan.  And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

It is tempting, if you will excuse the expression, when reading Mark, to fill in his brief accounts of events in the life of Jesus with details that we know from reading the other Gospels.  As hard as it may be to not allow those details to creep in to our minds, we should try and honor Mark’s work by letting it stand on its own.  Truly, if Mark’s Gospel was deficient it would not be included in the canon.  And let us remember that, at least for this look at Mark, we are considering him what we have termed a sacred journalist.

If there had been newsboys in ancient Palestine who shouted “Extra! Extra!  Read all about it! Jesus tempted in the wilderness.” and they had called out to people to spend a shekel and pick up a copy of Mark’s Gospel, the people might have wanted their money back.  Read all about it?  Mark’s account of the temptation was hardly Pulitzer material.  But it is still the Word of God, and contains valuable lessons for us.

There are all kinds of journalists.  Beat reporters, columnists, sports writers, political analysts, editors, and war correspondents.  Mark’s reporting of the Temptation of Jesus is brief, more like a battlefield dispatch dashed off hurriedly while under fire than a thorough and well researched article.  Considering that Jesus was at the very center of what some would call a cosmic battle, such a view of these two verses may be a very valid way to look at them.  Again, let us look at the facts Mark gives us: 1) The Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness, 2) Jesus was there for forty days, 3) Satan was also there, tempting Jesus; 4) There were wild animals in the vicinity, and 5) Angels were also present, ministering to Jesus.

Fact 1—Driven by the Spirit
These verses being another case where Mark used “immediately” to speed his narrative along, we might well see Jesus still dripping wet from his baptism when the Holy Spirit drove Him from the banks of the Jordan out into the wilderness, His Father’s words of commendation still in his ears. (9-11)

That it was the Holy Spirit who was responsible for getting Jesus out into the wilderness tells us that this was a part of the will of God.  Jesus did not head out on His own initiative.  And, though Satan turned up to do his usual mischief, he was not the one who had driven Jesus to a place of isolation.  Mark’s terminology brings to mind a forced march away from the company of people out into the company of “wild animals.”

In light of what we said about the cosmic battle it would be safe to surmise that since God had directed the Holy Spirit to get Jesus into the wilderness it was part of the divine strategy or battle plan.  But what was the objective?  Did God want His Son, freshly “commissioned” in the Jordan and anointed by the Spirit, to get a quick taste of what the real battle was like, to test Jesus to see how He would perform, “under fire”?  Or was it to offer His Son a chance to begin to know His enemy?   Mark’s readers are left to arrive at their own conclusion.  What Mark reported was that Jesus went out into the wilderness, not of his own will, but compelled by the Holy Spirit, and that he spent nearly six weeks out in the wild.

Fact 2—The Forty Days
In the Old Testament Moses had similarly been led to an isolated place to spend forty days.  In the case of Moses we know it was for the purpose of him and God going over God’s expectations and plans for His people. (EX 24.18)

The number forty and the wilderness are strongly linked in the Bible.  There were the forty days Moses spent with God atop Mount Sinai. Israel spent forty years sojourning in the wilderness before God allowed them to enter the Promised Land.  The prophet Elijah had his own forty day forced march to Horeb.  Thus the forty days of Jesus’ temptation fit a divine pattern, reinforced the idea of a divine purpose being fulfilled.

Fact 3—Satan
Though Satan hadn’t driven Jesus into the wilderness, he seized the opportunity to launch an assault at God’s Son.  Mark said nothing about the nature of the temptations, he left it to the imaginations of his readers, who no doubt were all familiar with temptation, to come to their own conclusions about what kind of temptations Jesus would have encountered during the course of forty days in the wilderness.  Since Mark’s audience would have been familiar with Satan’s reputation for tempting people into all manner of evil and sin, Mark, for reasons we can only speculate about, left it to his readers’ imaginations to fill in for themselves what Jesus’ temptations must have been.  Even now, all these years later, it is not hard for any of us who have experienced temptation in our own lives to imagine what Jesus might have endured at the hands of Satan.

Fact 4—Wild Animals
Mark did not mean bunnies and chipmunks and songbirds when he reported that wild animals were there with Jesus.  Bears, lions, and wolves, beasts that could easily tear a man limb from limb inhabited the Judean wilderness.  It was a terrifying thought.    But then, hadn’t God protected Daniel from a den full of lions?  Surely God must have seen to the safety of His beloved Son!  And He did, for Satan and wild animals were not Jesus’ only companions in the wilderness.

Fact 5—Ministering Angels
If the wilderness was a scene of battle, a place of danger and terror, Jesus did not have to face the enemy all alone.  Mark concluded his brief account of the Temptation by reporting the presence and ministry of angels.  Angels were known to be God’s messengers and soldiers, divine beings in God’s service to both communicate with people, and to protect human beings from evil and harm.  And Mark tells us that angels were present with Jesus to perform their customary ministry for Him.

Lessons from the “Battlefield”
Two verses.  Five facts.  What are the lessons of Mark’s account of the Temptation of Jesus?  First, God’s will for us may well include a time, or times, of testing.  And there may be extended seasons of testing and trial.  Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness, Israel spent forty years.  While God may provide for these times of testing, it is Satan who is the tester, the tempter.  And, though we may face very real dangers God supplies very real, though often unseen, help and protection to us.  For Christians in this world, soldiers in the middle of the cosmic battle between good and evil, light and darkness, truth and falsehood, these lessons from the “battlefield” are good news full of assurance and hoped.

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Study Questions

1.    What do you believe was God’s purpose in having the Holy Spirit drive Jesus out into the wilderness immediately following his baptism?
2.    What has been the circumstance and nature of some extreme temptations you have faced?
3.    Can you identify experiencing either demonic activity or angelic protection, or both, in times of temptation?  If not, do you know someone who has?
4.    What have you learned from going through times of temptation?



             Now, after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming
            the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom
            of God is at hand, repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Mark’s narrative doesn’t flow so much as it leaps forward.  Having left Jesus in the wilderness being tempted by Satan, threatened by wild animals, and ministered to by angels, Mark abruptly moved forward.  Those who are familiar with the Bible, and well read in all four Gospels, can fill in the details that Mark omitted, the first readers of his book might not have known what happened to John the Baptist.  To have the action suddenly move to a time “after John was arrested” may well have had them wondering, “Arrested for what, when?”  To be fair to Mark, he did include the events of John’s imprisonment and execution, but only later in Chapter Six.  At this point the focus of Mark, the sacred journalist and “war correspondent,” was the initiation of the campaign, more properly the beginning of Jesus’ gospel ministry.

Like a liberating army invading territory that had been occupied by an aggressor, Jesus established a “lodgment” in Galilee.  Satan, who had just tried to tempt Jesus, was about to have his rule in the world challenged and overthrown.  And the proclamation that Jesus delivered in Galilee was the “good news,” the gospel, of God. (v. 14)  For it was God’s kingdom that would reclaim the land and the lives that Satan had seized.  Another battle was coming, and, even as John had been baptizing people unto repentance, Jesus called on the Galileans to “repent and believe in the gospel.”  A radical regime change was about to take place, and Jesus would first give the people a warning and opportunity to prepare for that change, before toppling Satan’s kingdom when He offered himself on the Cross.

The people of Israel had lived for centuries believing that some day the very thing Jesus proclaimed would happen.  With John’s ministry as the advance notice, Jesus announced that the centuries of waiting were at an end.  There would be a clash of kingdoms, battle would be joined, people would have to choose to believe the good news that God’s kingdom would be established and advancing in the world, or they could remain in their sins and under the power of Satan.  The fallen could be lifted up and renewed by the Redeemer, or they could continue to live being dominated by their fallen nature.  The one thing they couldn’t do was simply sit it out as if they were non-combatants.  The truth was, every man, woman, and child was in the very center of the fight, whether they knew it or not.  Jesus would do everything He could to make sure that they did know it, and He would give them every opportunity to believe and receive God’s kingdom.

All these years later, even after Christ himself won the final victory on the Cross, the battle continues to extend God’s kingdom to every corner of the world, and to every person who will receive it.  This is the ongoing mission of the Church.  The weapons employed by those who still seek to advance the kingdom of God are not the weapons of the flesh, but have divine power, the power of the Word of God and of the Holy Spirit. (2COR 10.4)  The proclamation is yet that of Jesus, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” 

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Study Questions

1.    Do you believe the spiritual warfare described in the Bible is real?  If so, have you ever witnessed or experienced it personally?  If you do not believe in spiritual warfare, what do you think accounts for the delay in the fulfillment of God’s kingdom?
2.    Do you think it is possible to avoid involvement in the clash between God’s kingdom and that of Satan by claiming to be “neutral”?  Can anyone claim to be a “non-combatant” and sit out the conflict?
3.    If it is inevitable that we will be swept up in the cosmic confrontation between God and Satan, how can we prepare ourselves for battle?
4.   How might you improve your skill in proclaiming the "good news" of the gospel?



      Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew
     the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were
     fishermen.  And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make
     you become fishers of men.”  And immediately they left their
     nets and followed him.  And going on a little farther, he saw
     James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were
     in their boat mending the nets.  And immediately he called
     them, and then left their father Zebedee in the boat with the
     hired servants and followed him.

Not that He needed anyone’s help to defeat the enemy, and meaning no disrespect to the men and women who today are trained to be “an army of one,” Jesus recruited some troopers for the (com)mission.  Having told us that Jesus would launch the campaign in Galilee (v. 14), Mark reports that Jesus entered the region along a route that took him past the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

Not surprisingly, Jesus came upon several fishermen.  So that we would know that these first encounters with recruits were not coincidental, Mark revealed that Jesus actually was looking for fishermen, though unlike any fishermen that the world had known to that point.  And coming upon two sets of brothers in the fishing business, Jesus began to assemble His team. 

First there was Simon and Andrew, brothers whom Jesus found in the very act of casting their net for a catch.  Jesus, with no introduction or explanation, simply commanded them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”  And they abruptly dropped their nets, and followed!  This is not to say that they were responding to a complete stranger.  Mark has already told us that Jesus had begun to publicly proclaim “the gospel of God” in Galilee.  It is not unlikely that some word about Him may have reached the Galilean fishing fleet.  Even so, it is pretty remarkable that Simon and Andrew just dropped what they were doing and marched off to begin what amounted to totally new lives.  Simon and Andrew were not the only ones, of course.  Just a little way further along the seashore James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also busily at work when they too were commanded to follow, and did.  These first four recruits would not be the last.

But why were they the first?  Well it may have been because Jesus was intentionally looking for fishermen, or more accurately, “fishers of men.”   For the mission that would be undertaken by Jesus and His followers would ambitiously seek to cast far and wide the net of the good news and attempt to haul into God’s kingdom the people of Israel, and many more.  It was a mission that would demand courage, daring, faith, patience, sacrifice, strength.  All these were qualities demanded of the fishermen who sailed the Galilee.  The work of the gospel still requires the same attributes in those who would continue the work Jesus first called Simon, Andrew, James, and John to.

The passage also mentions some others whom Jesus did not call to His service at that time.  Zebedee, the father of James and John was left behind in the family’s fishing boat, along with some men who worked for them.  This is not to say that Jesus ignored their need for salvation.  But at this point in His ministry He was selecting a special group of men who would not only be His close companions in ministry, but carry on the battle for souls after He was crucified. 

Not everyone who follows Jesus today has to change their vocation, or walk away from home and family, though some are still called to such a calling.  But everyone who is called to follow Christ is called to change, to leave behind one life and begin a new one, not by dint of effort or force of will, but by confessing the transgressions of the old life and freely receiving the gift of the new life by the Holy Spirit.  Though Mark does not mention Him, it is safe to say that it was the Holy Spirit’s prompting that led the four fishermen of Galilee to enlist as the first of the many eventual followers of Jesus who would answer His call.

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Study Questions

1.    Has anything ever compelled you to drop everything and make a radical change in your life, perhaps a sudden switch of majors in college, or  changing jobs, or pursuing a whole new career? 
2.    What do you think Jesus saw in Andrew and Simon and James and John that caused him to call them to be the first of his apostles?  Could it have been the things they had endured as fishermen?  Or do you believe it was something the Lord knew about their character?
3.    Have you ever felt Jesus was calling you to a particular ministry or task?  If so, how did the call come to you?  How did you respond?  If not, have you ever considered stepping forward to volunteer, have you ever said to Christ, “Here I am, Lord, send me”?



And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching.  And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.  And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit.  And he cried out, “What 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.”  But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”  And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.  And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this?  A new teaching with authority!  He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”  And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

Jesus and his new recruits moved on from the shore of the Sea where He had enlisted the four fishermen to become “fishers of men,” and went into the seaside village of Capernaum.  “Immediately” on the Sabbath, we don’t know if it meant one day or six, Jesus went to the village’s synagogue and began teaching. (V. 21)

Teaching might not seem like a particularly aggressive or bold move, but by doing so Jesus had taken the offensive in the war for souls.  The quality and content of His teaching was, to put it plainly, quite out of the ordinary that people had come to expect at their synagogue, for Mark tells us they were “astonished.” (V.22)  It seems that the people in the synagogue in Capernaum, and we may assume in most synagogues, had grown accustomed to the teaching of scribes, rather bookish lawyerly types whose lessons heavily referenced other authorities, “Rabbi so and so says this,” or “Such and such, the high priest said this and so.”  But Jesus, well He taught as if He himself had authority, that He was not relying on the work of others, but had knowledge and wisdom all His own!  We know, of course, that Jesus has all wisdom.

This “new” teaching (v.27) did more than get the attention of the people, for it happened that in attendance at the synagogue that day was a man who was possessed by an unclean spirit (v. 23).  Mark recorded here the first skirmish in the kingdom confrontation that Jesus was spearheading, and that he had enlisted Simon, Andrew, James, and John for; for the unclean spirit clearly felt himself under assault, fearing that Jesus had come to destroy the evil servants of Satan. (v. 24)  This unclean spirit’s fear was well founded, for he recognized that this teacher in the synagogue in Capernaum did in fact have authority, all authority, for He was Israel’s long-awaited Messiah—“the Holy One of God.”   Jesus did not waste time answering the spirit’s question, but ordered him to be quiet, and then commanded him to leave the poor man he had been afflicting. (v. 25) Here was a battlefield commander who was not afraid to confront the enemy and act decisively!

All this only added to the amazement of the people.  (v. 27)  And, as one might well expect, the good news of the victory of this unknown new teacher over the unclean spirit, and the authoritative power of His teaching, traveled as fast as the telling of it could carry it throughout Galilee. (v. 28)

The matter of authority was, and is, no small thing.  The world respects authority.  It may be the authority of office, or wealth, or of military firepower, or of scientific research.  But Christians are called to give ultimate authority to the Teacher who grabbed the headlines in Capernaum on that long-ago Sabbath, and to His Word.  For centuries, in fact for nearly two millennia, the authority of the Word of God, the Bible itself and Holy Spirit-filled biblical preaching and teaching, had been recognized by the Church as the authority to which all other authority had to submit to. 

But in many churches, and as a result in many homes, the authority of the Bible has been compromised and questioned.  It is one thing for the world to doubt and question and resist, the authority of God’s Word, this is the very nature of the cosmic battle between God and Satan, it is the clash of kingdoms.  But when the Church itself undermines and constrains that authority the people of Capernaum had so quickly recognized, the battle has turned into a civil war.

As we continue to read Mark’s dispatches from the frontlines of the conflict between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan, it will be important for us to remember that here, in the beginning of his Gospel, Mark was particularly concerned to establish the fact of Jesus’ authority.  And when we set aside our Bibles and go on with our day it is critical that we keep the authority of the Teacher, Jesus Christ the Lord, always in mind.

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Study Questions

1.    Think of the most effective teachers you have learned from.  What made their teaching more powerful than other teachers?
2.    What is you understanding of the power of God’s Word?  Is it the power to persuade? to convict?  Who should fear the Word that is sharper than a two-edged sword?
3.    What authorities hold sway in the world today?  What authorities influence you?  Where do the authority of Christ, and of the Word of God rank in your life?


And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.  Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her.  And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons.  And the whole city was gathered together at the door.  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.

Even with modern “smart bombs” wars inevitably result in the injury and death of many non-combatants.  And when the whole world is the battlefield, and we ourselves are Satan’s target, well it is all but impossible to stay out of harm’s way.  There is no illness or injury, physical, emotional, or spiritual that cannot be ultimately attributed to the conflict between God and Satan, and as a result there are casualties all around us in need of care.   

Having demonstrated His authority and power over an unclean spirit in the synagogue in Capernaum Jesus and His four draftees went to the home of Simon and Andrew, presumably for some rest and food. (v. 29)  But upon arrival they found the mother-in-law of Simon weak and feverish. (v.30)  As soon as He had been told of this, Mark might have said “immediately,” Jesus went to the woman’s sickbed and took her by the hand and helped her to stand up.   And in that instant her fever left her.  The One who commanded the unclean spirit in the synagogue also had power to heal physical afflictions. (v. 31) 

By that evening word of what had happened earlier in the day in the synagogue undoubtedly spread throughout the village and as far as a Sabbath day’s journey could take it. (v. 32)  We can be confident that word about the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law also made its way swiftly through the streets and lanes of Capernaum.  On that day Simon’s home became Capernaum’s own M.A.S.H. unit, as the entire village came and stood at the door, bringing sick and wounded bodies and souls to Jesus. (v. 33)  Many people were “patched up” that night, and sent home whole and well, and many demons were dispossessed. (v. 34)  Clearly, one of the goals of Jesus’ ministry, His gospel campaign of proclaiming “good news”, as He sought to reclaim territory for His Father’s kingdom one soul at a time, was the liberation of those held captive and oppressed by Satan, and the healing of those who were physically afflicted. (See Luke 4.18-19)

While demons and unclean spirits were destroyed by the score by Jesus, at the same time He brought healing and wholeness to people who were sick and broken.  It was Satan’s objective to strike at God by inflicting as many casualties as he could.  It was Jesus’ goal to carry out His Father’s will and heal and save all who came to Him believing He was just who Mark said He was in 1.1, the Son of God.  And we don’t have to travel to Capernaum or anywhere else to seek treatment for our afflictions, be they physical or spiritual, for Jesus, through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, is the battlefield Healer who comes to us wherever we are, binding us up and setting us free.
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Study Questions

1.    Have you experienced the power of Jesus to heal you physically, emotionally, or spiritually?  If so, how?  If not, when was the last time that you asked Him for healing?
2.    Has there been an occasion where you “triaged” someone who was in need of the Lord’s healing touch?  How did you minister to them?  How did they experience Christ’s healing power?
3.    Jesus is often called the “Wounded Healer.”  How has your personal experience of pain and suffering and recovery made you a more effective disciple, and witness to the power of Christ to make the wounded whole?


I realize that earlier I said Mark stuck closely to the facts, and that we would concern ourselves strictly with what Mark has reported about the “gospel” (good news) of Jesus Christ, and avoid speculating about what is not in the text.  So I will beg your indulgence here as I offer some of my personal speculation about Jesus based on what Mark tells us in verse 35.

Based on the narrative’s movement from Jesus being surrounded by crowds in Capernaum, to his seeking out a place of solitude, I am going to go out on a limb and say that Jesus was an introvert.  What?  It sounds absurd, doesn’t it?  I would wager that the overwhelming majority would say that Jesus is the number one people person of all time.  But just because he sought out opportunities to deliver the Kingdom message to as many people as possible does not mean that being in the midst of crowds energized him as it would an extrovert.  In fact, I would argue, from this text and others, that Jesus was literally drained by his encounters with people.  And that is why we read here that after the press of all the people at Simon’s house Jesus sought out a desolate place to be alone.

Well, not exactly alone, for Jesus’ purpose in going off by himself was to have some uninterrupted time with his Father, time that would have been refreshing and renewing for him.  Whether we happen to be extroverts, or introverts, or something in between, the fact that Jesus needed to pray is instructive for us.  Time spent in conversation with God can be renewing and strengthening, as I believe it was for Jesus.  Prayer can also be a release for strong, painful emotions such as anger, fear, grief, as well as such positive emotions as joy.  In the context of the image of the “good news” campaign of the Gospel that I have been using, it was also essential for Jesus to regularly report how things were going, and to receive further “orders,” for He was, as the Roman Centurion perceived “a man under authority.”  Jesus, though the Son of God, did not usurp the authority of God, but continually submitted to it, and daily went about the business of doing the will of His God and Father.  Prayer was essential for Jesus to fulfill His mission, and it is essential for us to fulfill ours.

Now, the ministry in Capernaum had been fruitful, and the crowds eagerly sought out Jesus (v.37) in order that they might receive more of what He had already given to many of them.  But the Gospel campaign was not solely for the benefit of Capernaum and the healing and liberation of its villagers, Jesus had come in order to advance His Father’s kingdom in Capernaum and on to the next towns and beyond. (v. 38)  So Jesus went on, along with Simon and the others, performing the work of the kingdom all through Galilee. (v. 39) The message of the Gospel was good news for all, and introvert that He may have been, Jesus was not going to sit and wait for people to come to Him, but went and sought them. 

In these few verses Mark revealed the basic strategy of Jesus’ Gospel campaign—pray and go.  Jesus took time to confer with God about the mission, then He went out and did what His Father had instructed Him to do.  It is a pattern every Christian should follow.
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Study Questions

1.    Why do you think Jesus rose early and sought a lonely desolate place for prayer?  Do you think Jesus was energized or drained by the demands of his public ministry?  Would you call Jesus an extrovert or an introvert?  Why?
2.    What do you believe Jesus sought when he prayed to the Father?  What do you seek when you pray?  Assurance?  Comfort?  Forgiveness?  Instruction? Something else?
3.    After praying Jesus would return to his ministry to continue his mission, bringing the gospel to many people in many villages.  Where does prayer lead you to take the gospel?  To work?  To school?  To your neighbor?  To other communities?  To other lands?

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