Tag: Gospel of Mark

Prepare the way!

Happy Tuesday everyone ~ Enjoy this wonderful kickoff of Mark 1 shared by one of our awesome guest writers Kris Walker.   Prayers go out to all our readers and writers.

Prepare the Way!

Mark 1 prepares the way for something amazing! It’s a very brief description of some amazing events. I love how the gospels all focus on different things, their writing styles are all so different and where some focus, others don’t. I feel like we just got a cliff note version of some amazing events! There are so many things in this 1 chapter to take in! It really makes you want to reference all the stories in depth! It was a hard decision what to focus on. So, I had to pick a couple.

The first one, I love the stories of healing and cleansing of demons! What an amazing show of our Father’s power!

“21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. 23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, 24 “What do you want with us,Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
25 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” 26 The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.”

I know it seems silly to make such an amazing point on this, but not only did he make the demon come out, but he silenced it!  I have 4 children, NOT demon possessed, and I can’t ever get them to be silent! Our father SHUT THE MOUTH of a demon! Which we know isn’t a big feat for our God, but can you imagine seeing that in person?? This “man” just told a demon to come out, and told him to shut his mouth, and a demon was forced to listen! What a truly all powerful God we have! I can’t imagine being a member of that crowd and actually seeing this! It would be mind blowing!

“27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.”28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.”

Clearly it made an impression! But another thing is learned about was his power. It’s a loving power, he healed so many people, and even when he wanted seclusion, he still ended up being called to teach the word, and healed people!

The application for me in this is: What am I doing with my power to help those in need? Not only in our community, but in my own home. Jesus was tired and wanted seclusion, but still did his Father’s work! When I’m tired and want seclusion, I tell everyone to leave me alone and let me rest. I have so much to learn, and have so much growing to do. This really stresses to me that I need to strive more daily to be more Christ like and serve my family more.

My other big take away from this is about John and then Jesus’s first disciples. John prepared the way! His job was to tell about Jesus coming. And he did just that! He did not shrink back. He went forth preaching about Jesus coming and baptized in his name!

“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.”

He did all this for Jesus and never once questioned it, and always gave honor to the right place!

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

What an amazing example. We then get a glimpse of Jesus getting his first disciples, and the immediately follow him. He biggest part of this for me is:

What am I doing to make disciples? It is our calling! It’s what we are meant to do! Who am I helping in my community? Who am I encouraging to follow our God? Am I being a true disciple?

I know there is so much more to get out of this chapter, but those were my main thoughts after reading through Mark 1. It really just makes me want to be a better servant at home, and a better disciple in my community.

Prayerfully,  we can all strive to do the same!

Dear God, we pray for continued wisdom in our writing as we share your words and not our own. We pray that you continue to guide us in this journey, guide and protect our families, and give us courage to share with others the great news of Jesus through these gospels.  We love you, praise you, and thank you for sending your son to be born, live a life on earth, model your ways, die, and conquer death for us for our sins.  Amen

 

Hello Mark

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45

 Hello, it’s a Monday and I’m here to welcome you to the gospel of Mark. Are you excited? I’m so excited! This has been such an awesome time of new beginnings. We aren’t reading the Gospel of Mark quite yet today, but instead we’re getting acquainted with our new author. Of course, I’ve done my usual research and uncovered some interesting facts for us. The Gospel of Mark is actually anonymous. In 326 AD, Eusebius, an early church historian, preserved the words of Papias an early church elder. Papias, quoted another elder, probably John, as saying that Mark recorded Peter’s preaching about Jesus but not in order. Therefore, since the first century, Mark was considered the author of this Gospel.

Mark was actually named John Mark and was the son of a widow named Mary. The church of Jerusalem sometimes met at Mary’s house (see Acts 12:12-17). Some sources say that Jesus’ last supper took place in Mary’s house as well…but we don’t really know so we can’t get too excited! Mark and Barnabus were cousins (Col 4:10) and together they traveled with Paul on that first missionary journey. Mark became like a son to the apostle Peter and also became close to Paul. Shortly before Paul’s execution, he asked Timothy to “bring Mark with you, for he is useful to me in the ministry” (2 Timothy 4:11). After Paul’s execution, Mark moved to Egypt and established churches.

Mark wrote his gospel in Rome around the time of Peter’s martyrdom. He wrote primarily for the Roman Gentiles and used Latin terms rather then Greek. Mark’s Gospel is believed by many Bible scholars to be the earliest Gospel written. There is evidence that it served as a source for both Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Mark’s writing begins with John the Baptist preaching and then moves on to Jesus’ public ministry. We see Jesus in action as a servant and then Jesus is revealed to us as the Messiah when he performs several miracles. By the end of Mark’s gospel, we move quickly toward the events of The Last Supper, the betrayal, the crucifixion and the resurrection. What an opportunity we have in these next few weeks to get to know Jesus through Mark. I’m ready for God to move in our life as we follow in His footsteps: serving, sacrificing and saving. I’ll leave you today with four key themes of Mark’s Gospel to consider. I challenge you to write them down and watch for them to come up in our daily study of Mark. I’ll be making notes each day about the words of Christ and how they fit within our personal faith journey.

Jesus Christ:

  • Mark demonstrates that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
  • He overcomes disease, demons and death
  • Jesus chose to die for us

Servant:

  • Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament by coming to earth
  • He came as a servant, not a conquering king
  • By giving his life he performed the ultimate act of service

Miracles:

  • Mark records more of Jesus’ miracles in his Gospel than sermons
  • Mark reveals Jesus’ true identity as the Messiah through accounts of his miracles

Spreading the Gospel:

  • Jesus directed his ministry to the Jews, he was met with opposition
  • Jesus also ministered to the “non-Jewish” world including Roman soldiers, Syrians, and other Gentiles.
  • Many believed the good news and followed him
  • Jesus’ final message to his disciples was to go out to the whole world and preach salvation

 Author’s note: Much of today’s historic information was drawn from a collection of study Bibles. I primarily use the NIV Life Application Study Bible (Zondervan), The HCSB Study Bible (Holman Bible Publishers), The ESV Study Bible (Crossway) and various online sources such as: biblegateway.com, biblestudytools.com and blueletterbible.org. Of course when writing about historic figures, one can only use the collection of data available and then present it in a way that honors the source. I’ve done the best I can to collect facts and share them with you in a digestible Monday morning fashion. There is always lots more Christian literature available to us! If you want more information about the Gospel of Mark or have knowledge you’d like to share, please comment below.