Mark 1

Overall: Verses 10,12, 18, 20, 21, 28, 31, and 42 of Mark 1 all use the word “immediately” to describe Jesus' works. Mark highlights that Jesus moved urgently in everything He did. He did not delay His actions when He knew what was right.

• If we want to be like Jesus, we need to work urgently to obey God's Word and to share it with others.

 

Verses 1-5

• John the Baptist came preaching a message about sin and repentance that would prepare people to receive the message of Jesus.

  • Before we will put faith in Jesus, we need to understand that we are sinners, and that we need His help to repent of our sins.

    • People will not look to Jesus for help if they don't think they need it. Understanding our sin makes us want God's help.

• If you want to help someone have a desire for Christ, show them that they are sinners, and show them that they need to stop their sins. This will prepare their heart to desire Christ. 

  • It is good to use the Ten Commandments and Jesus' words about what sin is, in order to show people that they are sinners (see Matthew 5:21-37).

 

Verses 6-8

• John preached that Jesus came to baptize us with the Holy Spirit. This means that Jesus wants people to have God's Spirit living in them and empowering them.

  • After we are saved and begin repenting from sin, learning how to live empowered by the Spirit is what Jesus wants for us (John 14:15-17, Acts 2:33,38). 

    • Learn how to follow the Spirit and you will have a great relationship with God. More of this is taught in John 14-16, Romans 7-8, and Galatians 5.

 

Verses 9-11

• Even Jesus had to be empowered by the Spirit, like we need to be. When the Spirit came upon Jesus, this was how God showed His approval of Jesus. 

  • The Spirit in us also shows that God approves of us as His children. If you are saved, remember that you have the Holy Spirit, God has accepted you, and you are His beloved child (Romans 8:9, Ephesians 1:6). This will bring comfort to you.

 

 

Verses 12-13

• The first thing that Jesus had to do, after He was baptized and received the Holy Spirit, was learn to endure hardship and temptation from the devil and obey God anyway (Hebrews 5:8). This is a great example to us.

  • After we are saved and baptized, the first thing that we have to learn, in order to be great followers of Jesus, is how to obey God when we are tempted. 

  • Before Jesus started His ministry (in verse 14), and before you can move on to other things, it is necessary that you get good at doing what is right even when you are tempted to do what is wrong. Focus on learning to obey.

    • Suffering temptation is how we learn true obedience to God, like Jesus learned obedience through his suffering. (Also see 1 Peter 4:1).

    • Remember that just like God sent angels to help Jesus, God sends help to you. You are not alone in your journey to learn to obey. You are able to overcome all of your temptations (1 Corinthians 10:13).

• There is a commonly overlooked truth revealed in verse 13. Jesus was “with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.”

  • Wild beasts is a term used in the Old Testament to refer to monstrous creatures that will roam and terrorize the earth during the end (the Great tribulation) (see Isaiah 13:21-22, 27:1, 34:13-14, Revelation 9:1-19). These creatures exist today, but are hidden, and will be released during the end.

  • During His forty days of fasting in the wilderness, Jesus was faced with many natural and unnatural beasts and monsters, sent from the enemy, that He would have had to fight off. He was amongst the worst of them. At the end of the trial, angels came to attend to Him for healing—to heal wounds inflicted on His body during the forty days.

 

Verses 14-15

• Jesus preached repentance and belief when He preached the gospel.

• Jesus preached that people must repent and believe because the kingdom of God was coming. 

  • With His kingdom, God was going to bring judgment on the world in the future (Daniel 2:44), but Jesus came to give us a chance to be saved first (John 3:17, 36).

  • The Gospel calls people to turn away from their sins and to believe in Jesus. 

    • If you are going to share the gospel with someone, make sure you tell them that they must start turning away from the sin in their lives, and they must trust in Jesus to save them. If they do not, there will be judgment.

 

Verses 16-20

• Jesus called His first disciples to follow Him here, and they left behind everything.

  • After we first repent and believe, we need to commit our lives to following Jesus—to being His disciples.

    • To be a follower or a disciple is to be a student of Jesus and learn to mimic His actions, no matter what it costs us. 

    • Practically, this means that, for a person to become a Christian, they need to:

1. Work at quitting their known sin (repent), 

2. Believe in Jesus as God and their Savior,

3. Learn the Bible so that they can obey what it says.

• In the process, they have to be willing to give up whatever they must in order to obey the Bible. 

 

Christianity is three steps: Repent, Believe, Follow/Obey.

 

Verses 21-34

• Jesus' preaching was effective because He spoke confidently, and because His Word had power.

• The scribes did not have authority or real confidence in their teaching because they did not live what they taught.

  • Preaching is more effective when it is confident, and when it proves to have power over works of the devil.

  • If you want to be effective with your preaching to others, know your message well, obey it yourself, and this will give you confidence. Then speak with confidence.

    • People will be better persuaded by this. They will see that your message had power to stop the sin in your life, and that it can have power in their lives also.

• Healing the sick and casting out demons are part of Jesus' ministry. These still happen today (Mark 16:17).

  • Pray for people when they need healing, and see what God will do!

 

Verses 35-39

• Even when Jesus worked late into the evening, He always rose early in the morning to pray and get quiet time alone with the Father.

  • People who accomplish the most for God are early-risers who start their day by praying and studying the Word of God alone. If you want to be like Jesus, learn to wake up early and begin your day with prayer and Bible-reading.

 

Verses 40-42

• This healing that Jesus performed was motivated by His compassion for the leper. Compassion is powerful for the work of the kingdom. 

  • If you feel compassion or sadness for a person when you see them in their pain, go and pray for them. God uses your compassion to lead you.

 

Verses 43-45

• Not all testimonies are meant to be shared. Because this healed man did not honor Jesus' instruction to keep the story private, it made it harder for Jesus to reach cities smoothly.

  • Do not spread every story or experience you have with God. Sometimes this does more harm than good.