NEW: Book of MARK Lesson 1

Welcome to Life in the Word, our verse-by-verse study of God's Word.

This is Pastor Brian, and tonight I'm excited to share with you that we're beginning a new study in the book of Mark.

The Gospel of Mark is believed to be the oldest of all four Gospels.

Historically, some early church fathers, such as Augustine, believe Matthew was written first, which would mean Mark was written after Matthew rather than before.

However, modern mainstream scholarships heavily favor Mark to be the first because the other Gospels quote all but 31 verses of Mark.

So most biblical historians date the composition of the Gospel of Mark around 65 to 70 AD, Matthew about 5 to 15 years later, Luke about 15 to 25 years later, and John around 25 to 35 years after Mark.

So in Mark's letter, we really have, for the very first time in history, a systematic account of the life and the words, the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Mark was the beginning of a distinct and original literary form that we refer to today as the gospel, the life, changing good news about Jesus Christ and the salvation found in him alone.

In fact, Mark referred to the gospel or the good news three times in the first chapter, while both Matthew and Luke waited until chapter four to introduce the term.

John didn't use the word gospel at all, but Mark knew exactly what he intended to write.

And it begins when he's around 30 years old, and it covers three and a half years from Jesus' baptism until his resurrection.

And there's no background biographical information given in this letter because Mark wanted his readers to see Jesus in action as quickly as possible, knowing that the power of Jesus' ministry and character alone would impact the reader.

So he's writing to a Roman audience in Rome, and Mark doesn't have to recite Jesus' genealogy or refer to Old Testament prophecies that have been fulfilled.

His Gentile readers don't need a Jewish history lesson.

They need a clearer picture of Christ.

And he's interested in Christ's work, not just his words.

And Mark wants his audience to see Christ as the suffering servant savior.

In fact, Mark records 18 of Jesus' miracles more than any other book, and only four of his parables.

So Mark makes sure they have a no nonsense, concise, action-packed summary of the life of Christ.

Mark pictures Jesus as powerful, giving sight to the blind, raising the dead, calming stormy seas, and restoring to foreign bodies.

His writing shows Jesus using this mighty power he has to help others, taking the form of a servant and not of a king.

And Mark weaves the servant theme throughout his book and presents Jesus as the servant for a servant Jesus as an example for all believers to follow.

The key verse being in this book, and whoever wants to be first must be a slave of all.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a rants for many.

You see that at Mark chapter 10, beginning of verse 45.

Mark 10 · chapter mention

Now the book of Mark also names no one as an author.

We call it the book of Mark, but it is no author mentioned.

But since the second century A.D., however, church leaders and scholars have accepted Jesus, uh John Mark as the one who wrote this gospel.

John is his Jewish name, and Mark, Marcus, his Roman.

So was he one of the disciples?

No.

Mark was not one of Jesus' disciples.

He was too young.

In fact, he was only around twelve years old when Jesus was crucified.

However, the early church fathers unanimously accepted Mark's authorship because Mark wrote the eyewitness account of Peter, who was a disciple, as given to him by the apostle.

In 1 Peter 5 13, Peter referred to Mark as his son, possibly because he led Mark to Christ.

We don't know.

And again, Mark was young at the time of Jesus' death and resurrection, but evidently his mother, named Mary, was a well-to-do widow who had come to faith in Christ.

Many surmise that Mary's house was the site of the Last Supper and the home where the disciples gathered at Pentecost, according to Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

And some believe that Mark was the young man who ran away naked when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane in chapter 14 of his book.

Regardless of the truth of these speculations, Scripture clearly states that 14 years after the tumultuous events leading to the crucifixion in about A.D.

44, the church gathered at Mark's mother's house to pray.

At that time, King Herod had begun to persecute believers.

He had executed James, the brother of John, with a sword.

And when he saw how much that pleased the Jewish people, he also arrested Peter.

So in Acts chapter 12, the church is praying for Peter's release from prison.

Acts 12 · chapter mention

Then an angel miraculously releases him from prison.

Then in Acts 12, 12, after he realized that that had happened, he says he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, also called Mark.

So Mark was deeply involved in the drama of the Jerusalem church and was well known to Peter and the other disciples.

Probably that's why Barnabas and Paul took Mark with them when they were commissioned by the church in Antioch to begin their first missionary journey.

Earlier in the trip, however, at Perga, Mark abruptly left them and returned to Jerusalem.

And the scripture gives us no reason for Mark's departure.

I mean, perhaps he was homesick, fearful, or ill.

It doesn't just doesn't say, we don't know.

Later, however, when Paul and Barnabas began to plan the second journey, Mark became the cause of a sharp disagreement between the two men.

Paul was strongly opposed to giving Mark a second chance because Mark had deserted them on the previous trip.

He considered him too young and inexperienced, but Barnabas thought he was helpful, but on the other hand, Barnabas was his cousin, as revealed in Colossians 4 10.

So, you know, you're a little more partial to family, right?

So Barnabas and Paul parted company.

Barnabas sailed to Cyprus with Mark, while Paul chose Silas and traveled to Syria.

And we know little else about John Mark except that evidently he and Paul reconciled completely because later Mark joined Paul in Rome during Paul's first imprisonment and was a comfort to him there.

And during Paul's second imprisonment and just before his death, he asked Timothy to bring Mark to Rome because he is helpful to me in my ministry, as seen in 2 Timothy chapter 4.

2 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

And while where this letter was written is debatable, some Christian writers, Papias and Irinius, claim Mark wrote the text while in Rome as Peter dictated it to him.

And Mark probably left Rome in about A.D.

65 or 66 during Nero's intense persecution of Christians, whom he accused of burning down portions of Rome.

In fact, both Paul and Peter were executed by Nero in about 66, or excuse me, about 67 or 68 A.D.

And according to tradition, Mark died soon afterwards, but we don't know anything about that.

So Mark provides a sterling example of how a young Christian, a young man, can grow, fail, get back up, mature, and be of service to the Lord and other believers.

He clearly shows that's how God works through people's lives.

And lastly, whenever I begin a fresh study of one of the books of the Bible, I always ask the question, what will it make of me?

What will it show me, teach me?

How will it change me?

And my own personal experience has been, and probably the same for many of you, that when I have finished my studies in the scriptures, I'm not the same person as when I began.

And I've enjoyed studying them.

I'm through already to chapter 9 of Mark preparing for these lessons.

And my prayer is that all of us will be different as we study and discuss the book of Mark.

So that's our introduction to the book of Mark.

So let's begin with Mark chapter 1, verse 1.

Mark 1:1

This is the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.

So the very first verse acts as both a title to the book and a summary of its contents.

Verse 2.

Just as the prophet Isaiah had written, Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way.

Now Isaiah was one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament, one of my favorite and one of the most quoted in the New Testament.

In fact, the second half of the book of Isaiah is devoted to the promise of God's coming salvation.

Isaiah wrote hundreds of years prior to about the coming of the Messiah and the man who would announce his coming, John the Baptist, the messenger who would come ahead of Christ and prepare the way for his coming, for coming, Jesus' coming entrance into public ministry.

And like Isaiah, John was a prophet who urged the people to confess their sins and live for God.

Both prophets taught that the message of repentance is good news to those who listen and seek healing for the seeking heal seek the healing forgiveness of God's love.

But terrible news to those who refuse and listen and thus cut off their only hope.

Look at verse three.

He is a voice, John the Baptist, he is a voice shouting in the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord's coming, clear the road for him.

Prepare the way.

The way was the path to people's hearts.

The people of Israel needed to prepare their minds and hearts, clear away the spiritual debris, and straighten any crooked moral paths in eager anticipation of their king and Messiah.

I mean, they needed to do it immediately, without hesitation.

The time has come.

They were to remove any misconceptions of the Messiah.

And what were their misconceptions?

Well, they believed the Messiah would be a warrior who would destroy the would destroy the Romans.

He would be fully human, a descendant of King David via Solomon, which he was not.

He was a descendant of Nathan, another son of David.

He would be a great political and spiritual leader who would bring universal peace and rebuild the temple to restore their worship of God.

They were mistaken.

They were looking at the temporary, but Jesus came to be a suffering servant with an eternal purpose.

In addition, John the Baptist told them they were to humble themselves, repent, receive baptism, and open the way for the Messiah to take hold of their lives.

Isaiah said of John, he's a shouting voice in the wilderness.

And the word wilderness refers to a lonely, uninhabited place.

John preached in the Judean wilderness, the lower Jordan River valley, and Isaiah's use of the word wilderness alludes to the wilderness experience of the children of Israel on their exodus from Egypt to Canaan.

In fact, the wilderness was a place of purification, of testing, and a fresh encounter with God in Jewish history.

The wilderness represents the place where God would once again act to rescue his people and bring them back into fellowship with him.

And John the Baptist's powerful to the point preaching and his wilderness living made him a great curiosity to people.

It separated him from the false piety of many of the religious leaders and gave him an unmistakable resemblance to the ancient prophets.

And John chose to live in the wilderness for at least four reasons.

One, to get away from distractions so we could clearly hear God's instructions, two, to capture the undivided attention of the people, three, to symbolize a sharp break with the hypocrisy of the religious leaders who preferred their luxurious homes and positions of authority over doing God's work.

And number four, to fulfill Old Testament prophecies that said the Messiah's forerunner would be preaching in the wilderness.

Look at verse four.

This messenger was John the Baptist.

He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven.

Verse 5.

All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John.

And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.

So why was John so popular that everyone came to see and hear him?

Well, there had not been a prophet in Israel for more than 400 years.

God was silent, and it was widely believed that when the Messiah came, prophecy would reappear.

So when John came preaching, the people were excited.

Some say as many as 300,000 Jews came out to see John for baptism.

They were sure that the eagerly awaited age of the Messiah had come, and indeed it had.

God was ushering in a brand new covenant and a brand new era in his dealing with humanity.

So what are the similarities and differences between John's baptism and the Christian's baptism?

Well, similarly, they both were a symbolic washing by water that signified repentance, the confession of sins, and a desire for spiritual cleansing.

Both were an outward sign of an inward change.

Both were a public action signifying that a person had been cleansed of sin through repentance and had chosen a new way of life.

The differences were that John's baptism was meant to prepare the hearts of the Jewish people for the imminent arrival of the Messiah.

Then after Christ's death and resurrection, Christian baptism became an outward sign for identifying with Christ, with his death, burial, and resurrection, and signifying entrance into the Christian community.

The Christian baptism involves water, but signifies the inward sealing and indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Romans chapter six, verse three through five tells us we were joined with Jesus Christ Jesus in baptism.

We joined him in his death, for we died and were buried with Christ by baptism.

And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.

Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was.

Look at verse six.

His clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist, for he ate locust and wild honey.

John definitely was not making a fashion statement.

His camel hair's robe was a kind worn by the very poor, and his belt, unlike the fancy belts so popular in those days, was simply a leather thong.

So why would he dress like this?

Well, I think he dressed much like the prophet Elijah in order to distinguish himself from the religious leaders whose flowing, beautiful robes reflected their great pride and their position.

John's striking appearance reinforced his striking message, and his food was not very exciting either.

His idea of eating out was to catch a few grasshoppers and visit the local beehive for dessert.

So John's dress and lifestyle were a protest against the godlessness and the self-serving materialism of his day.

Verse 7.

John announced someone is coming soon who is greater than I am.

So much greater than I'm not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals.

The Jews would have understood this to mean their Messiah.

Although John was the first genuine prophet in 400 years, Jesus the Messiah would be infinitely greater.

The apostle John recorded these words of John the Baptist in John 3 30.

He must become greater, I must become less.

What John began, Jesus finished.

What John prepared, Jesus fulfilled.

Look at verse 8.

I baptize with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

This too revealed the identity as the uh as the one coming after John as he promised, as the promised Messiah.

The coming of the Holy Spirit had been prophesied as part of the Messiah's arrival.

In Ezekiel chapter 36, we see, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.

Ezekiel 36 · chapter mention

I will give I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

I will put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

We need more than repentance to save us.

We need the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit given to those who believe in the resurrected Son of God.

Verse 9.

One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River.

Well, why?

John's baptism was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and Jesus was not a sinner, and he didn't need to repent.

So why was Jesus baptized?

Well, there are several reasons.

One, to mark the beginning of his public ministry and his mission to bring the message of salvation to all people and all the world.

Number two, to demonstrate that he truly was God's Son and that God approved and endorsed his mission.

Number three, to show support for John's ministry.

And four, to identify with the humanness and sin, to our humanness and sin, and to give us an example to follow.

Jesus was the perfect man.

He didn't need baptism for his sin, but he accepted baptism in obedient service to the Father, and God showed his approval.

And all of us need the same attitude of humility, don't we?

Of humility, submission to God, and dedication to servanthood.

Verse 10.

As Jesus came out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart, and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove.

Eleven.

And a voice from heaven said, You are my dearly loved son, and you bring me great joy.

So what was the purpose of that?

Well, apparently the action of the Spirit descending like a dove was a sign for John that Jesus was the Messiah.

John knew he was coming, but he didn't know when.

He didn't know who he looked like, but he knew the Messiah would be revealed to him.

In John 1, chapter 1, verse 32, we read, John then testified, I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him.

I didn't know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.

I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the chosen one of God.

So in verse 10, the splitting or tearing open of the heavens really presents God's intervention into humanity in the human presence of God in Jesus Christ.

It was as if the heavens rolled back to reveal the invisible throne of God.

In fact, the prophet Isaiah wrote of this in Isaiah chapter 64, verse 1.

Isaiah 64:1

Oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down.

And he did.

He became one of us in order to die for all of us.

The next sign, the spirit descending like a dove, was probably be visible to all people there.

It was not a bird itself, but descended down in movement like a dove in flight would.

The descending spirit and the and the dove itself represented to Israel God's mighty workings in the world.

At creation, the spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

After the great flood, the dove carried the news to Noah of the receding waters.

And now the descending spirit in the form of a dove signified the arrival of the Messiah.

Jesus himself would read from the prophet Isaiah in Luke chapter 4, the Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

And lastly, God spoke from heaven in revealing that Jesus was his son, the promised Messiah, and all there would have heard it.

You know, many people want something tangible, visible, and real before they believe in Jesus.

But do will visible signs convince anyone that Jesus is God's Son, the Savior of the world?

I mean, Jesus did healings and all kinds of miracles and raised people from the dead.

But people still doubted then and today.

Even John the Baptist, who saw and heard all of this, and yet later on he struggled with who Jesus was.

While in prison, he sent his disciples to ask Jesus if he really was the expected Messiah or should he expect someone else.

Why did John struggle with this?

Well, as John said in prison for calling out the sin of Herod, John said in prison, because he called out the sin of Herod, the ruler of Galilee, he began to wonder if Jesus really was the Messiah because he was expecting something different.

If John's purpose was to prepare people for the coming Messiah, and if Jesus really was the Messiah, then Why was Jesus not taken charge?

Why is John in prison?

He could have been out preaching to the crowds, preparing their hearts.

You see, visible signs of miracles seldom work, but the sign that really brings us to faith of the power of is God's word.

God's word that answers the cry of the heart.

His word brings healing, comfort, joy, satisfaction, and purpose for our lives.

His word is so powerful and yet we seldom read it.

We need to.

God's word reveals His great love for us and brings about change and hope in our lives and in this hopeless world.

That's why I've always said if you want people to know Christ, you have to tell them who He is and what He's done.

Yes, we must live out our faith, but as we saw in Romans chapter 10 in our last study, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, but how can they call on him unless they believe in him?

Romans 10 · chapter mention

And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him?

And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?

Think about that.

Verse 12.

The Spirit then compelled or forced Jesus to go into the wilderness.

This doesn't imply that he was reluctant to go, but rather that he was intensely determined to go in agreement with the Spirit.

Verse 13.

Where he was tempted by Satan for forty days.

He was out among the wild animals and angels took care of him.

The Spirit compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness where God put him to the test.

Not to see if Jesus was ready, but to show that he was ready for the mission to be accomplished.

This test would prove his sinless obedience, fulfilling his role as the faithful representative of humanity.

Satan, however, had other plans.

He hoped to tempt Jesus to do evil and thereby thwart his mission.

The encounter of Christ and Satan, quite frankly, was the greatest combat that has ever taken place on the face of the earth, and by far the most important.

I mean, if Christ had failed at any point, we would have no hope of resting, of resisting temptation or of receiving salvation.

But our Lord Christ was victorious.

So Christ faced three temptations that Mark does not speak of.

If you want to look more into it, it's Matthew chapter 4.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

But Jesus does overcome these temptations.

And how and why?

Well, how?

He used God's word against Satan.

He knew the truth of Psalm 119, 11.

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

So what does Jesus' overcoming temptation reveal to us?

Well, Jesus has taken on our human condition.

Therefore, he understands us.

He was tempted as we are, yet was without sin.

He endured real temptation, hard, difficult temptation, and came out utterly victorious.

And because of that, he not only delivers us, but sympathizes with our weaknesses.

And in his experience, provides us with great wisdom.

The most important factor in fighting temptation, and we all fight temptation and always will till we're gone after this, leave this earth, is to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to be filled with God's word.

And you can't be filled with it if you don't read it.

Mark wrote, He was out among the wild animals.

Mark's gospel is the only one that mentions this.

And what was the purpose of adding this?

I think he did so to let his readers know that this wilderness area was a dangerous or desolate place, inhabited by wild animals such as boars, jackals, wolves, foxes, leopards, hyenas.

It was a hostile place.

And you know, I find it interesting to note that Adam and Eve fell to Satan's temptations in a beautiful, incredible garden where all their needs were met and all the animals were tame.

Whereas Jesus was tempted by Satan and did not fall as he went without food and the basic necessities and was surrounded by these wild creatures.

Now the next two verses tell us what Jesus' preaching was like.

Verse 14.

Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God's good news.

John the Baptist had been arrested because he was publicly rebuked King Herod for taking his brother's wife, and Jesus moved from Nazareth, his hometown, to Capernaum, about twenty miles farther north.

Capernaum, located on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, became Jesus' home base during his ministry.

It was a beautiful place, but lies in ruins today.

He probably moved to get away from the intense opposition in Nazareth, his hometown, and to also have a greater impact on the greater number of people, and to utilize the resources and support for his ministry that were there.

Capernaum was located on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee along a major trade route via the called the Via Maris, which translates the way of the sea, because the Via Maris hugs the Meta Trade in Sea and it connects Africa to Asia.

It was today it's a totally uninhabited area.

It's an agricultural park and a major pilgrimage site for Christians.

But what happened to it?

Today it's in ruins.

Well, if you look back at Matthew 11 23, it says, Jesus speaking, and you people of Capernaum, will you be honored in heaven?

No.

You will go down to the place of the dead.

For if the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom, it would still be here today.

So what happens?

Well, three earthquakes hit that area of Capernaum in the 4th AD, 7th century AD, and 11th century AD.

And after the last one, they just said, forget it, we're not going to rebuild this place.

So you can go and look at it on face on the in the internet, some fascinating pictures of the area that Jesus did so many incredible things at.

So if you're living in a day when there's no social media, there's no 24-hour news cable, no newspaper, no newspaper, I'm sorry, how are you going to get the word out around the world?

You position yourself along a major trade route.

That's what they would do.

And that's the way it would be.

And people would come and go.

They'd hear about the message of Jesus, they would hear his message, and they take that message of Jesus all around the known world.

So this is a strategic location, Capernaum.

And that's where Jesus sets up his home base for the next three and a half years.

His move to Capernaum fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 9, verses 1 through 2, which states that the Messiah will be a light to the land of Zebulun and Nephthal, the region of Galilee where Capernaum was located.

Isaiah 9:1–2

Zebulun and Neptali were two of the original twelve tribes of Israel.

Look at verse 15.

The time promised by God has come at last, he announced John the Baptist.

What is the good news of God?

This is the core teaching of Jesus.

The long-awaited Messiah had come to break the power of sin and begin God's personal reign on earth.

This was indeed good news from God because most of the people who heard this message were oppressed, poor, and without hope.

Jesus' words offered these people freedom, justice, and hope.

The door to God's great future had been flung open at this point.

Jesus began his ministry with the very word people heard from John, repent, repent.

And there was this was in his radical nowess to Jesus.

Preaching, now is the time to believe.

Now is the time to repent.

Now.

The message is the same today, isn't it?

Becoming a follower of Christ means turning away from your self-centeredness and self-control.

It's repentance.

And repentance has two sides: turning away from sin and believing in the good news.

The good news, the gospel, means that Jesus, the promised Messiah, has come to usher in a new age of God's dealing with his people.

We're going to stop there today.

Please join us again next week.

We'll get on verse 16 and maybe we'll get through chapter 1.

We'll see.

But thank you for joining us.

Have a blessed day and keep your eyes focused on the Lord.