A Verse Study of Mark’s Authority and Intent.
Rev. Rob Jones
12/10/2023
Mark 1:1-18
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ. 2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way, 3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight,’” 4 so John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And the whole Judean region and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him and were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” 9 In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove upon him. 11 And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you, I am well pleased.” 12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tested by Satan, and he was with the wild beasts, and the angels waited on him. 14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news.” 16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
Prayer:
Oh God, we come to you in worship seeking the peace promised through the Holy Spirit in this season of Advent. As we do, surround us with love and transform our hearts so that we may hear your message for us today. This we pray in the name of Jesus. AMEN.
Sermon:
Mark covers a lot of ground in a short time. His gospel is not like reading any of the other gospels. It is more like hearing a child tell you about the most exciting thing that happened to them that day. “Well, we were out on the playground, and John was there, and Jimmy was there, and we were jumping over puddles, and then Sara came over, and we all sang songs, and then we went and ate lunch, and then, and then, and then we watched cartoons, and then…” [1]
Believe it or not, the first 15 verses are just an introduction, and Mark runs through them fast.
v. 1. Here is the Good News.
v. 2&3 Quote the prophet. (conflating Isaiah 40.3, Exodus 23:20, and Mal 3:1) But it’s ok because we won’t dwell on it… 🙂
v. 4. Baptism is important – why?
It fulfills a prophet’s words (Ezek. 36:25-28)
“25 I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put my spirit within you and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. 28 Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”
v. 5. Everyone will come and do it…
By the way, John was dressed like Elijah. (Second coming) Foretold by Malachi. (Mal. 5:5-6) to “turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents…”
v. 7-8. John tells everyone that he is not the messiah (very important).
He tells them he has baptized them with water, but the messiah will baptize them with the Holy Spirit.
v. 9. Jesus enters the scene. The first order of Business is to be baptized.
v. 10 & 11. Just in case you are not excited yet… Mark gives us some apocalyptic imagery. Designed to keep all of us sci-fi geeks interested. And in verse eleven… God speaks!
What’s the point of an introduction like this? (3 things)
- The reader must believe that you are an authority.
- The more you prove your knowledge, the more you are trusted.
- For Mark, nothing is more important than spreading the news of Jesus.
This.. is.. exciting…, do you feel it? Can’t you hear the excitement in Mark's voice? I can…
So, what happens next? How can Mark even continue? He has already given so much information. I mean, Wow! We just saw the heavens open up, and God spoke!
12. Well, immediately, Jesus is cast into the wilderness to be tested by Satan. Oh My… That guy from Job? Are you serious right now!? We haven’t had him in a story in a while… and Jesus is out there for 40 days?
Then, verses 14 & 15… “MEANWHILE” (Think the comic book cartoon narrator voice.)
John is gone… Arrested… and Jesus comes in saying… “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news.”
Fifteen verses and Jesus is @ Work. There is no need for genealogies, no need for miracles, no need for a lot of backstories; the OT is your backstory. No birth story, nothing; Mark gets Jesus teaching and preaching as soon as possible. The first 15 verses of Mark are more akin to a “previously on” recap of your favorite TV show that’s been on hiatus than an introduction to the New Testament. Mark is saying to his audience, “Listen, folks; this is too important for you to sit there. We have work to do, and it starts now.”
What strikes the hardest about this introduction to Mark's gospel? For me, verses 12 &13, “And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tested by Satan, and he was with the wild beasts, and the angels waited on him.”
For Mark’s first hearers, “the wilderness” wasn’t a nice little hike in the woods—it meant the harsh southland, the desert country (the Negev): a place of heat and exposure, scarce water, long stretches between safety, and real vulnerability to thirst, hunger, wild animals, and danger on the road. To be driven out there for forty days was to be pushed into the kind of place where you quickly learn how fragile you are—and that’s exactly where Satan tests Jesus.
This is the thing: even though Jesus was tested, God didn’t abandon him to it. The angels were observing Jesus, but they did not interfere. In Matthew 4, we get more details about this ordeal. Satan was sneaky; he just offered to let Jesus make himself comfortable and, by doing so, affirm the devil himself. And as soon as Jesus denies Satan, that’s when the angels appear.
Our Spiritual journey is not all sunshine and rainbows either. We may not see the devil face to face as Jesus did, but we will be tested and tempted. However, just like Jesus, we will never be alone. God is with us in every trial. God is looking for us to look for God in all things, good and bad. If we deny the temptation, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can be in a relationship with the Holy Spirit, a relationship with God. That sounds nice.
For the most part, I grew up in church. I heard the story of Christ; I heard good theology and bad theology. I listened and studied, and I decided to be baptized. I thought to myself, I like these people in the church; I like singing the songs; I enjoy studying the scriptures. Little did I know that being Christian is hard. No one told me that part.
The world is cruel to Christians because so many things are done in God’s name that are not of God. We get blamed for it because of “one bad apple…” Have you ever felt like sitting a little lower when you hear about a church leader breaking the law? Have you ever been with a grieving wife, son, or daughter and asked to justify how a loving God can let a good person suffer and die of a disease like cancer? I have, and it’s hard. Is this a temptation?
I can empathize with Jesus in the wilderness. I have never had Satan tempt me (that I know of), but I have been tempted. The worst part is that we are not perfect and don’t always end up on the right side of temptation. Be it that brownie or Ice cream before bed, or God forbid, something worse. But this is the Good News of Jesus Christ and our loving God. God is always with us, ready to hear our cry for help and our confession of sin, and prepared to forgive us so that we can be in a relationship with God. Are the angels waiting?
What is your wilderness? What has separated you from God? Do you feel overwhelmed? Do you feel like God is not there? Yeah? Well then, like Mark, I have good news for you. Jesus may have had the angels, but we have Jesus. And this should give us the most incredible peace. We call it a sabbath peace, or restful peace. I will say that, despite the challenges I have faced as a Christian, the sabbath peace I feel comes from knowing that God is with me no matter what, and that gives me an unimaginable sense of security.
The Bible is strange in so many ways—and one of the strangest, for a culture like ours, is how often Scripture calls God’s people to slow down. From the Sabbath built into creation and commanded for our good (Gen. 2:2–3; Ex. 20:8–11), to the psalms that say, “Be still” and “wait” before the Lord (Ps. 46:10; 37:7), to Jesus himself withdrawing to pray and telling the disciples, “Come away… and rest a while” (Mk. 1:35; 6:31). Finale example of many; God keeps inviting us out of hurry and into trust—choosing presence, like Mary at Jesus’ feet, overanxious striving (Lk. 10:38–42).
Yet, Mark talks faster than a street magician trying to convince you that he hasn’t just stolen your watch. That’s the beautiful thing about Mark: he is in a hurry to get to the good stuff. And the good stuff is the peace Jesus brings through the Holy Spirit. We could all be a little more like Mark. I encourage you to read Mark's gospel in full; it is not long, just 19 pages in my Bible, and I do not have a small-typeface Bible. I hope you do read it, and I hope you seek the peace that Mark is so eagerly trying to tell us about.
Is Mark’s authority and intent to speak on Jesus’ life and ministry legit? Yes, he seems to expect us to already know the Old Testament. He is rushed to get to the “good news” portion of the gospel. His urgency drives us to want to know this man, Jesus. And what of the wilderness? Does the wilderness await us as Christians? Yes, maybe not literally, and maybe not to the degree of Jesus’ encounter face-to-face with Satan. But we do have our challenges, our temptations, to deal with as we seek God’s will in our life. But remember you are not alone, The Spirit gives strength when you need it, and we can do all things through He who strengthens us (Paraphrase—Philippians 4:13).
Is Mark’s authority and intent to speak on Jesus’ life and ministry legit? Yes. He writes as someone who expects us to know the Old Testament, and he is in a hurry to get us to the “good news” itself. His urgency pulls us toward this man, Jesus, and the peace Jesus brings through the Holy Spirit.
And what of the wilderness? Does the wilderness await us as Christians? Yes—maybe not literally, and maybe not to the degree of Jesus’ face‑to‑face encounter with Satan. But we do have our own challenges, our own temptations, as we seek God’s will for our lives. The good news is that we are not alone in those places. The Spirit gives strength when we need it, and we can do all things through the One who strengthens us (paraphrase—Philippians 4:13).
So, when your wilderness comes—and it will—remember this: the Jesus who walked into the desert before you, walks with you still. I will leave you to contemplate this in your heart. AMEN.
Bibliography
Aland, B., Karavidopoulos, J., Martini, C. M., & Metzger, B. M. (Eds.). (2016). NOVUN TESTAMENTUM GRAECE (28th Edition ed.). Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft.
Kittle, G. (Ed.). (1967). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (1983 reprint ed., Vol. IV). (G. W. Bromiley, D. Litt., D.D., Trans.) Grand Rapids, Michigan: WM.B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
NRSV Updated Edition Holy Bible. (2021). Holy Bible With Deuterocanonical/Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament., Updated Edition. Washington, D.C., USA: Zondervan.
[1] The Greek word και (and) begins 410 of the 678 verses in Mark’s original language. The frequent use of kai (καί, “and”) contributes to a sense of urgency by creating a rapid, almost breathless narrative flow. Mark habitually links short clauses and scenes with kai—a paratactic “and… and… and…” style—rather than slowing the story with more complex sentence structures. This gives the effect of events tumbling one after another, matching his proclamation that “the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near” (Mark 1:15). The effect is intensified when kai is paired with euthys (“immediately”), as in kai euthys (“and immediately…”), which repeatedly portrays Jesus acting without delay and people responding at once. While kai itself simply means “and,” in Mark’s hands it functions as a stylistic device that keeps the narrative in constant motion and embodies the eschatological urgency of Jesus’ ministry.
