seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Mark 1:1The 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.”
Welcome to the next Gospel! We finished the Gospel of Matthew yesterday, and today we're going ahead with the Gospel according to Mark. Just for the record, Mark is also known as John Mark. We see Mark called John Mark when he is evangelizing with Paul later on in Acts.Apparently, according to some articles, John Mark was about 15 or 16 years old when he met Jesus. Like Timothy, John Mark was just a teen when he met Jesus. At the age of 15 or 16, though, under Jewish tradition, John Mark should have been a family man with a job. Boys become men, under Jewish tradition, when they are about 13. Being a teen in the days of Jesus was not like being a teen in the US today. Life was way different back then.
According to "Got Questions", John Mark was a problem for Paul and Barnabus. Mark deserted them after Cyprus, and Paul took exception to that. Later on, according to the same article, Paul asked Timothy to go get Mark and bring him to the jail on the next visit. [Paul was in jail] I wonder if there is something to the reason Mark left them there! I'll have to look. Anyway, I figure when Paul asked Timothy to bring Mark for the next visit, maybe he had to make some kind of amends to John Mark. I'll see.
Now back to the Gospel of Mark.
While Matthew talked about the genealogy of Jesus. Mark starts with John the Baptist.
Mark described John the Baptist as an odd-looking guy with peculiar eating habits who worked in the Jordan River preaching Baptism of Repentance. According to Mark, he was running a pretty successful mission. Verse 5 says "all the people of Jerusalem went out to see him". John told people about his cousin Jesus.
John the Baptist was the preacher of the day! Mark relayed his mission statement in verses 7 & 8. John the Baptist was the opener for Jesus the Messiah, and John Mark, known as Mark, was there to record it all.
Here we go.... the Gospel according to Mark.
