Mark eBook

CONTENTS

Editor’s Preface

Introduction to Mark

Outline

Jesus’ credentials (1:1–13)

Jesus’ early Galilean ministry (1:14–3:6)

Jesus’ later Galilean ministry (3:7–6:6)

Jesus’ ministry in Galilee and the regions beyond draws to a close (6:7–8:30)

Jesus’ final days in Galilee (8:31–9:50)

Jesus on the way to Jerusalem (10:1–52)

Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem (11:1–14:11)

Maundy Thursday (14:12–72)

Good Friday (15:1–47)

The resurrection and ascension of Jesus (16:1–20)

ILLUSTRATIONS

Paul’s first missionary journey

Jesus heals a leprous man

Jesus rebukes the wind

Palestine in the time of Christ

Jesus teaches his disciples

The Lord’s Supper

They mocked him and heaped insults on him

Mary Magdalene at the tomb

EDITOR’S PREFACE

The People’s Bible is just what the name implies—a Bible for the people. It includes the complete text of the Holy Scriptures in the popular New International Version. The commentary following the Scripture sections contains personal applications as well as historical background and explanations of the text.

The authors of The People’s Bible are men of scholarship and practical insight, gained from years of experience in the teaching and preaching ministries. They have tried to avoid the technical jargon that limits so many commentary series to professional Bible scholars.

The most important feature of these books is that they are Christ-centered. Speaking of the Old Testament Scriptures, Jesus himself declared, These are the Scriptures that testify about me (John 5:39). Each volume of The People’s Bible directs our attention to Jesus Christ. He is the center of the entire Bible. He is our only Savior.

The commentaries also have maps, illustrations, and archaeological information when appropriate. All the books include running heads to direct the reader to the passage he is looking for.

This commentary series was initiated by the Commission on Christian Literature of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

It is our prayer that this endeavor may continue as it began. We dedicate these volumes to the glory of God and to the good of his people.

INTRODUCTION TO MARK

The New Testament opens with four gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. None of the gospels states the names of their authors. However, that does not mean they are anonymous. The early church in whose midst the gospels were written and to whom they were originally addressed testifies as to their authors. We have no reason to doubt its testimony.

The church historian Eusebius, who lived in A.D. 275–339, in his Ecclesiastical History quotes from a lost book of the church father Papias (A.D. 140). In this quotation Papias cites John the apostle, calling him the Elder, the very term by which John speaks of himself in 2 and 3 John. The quotation in Eusebius reads: The Elder said this also: Mark, who became Peter’s interpreter, wrote accurately, though not in order, all that he remembered of the things said or done by the Lord. For he had neither heard the Lord nor been one of his followers, but afterwards, as I said, he had followed Peter, who used to compose his discourses with a view to the needs of his listeners, but not as though he were drawing up a connected account of the Lord’s sayings. So Mark made no mistake in thus recording some things just as he remembered them. For he was careful of this one thing, to omit none of the things he had heard and to make no untrue statements therein. Thus the apostolic authority of Peter as well as the apostolic authority of John support the gospel of Mark, not to mention the authority of Paul (see 2 Timothy 4:11).

More than that, Mark’s gospel was also written by inspiration and thus contains what God the Holy Spirit wants the church to know, both the first readers and its present readers, including you and me. Although Paul was specifically speaking of the Old Testament when he wrote the words of 2 Timothy 3:16, 17: All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work, these words also apply to everything recorded in the New Testament, including the gospel of Mark.

Why did the Holy Spirit give us four gospels in the New Testament? Although there is much repetition of material in them, all four have their own way of applying it and their own reason for including it. A comparison of what they have in common shows no distortion or amending of facts. The gospel writers were chosen and moved by the Spirit of God to record the gospel according to their own special abilities and interests, thus to meet your needs and mine, though we too are all different.

Matthew is clearly interested in presenting Christ as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. His gospel would therefore have been of special interest to those who came to Christ among Israel. Luke’s purpose meets the needs of a man named Theophilus, seemingly a recent convert who needed to be assured. Luke therefore goes into great detail, particularly concerning the early years of our Lord’s life. Furthermore, what Luke wrote was also based on thorough personal investigation that included interviewing eyewitnesses and researching previously written records of our Lord’s life now no longer in existence, unless the gospels of Matthew and Mark are included among them. John, the last of the gospels, written shortly before A.D. 100, supplements the earlier gospels where necessary and reveals a decidedly theological trend, particularly dealing with our Lord’s deity and his relationship to the Father and the Holy Spirit. Over one-half of John’s gospel deals with Christ’s words and acts during his last days here on earth.

By contrast Mark, the shortest of the gospels, deals in greater detail with our Lord’s acts than with his sayings. Mark, as author, quotes the Old Testament only once and that in his opening statement. It is clear he wrote for an audience who had indeed heard the gospel message but was not intimately acquainted with the Old Testament. His was undoubtedly a predominantly gentile readership, for he makes it a point to translate all Aramaic expressions and to explain Hebrew customs, something that would not have been necessary had the majority of his readers grown up in the synagogue. That he also uses numerous Latin words and expressions suggests his first readers undoubtedly were Romans or were from Italy.

When reading John’s gospel, one must pause and reflect at almost every sentence. Not so with Mark. His is a book of action that rapidly proceeds from one incident to another. It pictures our Lord’s active ministry as he helps men and women in their distress and then in his passion carries out God’s good and gracious will to save us. Jesus is a man among men, but at the same time, Mark’s narrative opens our eyes to see that this man is at the same time the very Son of God, the Savior of mankind. As our Lord teaches his disciples step-by-step through word and deed to recognize who he truly is, we too are supported in our faith to say with Peter, You are the Christ (Mark 8:29), and with the centurion standing beneath the cross, Surely this man was the Son of God! (Mark 15:39). Jesus having arisen and ascended into heaven, we too are moved by Mark’s account to join the disciples of whom it is said, Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them (Mark 16:20).

We see that Mark’s gospel is very practical. It helped the church of his day and helps the church of today to answer mankind’s questions about sin and salvation, about Christ and Christian living.

Who is the writer who has given us this account of our Lord’s life, death, and resurrection that so grips our hearts and makes us ready to follow him? He was a man who himself had to learn step-by-step to follow the Lord about whom he later wrote. We with the early church have identified him as John Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. His Hebrew name was John and his Latin name Mark. We find him referred to in Scripture for the first time in Acts 12:12: He [Peter] went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. His mother was a member of the Christian congregation in Jerusalem, which was praying for the release of Peter after he had been arrested and imprisoned by Herod Agrippa. That Peter was released by an angel in answer to prayer must have made a deep impression upon Mark. Whether he himself ever saw Christ is not stated in the Bible, but it is possible (Mark 14:51). We are not told just when he came to faith in Christ as the Savior promised in the Old Testament. However, when a few years later his cousin Barnabas and the apostle Paul were commissioned by the church in Antioch to carry the gospel into Asia Minor, we read that they took John Mark along as one of their helpers (see Acts 13:5). His work certainly wasn’t only that of a porter but must have included giving witness to the gospel.

During this mission journey, he heard both Paul and his own cousin proclaim the Good News and certainly must have heard all about Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus. Yet at Perga in Pamphylia, John Mark left them to return to Jerusalem. Whatever the reason was, and it could not have been an acceptable one, Paul did not trust him sufficiently to take him along on his second missionary journey (see Acts 15:37, 38). This led to a rift between Paul and Barnabas, so that each went his own way. It was, we can say in retrospect, the Lord’s way of putting more mission teams on the road, for Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus. Mark had to learn the hard way, and in Acts we hear nothing more about him. His name appears spasmodically in Paul’s epistles (for example, Colossians 4:10; 2 Timothy 4:11; Philemon 24). Paul must have forgiven and forgotten.

Mark surfaces again with Peter in Rome. The situation is an entirely different one. Peter—writing from Babylon to the Christians scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia—sends greetings from the Roman congregation and then adds the words: And so does my son Mark (1 Peter 5:13). This reveals two things about Mark. One, the relationship between Peter and Mark was very close, like father and son. The other, the Christians in Asia Minor were acquainted with Mark. This suggests he had possibly done mission work there. However, now he was in Rome with Peter and regularly heard his preaching. That’s why Papias can say that Mark was an interpreter of Peter. His gospel reflects the preaching and teaching of Peter.

Tradition has it that Peter was put to death in Rome shortly after the great fire of A.D. 64, while Paul was in Spain. On his return to Jerusalem, Paul was arrested and sent back to Rome as a prisoner—his second imprisonment. From prison he wrote to Timothy in Asia Minor, asking him to hurry to Rome, and then he added, Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry (2 Timothy 4:11). Whether they reached Rome before Paul was beheaded we do not know. But we do know that Mark had regained the full confidence of this apostle. What is more, Luke also was with Paul in Rome at that time, so the two gospel writers who were not themselves apostles had time together and possibly even compared notes. But the latter is conjecture.

Here then is the writer of the second gospel, a man who had to learn faithfulness the hard way but who then was loved and trusted by the apostles, heard them speak and teach and preach, and was their confidant. What he tells us in his gospel reflects what he heard from eyewitnesses—from Paul who had seen the Lord by a special revelation after the Ascension, from Peter who had walked the highways and byways of Galilee and Judea with Jesus, from Barnabas who was a member of the first Christian congregation in Jerusalem, and from countless other eyewitnesses.

That Mark can rightly be called an interpreter of Peter is evident from all the details and human touches included that only one who had been there could have told Mark. That Mark when mentioning Peter speaks very frankly, not toning down his weaknesses, suggests that by the time Mark wrote his gospel, Peter perhaps was dead but his reputation was a solid one. We thank the Holy Spirit for moving Mark to write thus, for now we who face the same problems can learn from his mistakes and shortcomings and be strengthened in our own faith.

It is a true and living story that Mark records. From his opening words we know that he had a definite purpose in mind. His purpose was not to write a biography but to present Jesus Christ to us as the man who is the very Son of God sent by the heavenly Father to take our place, that is, to procure salvation for us. Mark’s own history shows how God trained him for this task of putting into writing the gospel concerning Christ, so that you and I, coming face-to-face with the Savior in Mark’s gospel, may set our faith on him and live our lives to his glory. Mark opens his gospel with these words: The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to remind his readers—you and me among them—that the Savior wants them to be part of the subsequent story. May the Holy Spirit achieve that in our lives through Mark’s gospel!

Since there were no copyright laws back in Mark’s day, his gospel does not give the date when it was made public. From its contents, however, it is clear that it was written some years before the destruction of Jerusalem and at about the time of the apostle Peter’s death or shortly thereafter.

The Gospel About Jesus Christ, the Son of God

  I.  Prologue (1:1–13)

A. Title (1:1)

B. Jesus’ credentials (1:2–13)

 II.  Jesus revealed as the Christ, the Son of God, in his ministry in Galilee and the regions beyond (1:14–8:30)

A. Jesus’ early Galilean ministry (1:14–3:6)

1. Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee (1:14–45)

2. Jesus faces growing opposition (2:1–3:6)

B. Jesus’ later Galilean ministry (3:7–6:6)

C. Jesus’ ministry in Galilee and the regions beyond draws to a close (6:6–8:30)

III.  Jesus revealed as the Christ, the Son of God, in his suffering, death, and resurrection (8:31–16:20)

A. Jesus’ final days in Galilee (8:31–9:50)

B. Jesus on the way to Jerusalem (10:1–52)

C. Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem (11:1–14:11)

D. Maundy Thursday (14:12–72)

E. Good Friday (15:1–47)

F. The resurrection and ascension of Jesus (16:1–20)

PART ONE

Prologue

(1:1–13)

Title

The first readers of Mark’s gospel undoubtedly were the Christians living in Italy and Rome, for we find Mark in Rome at the close of the apostle Paul’s life (see 2 Timothy 4:11). After the death of the apostles Peter and Paul, the people who heard and believed their message would naturally turn to those who had been their assistants and ask them to preach the good news of Jesus Christ in their midst. Soon it also became evident that it would be good and profitable to have their words in writing. In fact, it may have been Peter himself while still among them who suggested this very thing (see 2 Peter 1:12–15). This is the task Mark took upon himself and for which the Holy Spirit chose him even as he called Matthew, Luke, and John to similar tasks. Mark opens his gospel with the following words—words that serve very well as a title for his entire presentation.

Mark 1:1

1 The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Each word of this title is important in order to understand what Mark wishes to transmit to his readers. It is clear that this title is first of all a profound statement of Mark’s own faith. Mark is not simply writing a life of Jesus of Nazareth, a biography as it were. He is presenting him to his readers as Jesus Christ, the Son of God. That’s the good news they need to hear. Sinners need a Savior.

The opening words, the beginning, take all who are acquainted with Scripture back to Genesis 1:1: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. With the coming of Jesus Christ, Mark tells us, there is a new beginning, a new creation. His coming fulfills all the Old Testament promises and prophecies concerning the Savior who would come to redeem men from sin and everlasting death. Mark’s words, the beginning, include everything he wrote in his gospel. He identifies the new beginning as Jesus Christ and all that he said and did.

As we read these words, we naturally also think of their sequel—the story of the gospel’s spread throughout the world. A portion of that history is our own coming to faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Savior. The final chapter of this gospel story will be ushered in on the great day of judgment when the Savior says to us, Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world (Matthew 25:34).

Mark describes his message as gospel. Gospel means good news. Not all news is good, but that about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is. The bad news is the news of our sin and its bitter consequences. There was and there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. We desperately need someone to take our place and pay our penalty. That this person came and completely fulfilled all that was promised and foretold, Mark designates as the good news. It is thus not at all strange that the word gospel was later chosen to designate the four accounts in the New Testament that relate the story of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is good news.

The good news that Mark and the other gospel writers report centers on Jesus of Nazareth. Mark calls him Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus was his personal name chosen by God and revealed to Joseph by the angel saying, You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). Jesus is the New Testament form of the name Joshua, which means Yahweh is help and salvation. It was a very popular name. But for Jesus of Nazareth it is descriptive of our Lord’s mission—to be mankind’s Savior.

The name Christ, used here as a proper name, is also descriptive of our Lord’s mission. Christ means the anointed one. This Jesus, of whom Mark writes, is thus not just any Jesus but the Jesus anointed by the Holy Spirit to be our Prophet, Priest, and King. Jesus himself in his ministry avoided using the name Christ, or Messiah, because by that time the name had been given false political overtones. He therefore preferred to call himself the Son of Man. Only after he had by word and deed instructed his disciples did he finally ask them, Who do you say I am? and then accept Peter’s confession, You are the Christ (8:29). And when Caiaphas the high priest asked him, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One? Jesus replied, I am (14:61, 62).

The emphasis in Mark’s opening statement lies on the final words: the Son of God. This is the point of view from which Mark presents his account of the good news about Jesus Christ. Though Jesus Christ was rejected by his own people and crucified as a malefactor, Mark tells us that he was anything but a malefactor. Mark’s answer to the question Who is Jesus Christ? is: He is the man who is the Son of God. The study of Mark’s gospel leads step-by-step to the conviction arrived at by the centurion at the cross: Surely this man was the Son of God! (15:39). Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who lived as a man among men, who became tired and hungry and thirsty, who experienced pain and death, was more than just a great man, an eloquent teacher, a mighty miracle worker—he is God the Son, God together with the Father and the Holy Spirit. It is Mark’s God-given purpose to lead you and me to recognize the man Jesus Christ as the very Son of God and to confess him as such (see 1:11; 3:11; 5:7; 9:7; 12:6; 13:32; 14:36, 61; 15:39). In this, Matthew (1:23), Luke (1:35), and John (1:14; 20:31) fully agree with him.

Jesus’ Credentials

Verses 2 to 13 present the credentials of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. His entrance on the scene is prepared by the messenger foretold in the Old Testament. He is approved by the heavenly Father and attested by the Holy Spirit at his baptism. In the temptation that follows, he overcomes the archfoe of God and man—Satan.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

Mark 1:2–8

²It 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 desert,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for him.’ "

⁴And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵The 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. ⁶John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷And this was his message: After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ⁸I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

(Matthew 3:1–6, 11; Luke 3:1–6, 16; John 1:15–28)

In the gospel of Matthew, one statement stands out because of constant repetition, the words: This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet. Matthew stressed that fact because he wrote his gospel for Jewish readers well acquainted with the Old Testament. Mark wrote for gentile readers and so, except for this one instance, does not personally refer to the Old Testament prophecies. In writing his gospel, he simply wants us to observe Jesus in action and in doing so wants us to come to the same conclusion Matthew drew from the Old Testament prophecies he quotes so frequently. The Holy Spirit has blessed both ways of writing, and both are important.

Mark opens his gospel with the Old Testament prophecy concerning John the Baptist. In thus presenting John’s credentials, Mark likewise presents the credentials of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whose forerunner John was. Note, therefore, that Christianity is not a new religion but is the fulfillment of God’s Old Testament promises.

The words Mark quotes are taken from Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3. Mark mentions only Isaiah because Isaiah was the prophet who spoke about the coming Savior in greater detail than any other Old Testament prophet. It is Isaiah’s words that cause us to understand the words of Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets, in their messianic sense. This is therefore not an error on the part of Mark, as some commentators insist. It is the Holy Spirit who caused Mark to write as he did. And it is the Holy Spirit who here teaches us that the words of Isaiah, first fulfilled in the return of Israel from Babylon in the days of Cyrus, found their greater fulfillment in John and Jesus.

These Old Testament prophecies make clear that it was God who sent John the Baptist as his messenger to announce the coming of his Son and thus to prepare the hearts of his people to receive him. Mark shows us how John fulfilled these words of prophecy. When John the Baptist came, those who saw and heard him could draw only one conclusion, namely, that with the appearance of John, the promised Messiah would also soon appear. Comparing prophecy and fulfillment, we have no doubts that he who followed John the Baptist was indeed the promised Messiah. John was God’s messenger, God’s voice. He did not proclaim his own wisdom but God’s wisdom.

John the Baptist wore rough clothing, woven of camel’s hair. His diet was wilderness fare—locusts and wild honey. He was another Elijah, whom 2 Kings 1:8 describes as a man with a garment of hair and with a leather belt around his waist. When John began his work in the desert region, the uninhabited area near the Jordan, the similarity was not lost on the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem who came out to hear him. The 20-mile journey was an arduous one, downhill from Jerusalem and uphill on the way back. It took them away from their business deals and their hours of relaxation. But they came because they sensed the power of God in John. They were excited. After all, it had been four hundred years since a legitimate prophet had appeared on the scene. They had to find out, and they did.

John the Baptist came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Why? Because the hearts of the people had become a desert region, and they needed to be rescued. What he offered them in this baptism of repentance was not merely a ritual washing but the gift of forgiveness. His baptism was essentially no different from the baptism by which our Lord comes to us today with his pardon and peace. The forgiveness granted through John’s baptism was not a reward because they had repented but a wonderful gift of God who through John’s preaching brought them to repentance and gave them a change of heart.

That’s why Mark does not emphasize John’s preaching of the law, although John did that too, as is evident from the other gospels. John the Baptist’s message, as recorded by Mark, was the gospel pointing forward to Jesus Christ and his great work of redemption. John did not claim to be what he was not. He was not the Christ, and he set the record straight when he said, After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. In Jesus’ presence John the forerunner did not even consider himself worthy to render the service of a slave.

Note also the comparison: I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Shortly before his ascension into heaven, Jesus explained John’s words. In Acts 1:5 Jesus said, John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Thus the words of John referred to the Day of Pentecost, when the church was indeed to experience the power of the Holy Spirit. In the months before, people had turned away from Christ. On Pentecost after Peter proclaimed Christ, we read: Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day (Acts 2:41).

But all this depended on something else, something that had to precede, and that is our Lord’s work of redemption. It is only because of that, that John’s baptism brought forgiveness of sins and that God today deals with us in the same way in Word and sacrament. Without Christ this could never be accomplished. That’s why John was sent—to prepare the people to receive Christ. His coming assures us that this Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is our Savior. John is and remains one of Jesus’ credentials. John the Baptist is part of the beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

The Baptism of Jesus

Mark 1:9–11

⁹At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹And a voice came from heaven: You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.

(Matthew 3:13–17; Luke 3:21, 22; John 1:32)

Mark, in telling of the baptism of Jesus with the subsequent bestowal of the Holy Spirit and the Father’s commendation, offers a second credential to assure us Jesus of Nazareth is indeed Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Note that Scripture nowhere prescribes the mode of Baptism—whether by immersion, pouring, or sprinkling. Rather, it concerns itself with what God does for us through Baptism.

John the Baptist’s activity and proclamation were signs to Jesus that the hour had come for Jesus to enter upon his redemptive work. Thus he left Nazareth and went to John at the Jordan River without being compelled or summoned. He asked John to baptize him and thus to inaugurate him into his office. As we know from the gospel of Matthew, the baptism of Jesus presented a problem for John, for Jesus did not need a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 1:4; 3:14). Jesus assured John that it was proper for him to be baptized and for John to perform the baptism to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:15). It was John’s obligation as God’s messenger and Jesus’ obligation as the Promised One to inaugurate God’s plan of salvation. By insisting on being baptized, Jesus deliberately took our place as God the Father had sent him to do. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). Officially the work of redemption began here and was completed on Calvary.

When Jesus stepped on shore after being baptized by John, God himself gave his sanction and approval to Jesus’ action. First of all, the heavens opened and the Spirit of God descended on Jesus in the form of a dove. The dove was a symbol of sacrifice. This was not just a vision granted to Jesus but was seen by John and the bystanders, for in John 1:32, John the Baptist testifies he saw the Spirit descend on Jesus. What was the purpose, and why was this necessary? The purpose we learn in Acts 10:38: God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. With this, God publicly set him apart for his great task. At the same time, with the Spirit at his side, he was also empowered to carry out that task. This was necessary, for we read in Philippians 2:7, 8 that Christ Jesus made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!

This explains much of his agony in Gethsemane and lets us understand how he was able to overcome though a true human being, our substitute. Here the coming of the Holy Spirit on him is also the Spirit’s designation that this human being is indeed the promised Savior, the Son of God.

Then came the Father’s voice from heaven. The Father clearly identified Jesus as his Son. With the word love, he did not express a sentimental attachment but expressed his complete approval of what Jesus was undertaking for the descendants of Adam and Eve. The Father also expressed his complete confidence in Jesus by saying, With you I am well pleased. He publicly acknowledged he had not made a mistake in assigning this task to Jesus. God thereby also acknowledged that Jesus’ previous life—in Bethlehem, Egypt, and Nazareth—had been without fault. He had not become guilty of the mortal error into which Adam and Eve had fallen. Thus Christ’s credentials were perfect. We are to know that, even as Jesus himself was assured of that at his baptism.

Before we consider the third credential Mark brings, we want to note that God at the baptism of Jesus is clearly revealed as three persons—the Father speaking from heaven, the Son standing on the shore of the Jordan, the Holy Spirit descending from the opened heaven. Neither John the Baptist nor others present raise any questions about that. Though the Old Testament clearly states, The LORD our God, the LORD is one (Deuteronomy 6:4), it also reveals that there are three persons in the Godhead. Those who reject that teaching of the Old Testament Scripture reject it because they reject Christ. How God is one and at the same time three is not revealed. But the truth is revealed so that we may without hesitation believe that Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, is God the Son.

The Temptation of Jesus

Mark 1:12–13

¹²At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, ¹³and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

(Matthew 4:1–11; Luke 4:1–13)

Immediately the Spirit sent Jesus into the desert for his encounter with Satan, the devil who had caused Adam and Eve to fall into sin and thus bring sin upon the entire human race. Jesus faced him alone; no fellow believers were present to comfort and strengthen him. Wild animals were no source of spiritual help. Jesus had to face this battle alone. He was fighting this battle as the substitute for all humans.

The battle was arduous and long. It lasted 40 days with no breathing spells—totally unlike the 40 days Moses had spent on the mountain with God (see Exodus 24:18), totally different from the 40 days Elijah spent on the way to Horeb sustained by the food God had provided (see 1 Kings 19:8). For Jesus they were 40 days of continuous testing. Matthew and Luke relate three specific attacks of Satan; Mark simply presents the antagonists, Jesus and Satan.

Do not think this battle was relatively simple for Jesus because he could not possibly sin. As a man, he could suffer hunger and thirst, appreciate power and wealth, and thus he felt the pressures of these temptations. Nor was it simple for him because he was the Son of God. Though Jesus during his ministry often used his almighty power to heal and to bless, he seldom used it to defend himself. He faced temptation in the same way you and I must face it—with the Word of God. This was also not the only time Jesus had to face the devil. Jesus continued to fight him until the moment on the cross when he said, It is finished (John 19:28).

When he had won the battle in the wilderness, Jesus was completely exhausted. It is then that angels attended him. Noting this, we are moved to pray as Luther did in his morning and evening prayers: Let your holy angel be with me, that the wicked foe may have no power over me.

Our Lord leaves the battlefield qualified to meet every challenger and every challenge. His credentials are perfect: he is acknowledged by the promised forerunner, he is accepted by the Father and blessed by the Spirit, he meets and defeats Satan. Thus he enters into his ministry. In reading the gospel of Mark, we observe Jesus’ deeds, hear his words, and learn to rejoice in the beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

PART TWO

Jesus Revealed as the Christ, the Son of God, in His Ministry in Galilee and the Regions Beyond

(1:14–8:30)

Jesus’ Early Galilean Ministry

Jesus Begins His Ministry in Galilee

Calling of the First Disciples

Mark 1:14–20

¹⁴After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ¹⁵The time has come, he said. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!

¹⁶As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁷Come, follow me, Jesus said, and I will make you fishers of men. ¹⁸At once they left their nets and followed him.

¹⁹When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. ²⁰Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

(Matthew 4:12, 17–22; Luke 5:1–11)

Mark’s account of the ministry of Jesus begins with the imprisonment of John the Baptist. It is difficult to determine exactly how long this was after the baptism of Jesus and his testing in the wilderness, perhaps as much as half a year. John in his gospel records some of the events that took place during this time.

When Jesus returned from the wilderness, John was still preaching and baptizing in Bethany on the other side of the Jordan (thus distinguished from Bethany near Jerusalem, the hometown of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus). John’s message had not changed; he was still proclaiming Christ Jesus as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. So it was not at all surprising that he urged some of his own disciples, among them John and Andrew, Peter and Philip, to follow Christ. Mark’s account of the calling of Peter, Andrew, James, and John therefore does not mark the first time they met Jesus nor the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus had already spent time proclaiming his message in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and in parts of Galilee. Sometimes the disciples accompanied him and sometimes not. In fact, Jesus’ disciples were not restricted to the Twelve. In Luke 10:1, seventy-two were sent out on a preaching journey by our Lord. When in Galilee, many of them spent part of their time at home, following their occupations. Galilee was home for most of them and also for the majority of the first Christians. Galilee, even though also under the control of Herod who imprisoned John the Baptist, was nevertheless very open to non-Jewish influence. When opposition surfaced in Jerusalem, Jesus moved the thrust of his ministry to Galilee. Much remained to be done and to be taught before the disciples would be prepared for Jesus’ passion.

Mark summarizes the message Christ proclaimed. It was the good news of God, or, in Christ’s own words: The time has come.… The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news (gospel)! This message led its first listeners back into the Scripture that they had heard in their synagogues and that some of them did understand in its proper religious sense. Already at the presentation of the infant Jesus in the temple, we become aware of that. Simeon is described as waiting for the consolation of Israel (Luke 2:25), and Anna spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem (Luke 2:38). Their faith was based on the Old Testament promises of the Savior, like Deuteronomy 18:15: The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers and Jeremiah 23:5, 6:  ‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.’  So when Jesus now proclaimed, The time has come.… The kingdom of God is near, those who knew their Old Testament and did not misinterpret it politically were quickened in their hearts and looked for the King.

The way to the King, as Christ points out, is to repent and believe the good news. Repent means to have a change of heart as far as sin is concerned and in this connection points to the good news concerning the one in whom they would find forgiveness of sins. Jesus called on his listeners to turn away from the service of sin, to be sorry they had fallen away from God, and by faith to trust in him who alone offers forgiveness. Surely that is the good news mankind needs, whether in Galilee or in our own hometowns.

With John imprisoned and soon to be executed, Jesus realized that the climax of his own life’s work was approaching. It was months later that he revealed this fact to his apostles, but he was aware of it now. He also knew that when his work of redemption would be complete, he would return to the Father in heaven. So one of the tasks facing him was to choose and instruct a corps of followers who would then become his witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). This was the point at which Mark began his account of Jesus’ ministry.

To Simon and Andrew, Jesus said, Come, follow me. He had used the same words before when he asked Philip to follow him, and he would use them again. But here Jesus connected with them a definite promise and planned purpose: Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. He was singling them out for the great work of being his chosen apostles. Their number was complete by the time we read Mark 3:13–19. Jesus’ final gift in preparing them for their assignment would be the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. In the meantime, though they knew what it meant to be fishermen, they had to learn what it meant to be fishers of men. As we read Mark and the other gospels, we realize there was no better teacher than Jesus.

The response of Simon, Andrew, James, and John was immediate. When Jesus called, they were ready to follow him, for they had learned to love him and believe in him. Business, wealth, family—all were secondary to following Jesus and becoming fishers of men. The same faith that filled their hearts should also fill ours, whether we are pastors, teachers, missionaries, or lay Christians. Christ must be first in our lives. Note also that Father Zebedee did not object. Without a doubt he, together with the hired men, continued to bring great sacrifices to support Jesus’ mission and the training of his disciples.

Of the disciples named here, Simon Peter is mentioned first. From the start he became the spokesman of the apostolic group. The picturesque details in this account and elsewhere in Mark, details that could come only from Peter, demonstrate that Peter was the personal source on whom Mark drew in writing his gospel. The contact between Peter and Mark was a close one. At the close of his first epistle, Peter sent greetings to the Christians in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia from my son Mark.

Jesus Drives Out an Evil Spirit

Mark 1:21–28

²¹They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. ²²The people were amazed at his teaching, because he