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Mark 1:1-31
Skip Heitzig

Mark 1 (NKJV™)
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in the Prophets: "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You."
3 "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.'"
4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
5 Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
6 Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
7 And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.
8 "I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
9 It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
10 And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.
11 Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
12 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.
13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.
14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."
16 And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
17 Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."
18 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
19 When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets.
20 And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.
21 Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught.
22 And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
23 Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out,
24 saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God!"
25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"
26 And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him.
27 Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."
28 And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.
29 Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.
30 But Simon's wife's mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once.
31 So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them.

New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

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41 Mark - 2013

The gospel of Mark is a fast-paced, action-packed read—a small package full of great things! In chapter 1, we encounter John, a messenger who prepared the way for and baptized Jesus. Jesus was immediately sent into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. He then began His ministry—gathering four fishermen as unlikely disciples, casting out an unclean spirit, and healing Peter's mother-in-law.

Jesus Christ--fully man, fully God. As we consider the gospel of Mark, we gain a greater understanding of the suffering Servant and His human emotions, His service, and His sacrifice.

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Study Guide

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Mark 1

PREVIEW: In Mark 1, Jesus began His ministry of preaching, teaching, and healing. Many were astonished, touched, and healed by Him.

The Forerunner of the Servant - Read Mark 1:1-8

1. Although there is no direct internal evidence of authorship, it was the unanimous testimony of the early church that this gospel was written by John Mark. Mark was a close associate of the Apostle Peter, from whom he received the tradition of things said and done by the Lord. Mark accurately preserved this material in his book. Mark begins with the words, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” What does the word gospel mean? Who is the gospel about (v. 1)?



2. Mark quotes only two prophecies in his entire gospel: Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3. Both of these refer to whom (vv.2-3)?



3. What was the mission and message of the one “who will prepare Your way before You," and “the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight’”(v. 4)?



4. What three things did those in “all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem” do (v. 5)?

5. How does Mark describe John’s clothing and diet (v. 6)? (See also Matthew 3:4.)



6. As he preached his message of repentance, what was John’s attitude toward the One who comes after him (v. 7)?



7. In Luke 7, Jesus praised two men: the Roman Centurion (see Luke 7:9) and John the Baptist (see Luke 7:28). How was the Roman Centurion’s attitude towards Jesus the same as John’s? (Compare Mark 1:7 with Luke 7:7.)



8. What attitude should we have toward the One who is written of in Mark’s gospel? (See Philippians 2:5-11, Matthew 23:12, 1 Peter 5:6, and James 4:10.)



9. John said that his baptism was one of water. What would the One after him baptize with (v. 8)? (See also John 20:22, Acts 2:4, and 1 Corinthians 12:13.)





The Baptism of the Servant - Read Mark 1:9-11


10. Jesus came to be baptized by John, not for the remission of sin (Jesus was sinless [see Hebrews 4:15, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 John 3:5]) but to be identified with us sinful men and women, and to submit Himself to the Father by His death. (See Mark 8:31 and Philippians 2:8.) What was John’s initial attitude about baptizing Jesus? (See Matthew 3:13-15.)


11. What did Jesus see and hear immediately after being baptized by John (vv. 10-11)? (See also Luke 3:21-22.)



The Temptation of the Servant - Read Mark 1:12-13

12. The words immediately and straightway are frequently used by Mark as he recounts the gospel of Jesus Christ. To where and by whom was Jesus driven immediately after being baptized by John (v. 12)?



13. Why was Jesus driven to this place (v. 13)? (See also Matthew 4:1 and Luke 4:2.)



14. How long was Jesus in this place? Who was with Him (v. 13)?


The Work of the Servant - Read Mark 1:14-15
15. When Jesus came to Galiliee, what did He preach (v. 14)? (See also Matthew 24:14 and Luke 4:43 and 8:1.)


16. In addition to preaching, what was Jesus’ threefold ministry? (See Matthew 9:35.)


17. Compare what Jesus preached (v. 15) to what John preached (v. 4). How is their message similar? How is it different?



The First Disciples are Called - Read Mark 1:16-20

18. As Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers: Simon, called Peter, and Andrew. What did He say to them? What was their response (vv. 16-18)?


19. James and John were mending nets when Jesus called them. What was their response? What did they leave (vv. 19-20)?


20. Think about Jesus’ calling of these four disciples. How are His words a key to becoming what Jesus calls you to (v. 17)?


Demons are Cast Out - Read Mark 1:21-28

21. Synagogues were not the temple; they were not a place to offer sacrifices, but rather they were a place of study, worship, and prayer. They were not overseen by the priests but by a council of elders who elected a ruler. When a rabbi would come into the area, the ruler of the synagogue would invite him to come and speak on the Sabbath day. In the book of Acts, Paul often took advantage of this and here Jesus does as well. How was Jesus’ teaching different from what those who attended the synagogue were accustomed to hearing (vv. 21-22)? (See also Matthew 7:28-29 and John 7:46.)



22. What did the man with the unclean spirit proclaim about Jesus (v. 24)? What was that unclean spirit concerned about (v. 24)? (See also 1 John 3:8.)


23. Jesus rebuked and exorcised the unclean spirit from the man (vv. 25-26). How did those who witnessed this event respond (vv. 27-28)?


24. Evil and unclean spirits who occupy human hosts often recognize Jesus’ authority and obey His commands (v. 26; see also Matthew 8:29, Mark 3:11 and 5:7, and Luke 4:41). Why is it that we have such a difficult time obeying His commands? (See Luke 6:46-49.)


Peter’s Mother-in-Law is Healed - Read Mark 1:29-31

25. After teaching with authority in the synagogue, Jesus accompanied Peter to his house. Peter was married (see 1 Corinthians 9:5) and his wife’s mother was lying sick with a fever in Peter’s house. What did Jesus do to and for her (v. 31)?



26. How did Peter’s mother-in-law respond to what Jesus did to and for her (v. 31)? How should we respond to Jesus?



Many Healings - Read Mark 1:32-39

27. After Jesus taught in the synagogue and spent time at Peter’s house, what time of day does Mark say it was when Jesus began healing many (v. 32)?



28. How many people came to Jesus for healing at this time of day (vv. 33-34)? How much time do you think Jesus spent healing these people?



29. What time of day was it was when Jesus rose and left the house (v. 35)? How much sleep do you think Jesus got that night? Where did Jesus go and what was He going to do (v. 35)?
30. How much more important do you think what Jesus arose and departed to do was to Him than His sleep? How important should this activity be to us? (See Acts 12:5, 1 Thessalonians 5:17, and 1 John 5:14-15.)





31. Simon Peter and those who were with him searched for Jesus. When they found Him, what did they tell Him (vv. 36-37)? What was Jesus' response to them (v. 38)?




A Leper is Cleansed - Read Mark 1:40-45

32. When leprosy appears in the Bible, it is always a type or model of sin. What physical actions did this leper take when he approached Jesus (v. 40)? (See also Matthew 8:1-4 and Luke 5:12.)




33. The rabbis strongly believed that leprosy was a direct judgment from God. In fact, the word leprosy means smitten. Lepers were excluded from the community and were required to cry, “Unclean! Unclean!” as others approached them (see Leviticus 13:45-46). What did Jesus do to the leper (v. 41)?



34. What did Jesus say to the leper (v. 41)?



35. What did Jesus do for the leper (v. 42)?



36. Jesus strictly warned and instructed the leper to go and show himself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded (vv. 43-44). What was that gift? (See Leviticus 14:3-20.)



37. It is likely that this priest had never seen anyone cleansed of leprosy. What did Jesus say the gift Moses commanded was for (v. 44)?



38. Although Jesus strictly warned the leper and told him to say nothing to anyone, what did the leper do (v.45)? What was the result of the leper’s disobedience to Jesus’ instruction and strict warning (v. 45)?



Detailed Notes

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  1. Introduction
    1. Grow and become strong in your faith
      1. That's why we go through the Bible "precept upon precept, line upon line" (see Isaiah 28:10, 13)
      2. Nehemiah and Ezra read from the law and then gave the sense (see Nehemiah 8:8)
      3. Verse by verse, chapter by chapter
    2. Great things come in small packages
      1. iPhone
      2. Gospel of Mark
        1. Shortest of the gospels
        2. Most rapid reading
        3. Covers a lot of ground
    3. There are four gospels
      1. Four viewpoints of the same story
      2. Holy Spirit blends in harmony the four gospels
        1. A string quartet
        2. A film with four cameras from four different angles
      3. Matthew
        1. Speaks of Jesus being the King of the Jews; sovereign
        2. Talks about what the prophets said
        3. Common phrase: "So that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet" (see Matthew 1:22, 2:15, 2:17, 2:23, 4:14, 8:17, 12:17, 13:35, 21:4, 26:56, 27:9, 27:35)
      4. Mark
        1. Left out a lot of the predictions found in Matthew
        2. Portrayed Jesus as the servant
        3. Wrote for a Roman audience
        4. Told what Jesus did
          1. Repeated words: and, now, immediately, did
          2. Action-packed, hyper-drive
        5. Not an apostle
          1. He was probably born 10-15 years after Jesus was born
          2. Probably in his late teens when all the key events in the gospels were happening
          3. Many scholars believe that Mark was that un-named young man who streaked out of the garden (see Mark 14:51-52)
          4. Believed to be the writer of the testimony of the apostle Peter
            1. Peter led Mark to Christ
            2. Discipled him in Christ
            3. Told Mark the story from his perspective
            4. Papias of Hierapolis, Clement of Alexandria, Eusebius of Caesarea, Justin Martyr—all early-church historians who mentioned Peter as the one who discipled Mark
            5. Peter refers to Mark as his son (see 1 Peter 5:13)
        6. Goes by two names
          1. His Hebrew name—first name, was John
          2. He's called John Mark (see Acts 12:12, 25)
          3. Hebrew name Yhanan
          4. Latin name Marcus
        7. The early church gathered at his mother's house
          1. Probably a large house; probably wealthy
          2. Great story in Acts 12 of when Peter was in jail; the early church was in John Mark's mom's house
        8. He was the cousin of Barnabas—a key leader in the church (see Colossians 4:10)
          1. Barnabas was the traveling companion of Paul the apostle in the early stages of the church
          2. They took John Mark with them (see Acts 12:25)
          3. He was on that first missionary trip (see Acts 13)
          4. Something happened mid-journey to cause Mark to leave Paul and Barnabas (see Acts 15:36-39)
          5. Paul and Barnabas had a conflict and split ways
          6. Barnabas gave John Mark a second chance
          7. Mark eventually went to Rome where Peter was and wrote the words of the gospel of Mark
          8. Paul and John Mark did reconcile (see 2 Timothy 4:11)
  2. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God
    1. He begins with Jesus
    2. The word gospel comes from the Anglo-Saxon word godspell
      1. It is originally based on the Greek word euaggelion which means great news
      2. Good news—many don't see Christianity as good news
        1. Perhaps due to the representatives of the good news
        2. Wear robes, itch a lot, and have bad breath
        3. There was an era in church history when the gloomier you looked, the more spiritual you were thought to be
        4. Mark Twain went to church but wasn't usually happy about it
        5. This is good news! When you share it, make sure you show that
        6. Skip found out that not everyone thought it was good news when he tried to share the gospel with his old friends
    3. "I will send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You" (v. 2); this is a quote from Malachi 3
    4. "Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight" (v. 3)
      1. This is a quote from Isaiah 4:2
      2. All the gospel writers include this quote
      3. The fulfillment of that prediction is Jesus Christ
    5. John the Baptist
      1. Clergy asked him many questions (John 1)
        1. Who are you?
        2. John said, "I am the voice crying in the wilderness" (v. 23)
        3. He could have bragged
          1. John was from the priestly family of Zacharias
          2. Messiah said he was the greatest person ever born (see Matthew 11:11)
          3. He was filled with the Holy Spirit from birth
        4. He was just the voice
      2. He ate locusts and wild honey and wore camel hair
        1. Like the early days of the hippies
          1. Robes and wild hair
          2. He wore camel hair
          3. He reminded people of Elijah (see 2 Kings 1:8)
        2. He probably took a Nazirite vow (see Numbers 6)
          1. Grew his hair—a sign of commitment to the Lord
          2. Didn't touch dead bodies
          3. Didn't drink wine
          4. John didn't want anything to hinder him being the very best voice he could be
        3. Locusts were kosher
          1. Cultures all over the world consider them a delicacy
          2. Skip has never been tempted to eat them even at his hungriest
          3. They were prepared in a number of ways
          4. Not everyone believes that these locusts are bugs
        4. Wild honey, probably extracted from dates, not bee honey
      3. "Whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose" (v. 7)
        1. A servants job
        2. When compared to Christ he was not worthy to be a household slave
        3. Jesus' cousin
        4. His humbleness and his bragging on his cousin adds credibility to his testimony
    6. Baptism
      1. Jewish, not of Christian origin
      2. Gentiles who wanted to convert to Judaism had to do three things
        1. Learn the law
        2. Circumcision
        3. Ritually purified—immersed in water
      3. At the time of Jesus and still today there are carved out pools of water
        1. Mikve: Collection of water for ceremonial cleansing
        2. Mikva'ot (plural)
        3. Defiled in any way, you had to be baptized—water purification
        4. You would do it yourself, for yourself
      4. John was baptizing Jews
        1. This was shocking
        2. Symbolized a heart-change identified as repentance
        3. To prepare their hearts for the Messiah
        4. Called the baptism of John
      5. This baptism was widely known—it spread
        1. Apollos knew of the baptism of John (see Acts 18:25)
        2. Aquilla and Priscilla instructed Apollos (see Acts 18:26)
        3. Paul goes to Ephesus and teaches and then baptizes again in the name of Jesus (see Acts 19:1-6)
      6. Jesus was baptized
        1. Jesus grew up in Nazareth
          1. It wasn't much, but it had a view
          2. Valley of Jezreel—Valley of Armageddon (see Revelation 16:16)
          3. Jesus grew up with that view
        2. Voice from heaven
          1. All three members of the Godhead were present at Jesus' baptism
          2. John saw the dove—the fulfillment of prophecy (see Isaiah 11:1-2)
          3. All three members are also part of your salvation
            1. You receive Jesus into your heart
            2. It was God who sent Him to die for you (see John 3:16)
            3. Jesus said that He would send the Holy Spirit (see John 16:8)
      7. Jesus
        1. Driven into the desert
        2. The New Testament refers to the devil about 72 times
          1. As a person
          2. Not a force or principle
          3. The Holy Spirit is called "He, Him"
          4. The devil is called "he, him"
          5. Heaven was open, you can be sure that hell was open also
          6. Every act of God—every act of man toward God will incite a reaction from Satan
          7. The closer you get to God, the more riled up the forces of darkness will become
          8. "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world" (see 1 John 4:4)
      8. Jesus was tempted after the baptism—after the spiritual blessing
        1. As soon as Israel was delivered from Egypt, Pharaoh came after them (see Exodus 14)
        2. As soon as Hezekiah celebrated the Passover, Sennacherib encircled Jerusalem (see 2 Chronicles 30-32)
        3. As soon as the apostles saw the glorious vision of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, they were met at the bottom of the mountain by a demon-possessed kid (see Matthew 17:1-21, Mark 9:2-29, and Luke 9:28-42)
        4. J.C. Ryle said, "Nowhere is the devil so active as in a congregation of gospel-hearers"
        5. You go to church, the Lord speaks to you, you leave blessed, you get out on the road
      9. John was put in prison because he accused Herod Antipas of marrying his niece—against Jewish law
        1. Most commentators say that John's arrest marked a change in Jesus' ministry
        2. "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30)
        3. Once John is imprisoned, Jesus' ministry really takes off
      10. Jesus went to Galilee
        1. Isaiah predicted it (see Isaiah 9:1-2)
        2. Sea of Galilee is really a lake
          1. 13 miles long
          2. eight miles wide
          3. Shaped like a harp
          4. Known by other names
            1. Sea of Gennesaret
            2. Sea of Tiberias
            3. Lake Kinneret from the word Hebrew word for harp
      11. Jesus calls
        1. Andrew and Peter
          1. Fishermen
          2. Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist
          3. Possibly Peter was a disciple of John the Baptist
        2. James and John
        3. They fished for men's souls on a great adventure
        4. Peter stood up on Pentecost and saw 3000 souls saved (see Acts 2)
        5. John was a pastor in Ephesus
        6. John would get a vision of the end times—the book of Revelation
      12. A demon-possessed man in the synagogue
        1. Not everyone in church is saved
        2. Filled with many demons
        3. Jesus told him, "Be quiet!"
      13. The synagogue
        1. A New Testament development
        2. The word synagogue means to gather together
        3. They could no longer practice the ceremonies in the temple, so the synagogue evolved
        4. They gathered to discuss the law
        5. Many people ran the synagogue
          1. The hazzan—the minister of the synagogue kept the scrolls, trimmed the lamps, and swept
          2. The ruler of the synagogue would plan the services; Jairus was the ruler at this synagogue, the one who had the daughter who died (see Mark 5:35-43)
          3. Elders of the synagogue, sat at the front, the principled men of the community
          4. Special attendant of the synagogue called the attendant of the congregation who would read the scroll and give an explanation; Jesus was the attendant of the congregation here
          5. The interpreter was next to the attendant; the scriptures were written in Hebrew
          6. Two or three almoners took the offering for the poor and distributed it in the community
        6. What it was like
          1. The hazzan sang a prayer called Shema Yisrael, or Hear O Israel
          2. Everyone said, "Amen"
          3. The attendant would then stand, read from the scroll, explain it, close it
          4. Some other activities
          5. At the end was a benediction; hands raised, facing Jerusalem
        7. Simon and Andrew
          1. From Bethsaida
          2. They moved to Capernaum when Jesus moved there
          3. Simon (the first pope) had a mother-in-law—he was married
          4. Peter allowed his mother-in-law to live with him and he took care of her


Hebrew terms: יוֹחָנָן; Yochanan, Johanan, masculine name; מקואות; Mikva'ot, pools of water; מקווה ; mikve, pool of water; כִּנּוֹר; kinnor, lyre (harp)
Greek terms: Μάρκος; Markos, Marcus, masculine noun; εὐαγγέλιον; euaggelion, the good news, the gospel; συναγωγή; sunagógé, an assembly, congregation, synagogue
Figures referenced: Papias of Hierapolis, Clement of Alexandria, Eusebius of Caesarea, Justin Martyr, Mark Twain, J.C. Ryle
Cross references: Exodus 14, Numbers 6, 2 Kings 1:8, 2 Chronicles 30-32, Nehemiah 8:8, Isaiah 4:2, Isaiah 9:1-2, Isaiah 11:1-2, Isaiah 28:10, 13, Malachi 3, Matthew 1:22, Matthew 2:15, Matthew 2:17, Matthew 2:23, Matthew 4:14, Matthew 8:17, Matthew 11:11, Matthew 12:17, Matthew 13:35, Matthew 17:1-21, Matthew 21:4, Matthew 26:56, Matthew 27:9, Matthew 27:35, Mark 5:35-43, Mark 9:2-29, Mark 14:51-52, Luke 9:28-42, John 1, John 3:16, 30, John 16:8, Acts 2, Acts 12, Acts 13, Acts 15:36-39, Acts 18:25-26, Acts 19:1-6, Colossians 4:10, 2 Timothy 4:11, 1 Peter 5:13, 1 John 4:4, Revelation 16:16

Transcript

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Introduction: Welcome to Expound our weekly worship and verse by verse study of the Bible. Our goal is to expand your knowledge of the truth of God as we explore the Word of God in a way that is interactive, enjoyable, and congregational.

Skip Heitzig: Let's pray. Father, thank you for hungry hearts, and thank you for good food. Thank you for truth. Thank you for the words of the living God, inspired by God, carried along by the Holy Spirit, not by the whim of men, though you certainly use the personalities of these gospel writers, prophets. We have the benefit, Lord, of gleaning from the truth week by week; it's a precious treasure. And because we have been given so much, to whom much is given, much shall be required.

So I'm thankful for not only people who come out to hear, but those who then are involved in spreading the principles by training and discipling others and getting involved in some sort of body ministry. We pray that your Holy Spirit would convict, apply, inform, teach; in short—transform.

You know what we're thinking. You know how low we've been this week, or how high we've been this week. We know what we want, you know what we need, and that's where we rest as we open the Book. We ask for your blessing now, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.

Great things come in small packages. I have this little gadget that was unimaginable just a few years ago. Now, this is my iPhone, and with this little gadget I can check the weather anywhere in the world. I can get online and listen to music. I can search the Internet. I can listen to messages of sermons, which I do quite frequently, or I can even go to people's churches if they do live streaming or archive by using this little device and watching messaging online. It's amazing; it's so small.

If you remember just a few years ago mobile phones were, like, this big. I would love to have one of those now just because it's like a collector's item; it's like an antique. Unheard of—that small, small package—great things. Oh, by the way, it's also a telephone, but that's beside the point.

Great things come in small packages. The gospel of Mark is a small package that offers great things. It is the shortest of the gospels; thus, the smallest of the gospels. It's the most rapid reading of the gospels. He covers a lot of ground in just a short period of time.

A reminder that we have four gospels for very important reasons. The four gospels give us four different viewpoints of the same story. I know there's a lot of discussion and debate, and it'd be fun to get into the discussion, but because of time—we just don't have the time, and you can chase it down on your own.

I've read lots of information, especially regarding the gospel of Mark and where it fits in the canon, and why some people think it's the earliest, and that others copied him; lots of nonsense that is easily disproved.

But basically the Holy Spirit like, like a quartet, a string quartet set up Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. A string quartet I'm told has a cello, two violins, and a viola. Very distinct sounds, very distinct notes, but all blended in harmony together. And so Matthew writes for his perspective, Mark, Luke, and John from their perspectives. They tell the story, but from just a slightly different angle.

Or, if you will, the Holy Spirit is like the producer of a film, and he sets up four cameras all at different angles, all to reveal how the crowd reacts, or what the main character says. While another one will leave out a certain portion of what the main character says and be panning what the enemies are thinking at that time, they're all relating different elements.

So Matthew speaks about Jesus as the sovereign, the King of the Jews; hence, all of the references in Matthew's gospel to what the prophet said, what the Old Testament writers wrote. His common phrase: "So that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet." He uses that phrase a lot in Matthew.

Mark, on the other hand, leaves out, not all, but quite a bit of those Old Testament predictions that would prove that Jesus is the fulfillment. Because unlike Matthew who wants to speak of Jesus as the sovereign, the King of the Jews, Mark wants to portray Jesus as the servant. So Mark is writing for a Roman audience and wants to show in rapid succession what Jesus did, not so much what Jesus said.

Matthew focuses on what Jesus said. He covers the three great discourses—the Sermon on the Mount, the Olivet Discourse, the kingdom parables in great detail. Not Mark, he'll tip his hat to them, but not in the detail. He's more interested not in what Jesus said, but what Jesus did.

So there are words that are repeated that show this, that demonstrate this. The little conjunction "and," the little adverb "now" are used in the gospel of Mark 1,331 times: this happened and, and, now, now. Also, the word "immediately." Immediately he did this, and he did that, now he did this, immediately he went there. You see, you read just the first chapter and you're going, pant, pant, pant, just because of this action-packed, hyperdrive gospel of Mark.

Mark was not an apostle. In fact, Mark was probably born ten—more like fifteen years after Jesus Christ was born; thus, Mark was probably in his late teens when all the key events in the gospels were happening. Many scholars believe that Mark was that unnamed young man in the garden of Gethsemane mentioned in Mark, chapter 14. The unnamed man who fled from the garden naked when somebody grabbed his robe. And they took his robe, that's all he had on, so he just streaked out of the garden and went home. Very unusual evening that was. Most people think that that was Mark in that story.

It is believed that though Mark wrote this book, it is largely the testimony of the apostle Peter who told it to Mark, because Mark wasn't an apostle, wasn't there, was in his late teens when these things were happening, maybe was in the garden. Yes, the early church met in his mother's house in Jerusalem, but that it was Peter who led him to Christ, discipled him in Christ, and then told him the story from Peter's perspective.

And I believe that to be true simply because the majority of early church historians bear that out. Papias of Heirapolis, Clement of Alexandria, Eusebius of Caesarea, Justin Martyr—all those early church biographers and historians mention that Peter was the one who discipled Mark, John Mark. That's why in Peter, in the book of Peter, he refers to Mark as "my son Mark." "My son"—his spiritual son, probably was the one who led him to Christ.

Now, there are two names he goes by. His first name, his Hebrew name wasn't Mark, it was John. He's called John Mark in Acts, chapter 12. John, Yochanan, would be his Hebrew name; Markos, Marcus, would be his Latin name. So, he went by Mark. As I mentioned, it was his mother's house in Acts, chapter 12, where the early church gathered together. After they met in the upper room, they were now meeting in her house. Evidently she had a large home, she was probably wealthy.

And so the early church was gathered and there is a great story in Acts 12 when Peter is in jail. The early church is meeting in John Mark's mom's house and they're praying fervently that Peter will get sprung out of jail. Could you hear them? "Father in heaven, you can do anything. Nothing's too hard for thee. We pray that you would release Peter and don't let him get killed. That's what, that's what they said they're going to do. Pilate said he's going to kill him. Herod said he's going to kill him. Release him."

Well, while they're having their prayer meeting, there's a knock at the door, and a young servant girl named Rhoda— So, John Mark's mother had a servant girl; hence again, she was probably a wealthy lady. The servant girl answered the door; it was Peter who got sprung from jail. An angel was dispatched, miraculously brought him out. So they're praying for his release, he's knocking at the door. "I'm here." Rhoda left him outside and closed the door, which would be dangerous for Peter. He's now an escaped criminal.

She closed the door, goes inside to the prayer meeting where all these holy men and women are gathered, and says, "Hey, you wouldn't believe who's at the door. The very guy we've been praying for, Peter; he's at the door." And they turn around and go, "Oh, you're crazy. You're seeing his ghost. It can't be him." Peter kept standing out there knocking and knocking till finally they let him in. So filled with faith at that prayer meeting at the house of John Mark's mother.

Further information: according to Colossians chapter 4verse 10, John Mark was the cousin of Barnabas. Barnabas is a very, very key leader in the early church in the book of Acts. It was Barnabas who was the traveling companion of Paul the apostle in the earlier stages. And so on their first missionary journey when they left Antioch in Syria and they went to Cyprus, it says in Acts 13 they took with them John Mark as their assistant. So he got to be with Paul in the very first missionary journey.

But whatever happened caused John Mark to midjourney decide: "I don't want to be a missionary anymore." So once they left the island of Cyprus and went to Perga in Pamphylia up on the Turkish coastline, he decided: "See you guys, I'm heading back to Jerusalem." So he goes back to mama.

This didn't sit well with Paul the apostle, because on their second missionary journey when they're preparing and Paul says," Let's go back over the same area and minister to those people." Barnabas says "Great idea. Let's get John Mark." Paul goes, "Won't have him. Don't want him. He flaked out on the first missionary journey—I'm done." So an argument developed between cousin Barnabas and Paul concerning John Mark. It became such a heated discussion between them they didn't see eye to eye. The disagreement was so marked that they had to split company.

Paul took Silas and went on his second journey. It says, "Barnabas and John Mark went to Cyprus," the very place where they first went. Thank God for Barnabas, by the way. Thank God for Paul, but thank God for Barnabas the encourager who would come alongside and say, "John Mark, it's not over yet. There's still more ministry for you to do. And indeed there was, because eventually he goes to Rome where Peter is.

Peter wrote from Rome his epistle, and there in Rome he was able to hear the words of Peter and write down the gospel in this gospel of Mark. And just in case you're wondering, yes, Paul the apostle and John Mark eventually reconciled. Because toward the end of his life he writes to Timothy and says, "And bring John Mark as well, he is useful to me in the ministry." And he even recommended him to churches to whom he was sending them.

So verse 1, "The beginning," writes Mark, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." Notice how different the beginning is for Mark. He leaves out the genealogies that Matthew includes and that Luke includes. He doesn't begin way back in time past, in prehistory, in eternity past like John begins his gospel when he said, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." He just says, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ."

We take it for granted, but the word gospel, our word, comes from the Anglo-Saxon word godspel. It is originally based upon the Greek word euaggélion, which means great news, good tidings. So the gospel is good news. "The beginning of the gospel [the good news] of Jesus Christ, the Son of God."

Unfortunately, many people do not see Christianity as good news; they see it as bad news. And I think that's largely because not of the gospel itself, nor of the Lord of the gospel, but because of the representatives of the gospel. It has been pictured, portrayed as restrictive and no fun and harsh. You know, you're going to wear like robes and stuff, and you're going to itch a lot, have bad breath because you fast all day. They don't see good news in that.

Partly they're correct. Do you know in church history there was a period, that was an era, there was a time when the gloomier you looked, the holier you were thought to be, the more spiritual you were thought to be. So clergy wore black. You wear a black robe, you wore black clothes. So you look at that and you think, "Okay, you are either in the ministry, or you're a funeral director; I don't know which." The idea of joy, fulfillment, can get lost in the representation of the gospel, even though the gospel is good news.

Mark Twain who was so good with words and ideas did go to church, though he usually wasn't happy going there. Once he wrote in his journal: "I went to church and I'm not depressed!" exclamation point. As if that's a first. This is good news, folks. And when you share it, if you share it, share it like it is good news.

I remember when I, when I first picked up on the idea that the gospel wasn't good news to a whole a lot of people, is when I first started sharing what happened to me. And I remember going back to my old friends and saying, "I've become a Christian." And one of them said, "Oh, I'm so sorry." It's like I announced somebody died that was close to me. "I'm so sorry to hear that." And I said," Well, I'm not sorry."

"The beginning of the gospel . . . As it is written in the prophets: 'Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.' " Now, that is a quote from the third chapter of the book of Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament. Verse 3, " 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight." ' "

That's a quote out of Isaiah chapter 40 verse 2. All the gospel writers Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—all of them interestingly include Isaiah's quote, Isaiah's prediction, and the fulfillment of that prediction is in Jesus Christ. "The voice of one crying in the wilderness."

John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. I love the way John includes this and introduces John the Baptist. He adds a little more of the narrative. In John, chapter 1, while John the Baptist is baptizing down at the Jordan River people came to him especially from Jerusalem, the bigwigs, the priests, the clergymen, and they ask him a litany of questions: "Are you the Christ?" He said, "Nope, I'm not the Christ." "Are you Elijah?" "Nope, not Elijah." "Are you that Prophet?" Probably referring to the prediction Moses made in Deuteronomy 18 of the Prophet who was coming. He said, "Nope, I'm not that Prophet."

So then they said," Okay, so now we know what you're not. Who are you?" And John said, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the ways of the Lord." I love that. "Who are you?" "I'm just a voice." He didn't say, "I am John from the priestly family of Zacharias who serves in the Holy Spirit temple in Jerusalem." He could have said that. That was true. That could have been an impressive business card.

He could have said "I'm the one whom the Messiah said is the greatest person who was ever born. The greatest man who ever lived; that's who I am. I'm the kid who was filled with the Holy Spirit from the day was born; that's who I am." He says "I'm just a voice. I'm not the message, I'm just the messenger. I'm not the Word, I'm just the voice." Remember how John began? "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God . . . and the Word became flesh." "I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness. He's the Word, I'm just the voice. I'm just a road worker for Christ, 'prepare the way of the Lord,' make a highway for the Messiah."

"Then all the land of Judea," verse 5, "and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey." How would you like to have him over for supper?

Wild looking guy—actually, I read his description, sounds like a lot, a lot of the people in the early days of the Calvary Chapel Movement [laughter] —honestly! Wild looking, long-haired, bearded, robed, full-on the real meal deal hippies. You know, I was sort of like a wannabe, poser hippy, because I was like a little younger than that. But it's, like, what place is this? I think John the Baptist would have said, "Dude, my tribe! I'm here. I'm home." [laughter]

His clothing is interesting. It's the clothing of the desert. Desert dwellers wore coarser kind of clothes. Interesting thing about wearing camel skin, it would keep the heat out in the summer; it would certainly keep the cold out and the rain in the winter. It's an unclean animal. The Jews were forbidden to eat it. Now, I'd never have a problem with that commandment, it's like, "Okay, I didn't plan on ever eating a camel anyway, but thanks for that." But it was okay to use their hides certainly as a Jewish guy for the protection of the elements as he did.

What makes John a colorful character is that he did remind people of Elijah. "Are you Elijah?" they asked, because Elijah the Tishbite dressed very similar to John the Baptist. In 2 Kings, chapter 1, Elijah the Tishbite is describe as somebody wearing a leather belt around his waist and a hairy man. He's a hairy man wearing a leather belt. John the Baptist was a hairy man with a camel skin and a leather belt.

He probably took a Nazarite vow. Now, if you go, "Well, I don't know what a Nazarite vow is." You will when we get to the book of Numbers in the next book. Numbers, chapter 6, describes people who want to take the vow of a Nazarite, and all it was, was a vow of dedication. If you're a man and you want to take a Nazarite vow in those days, the idea is you let your hair completely grow. You're not going to like get poofed up and groomed and slick it back and do all—you're just going to—

It's a sign of commitment to the Lord: long hair, you can't touch dead bodies or any object that would defile you ceremonially, and you couldn't drink wine or eat anything that is associated with the fruit of the vine—that was the Nazarite vow. John felt like he was called to live this kind of a life, an uncontaminated life. He didn't want anything to hinder his ability to be the very best forerunner, the very best voice in the wilderness that he could be.

His diet is also strange. Locusts? Did you know locusts were kosher? Of course you knew that, because you were with us in our study of the book of Leviticus, chapter 11, it describes the things that you can't eat, the things that you can eat. One of the things that you can eat are locusts; they're suitable for food.

Now, the question arises: Who would want to eat a locust? Well, look at this: these are pictures from different cultures in the world who still to this day find them scrumptious, a delicacy. I've been in places where I've seen these things, like, this little skewer of locusts. Never once was tempted, even in my hungriest moments.

Locusts in ancient times were prepared a number of different ways. Often times they would take the bugs and just smash them like with a rock or hammer, and then mix the ground-up locusts in with flour, and bake them into little cakes like crab cakes. You have little locust cakes. Now, I know that sounds gross, but have you ever looked at a crab before? You've looked at crab meat. Have you ever looked at a crab? They just kind of look like an ocean locust. I mean, they don't look really appetizing. Now they are appetizing, and once you get passed how they look, and you eat crab, it's really good. It could be that way with locust, but I'm not prepared to find out and take the same risk that I've taken with crab.

Other times they would boil them. Other times they would roast them. Other times they would sauté them in butter. Mmm, scrumptious. The ancient Assyrians even figured out a way to prepare them and preserve them so you could take it with you as pocket food, and eat it during the day or days later. So, that would bug me, but obviously [laughter] it didn't bother them.

Now, I do feel inclined to tell you that not everybody believes that locusts were bugs. There are some who believe that the locusts that are mentioned here that John the Baptist ate is the carob pod. Have you ever seen a carob tree? The brown carob pod that taste sort of like chocolate, and that it was referred to as wild locust or locust of the desert. And it's found in different parts of the land of Israel, and some believe that that's kind of locusts that he ate—not sure, don't care. Wild honey is honey extracted probably from the dates rather than from flowers, though it could be either-or.

Verse 7, here's John preaching, "And he preached, saying, 'There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.' " What does that mean? To take off a sandal was the job of the lowest servant in the household. Here's the man of whom Jesus said was the greatest man ever born. Here's the man who was filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb. Here is the forerunner predicted by Malachi and Isaiah. And he says, "But when I compare myself to Christ, the Messiah," who incidentally was his cousin. Jesus was John's cousin. "I'm not even worthy to be a household slave to him."

Now to me that adds credibility to the messiahship of Jesus and the testimony of John the Baptist. Because I don't know many people who would say, "You know, my cousin is the Messiah. My cousin is, like, God in human flesh." People would go, "Uh, have you met my cousin? Not even close—wacky, weird."

But the fact that somebody this close who knew him so well, who would have grown up with him, especially during the festivals been with him, for him to make that kind of a statement. And he made very powerful statements like, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," adds to the credibility of the story.

"Whose sandal strap I'm not worthy to stoop down and loose. I indeed baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." Now you have to understand something, that baptism is not Christian in its origin. It wasn't a Christian—Jesus didn't come along and go, "I got a good idea; I'm going to baptize people." John didn't also come up with that; it predated John. It was part of Judaism in ancient times.

When somebody who was Gentile wanted to convert and become Jewish, there were three things he had to do. Number one, he had to undergo the instruction of a scribe; he had to be taught the Law. Number two, circumcision; if he was a male he had to be circumcised. And number three, he had to be immersed in water, ritually purified, immersed in water, or baptized.

So there were at the time of Jesus, and if you ever come with us to Jerusalem I can point them out to you, they're all over. There's these little carved-out pools in the rock, and the singular is a mikveh/miqveh, the plural is a mikva'ot/miqva'ot; we would say mikvehs/miqvehs, but it's mikva'ot. A mikveh means a collection of water, it's a little pool.

Now, you remember from Leviticus that if you became defiled, if you touched something and you were defiled, or if you had a bloody flux, or if you had been a leopard and then pronounced—a leopard [laughter]—a leper and then pronounced clean by the priest after he waited seven days, you would also have to go in this ritual bath called a mikveh, a baptism, you were to get baptized. So the mikveh was for ritual purification.

So, a baptism, Jewish baptism in the mikveh, water purification, you would do it yourself for yourself if you were going to go into the temple and worship, or if you needed to be ritually purified; or number two, if you were a Gentile converting to Judaism. Make sense?

That's why what John is doing was shocking to people. He's not baptizing Gentiles , he's baptizing whom? Jews. Jews don't get baptized to convert to anything, they're already converted. But this was very different, this was a symbol of a heart change that he identifies as repentance. "Repent and be baptized." "Repent and believe the gospel," it says in another place. And then they would get baptized. So it was to be immersed to prepare their hearts for the Messiah; this is called the baptism of John.

Now, the reason I'm going through this is because evidently this whole baptism of John thing wasn't just this little blip on the radar screen, and then it went away; this thing had legs. By the time Paul the apostle goes to Ephesus many years later, and then he establishes a church and he leaves, there's a guy from Alexandria who is in Ephesus, his name is Apollos. Remember him? Ever heard his name—Apollos? Anybody? Yeah, okay, this means raise your hand typically. [laughter] Okay, because I just thought, "Man, now I'm going to have to go like way back." Genesis, chapter 1 . . . [laughter]

"Apollos," it says, "spoke the Word of God accurately, though he only knew the baptism of John." There was a couple named Aquila and Priscilla who were there, who took him aside after his great little sermon on the baptism of John, and explained the way more accurately. Things like: "Dude, did you know that John was speaking of a guy name Jesus who came. He was the forerunner of Jesus who came, who died, who rose again." And then he understood the fullness of the gospel.

In very next chapter, chapter 19, Paul goes to Ephesus and he asked the church something. He asked those people who had heard Apollos' messages, "Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?" And they looked at each other and they looked at him and they said, "Uh, we haven't even heard of the Holy Spirit." And so Paul said, "Into what baptism then were you baptized?" They said, "Into John's baptism."

So then Paul said, "Okay, verily John baptized with the baptism of repentance, but he spoke of One who was to come—namely, Jesus, who was the Messiah." And when he explained the gospel to them, then he took them and baptized them again, this time in the name of Jesus the One who John pointed to. But evidently this baptism of John was very, very popular, and made its way to parts, other parts of the world, other parts of the Roman Empire—amazing.

"It came to pass in those days," verse 9, "that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan." Typically what amazes people when we take them on a trip to Israel, and we drive through Nazareth on usually the first day of the tour toward the afternoon, we're driving through Nazareth, what amazes them number one is: "This is it?" Like, "This is not a big deal." "I know, we kind of told you it wouldn't be."

But I know everybody wants to see Nazareth, so we take them. But it's kind of like, "Okay, I'm done." There's really not much to see. It's funny because remember what Nathanael said? "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" I think that question is still being asked.

But what is amazing is that Nazareth is seated in the hills, it's a commanding view. The afternoon breeze is from the Mediterranean come through Nazareth. But here was Jesus' view growing up in Nazareth. He would look down every day and see a very important valley called the Valley of Jezreel, known in your Bibles in the book of Revelation as the Valley of Armageddon.

Can you imagine what it would be like to grow up knowing that one day you're going to come back to a historic worldwide battle that will find its foundation and attack front from that valley moving toward Jerusalem, and you're going to come back to end it. Living with that on a daily basis, he could see the Valley of Armageddon, the little village of Megiddo right there, that vast expanse all the way up through Galilee.

"Immediately, coming up from the water," Jesus was baptized, "he saw the heavens parting and the spirit descending upon him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, 'You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' " Now, you'll notice that all three members of the Godhead are present at the baptism of Jesus. You have the Father speaking to the Son. You have the Son being baptized. You have the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, a sacrificial animal, so that it could be seen by the people, but especially by John the Baptist.

Now, listen carefully. For John the Baptist to see a dove above Jesus Christ indicative of the Holy Spirit, would for John the Baptist be the final verification. "This is the Messiah, this is the One." Because in Isaiah, chapter 11, there is a prediction about the coming Messiah. It says, "A rod will come from the stem of Jesse, and the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him." He knew his background that he was a stem from the rod of Jesse from the house of David, and now that symbolic form of the Spirit of God resting upon him.

So all three members of the Godhead present at the baptism of Jesus even as all three members, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are part of your salvation process. You receive Jesus into your heart as your Savior. He's the One that did the heavy lifting for you on cross. But it was God the Father who sent him. And Jesus before he left said, "I'm going to send to you the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment." So all three are active in bringing us to salvation.

"Immediately," verse 12, "the Spirit drove him into the wilderness. And he was there in the wilderness forty days tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts." The wild beasts in the desert would have been, I guess, snakes, scorpions—those are the things that live out there. "And the angels ministered to him."

The New Testament refers to the devil about seventy, seventy-two times. When it does, it refers to the devil, Satan, as a person, not an entity, not a thing, not a force, not a principle. The Holy Spirit is called a "he," a "him." The devil is called a "he" and a "him." He's very real. Heaven is open in verse 10, and when heaven's open and activity was happening from heaven on earth, you could be sure that hell would be open also.

Remember what you learned in school? Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. It's true in the spiritual realm. Every act of God, every act of man toward God will incite a reaction from Satan. Anybody that does business with God will eventually do business with the devil. And I would say that the forces of hell in your life are directly related to your proximity to God. The closer you get to him, the more riled up they will become.

Now, if you go, "You know, you talk about the devil, but it's, like, I'm never hassled by the devil. I go through life, I don't know worry about—I never am hassled." Interesting—that says a lot about you. Because I guarantee you, if you are actively pursuing the Lord, you would be actively attacked by the enemy. Now, that's not to make you go home and look at the devil underneath your rug, or the back of your refrigerator, and "I'm gonna cast out demons in my toast," and all that nonsense. [laughter]

"Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world." I am not afraid of him, not because I am better or bigger, he could whoop me on my best day. But I know he's afraid of the Christ that lives inside of me, that's what he's afraid of. So I'm all about that. [applause]

Notice when Jesus was tempted—after the baptism. After every spiritual blessing, the thief comes. You find that to be true. As soon as Israel is delivered from Egypt, Pharaoh comes after them in the wilderness. As soon as Hezekiah celebrates the Passover nationally, Sennacherib the Assyrian encircles Jerusalem. As soon as they see, the apostles see the glorious vision of Jesus on the Mount of the Transfiguration, as soon as they get down the mountain they meet a demon-possessed kid to challenge them, to attack them.

J. C. Ryle even said, "Nowhere perhaps is the devil so active as in church." You go to church, the Lord speaks to you, you leave blessed, you get out on the road—flat tire. Or some crazy guy on a motorcycle cuts you off, pulls out in front of you. Or you get out to your car and somebody broke into your car in the parking lot. Or your car has been towed. We've had all of these things happen. "I'm not going to that church, somebody broke into my car." Maybe that's the reason you ought to go.

"Now, after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, saying, 'The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the gospel.' " John the Baptist was put in prison (you remember, we covered it in Matthew) because John was the kind of a preacher who really didn't care about saying nice things to rulers, so he got himself in trouble.

He leveled an accusation at Herod Antipas because Herod Antipas took and married his niece, who also happened to be the wife of his half brother Herod Philip—all of this was unlawful. All of this was against Jewish law. Now Herod wasn't Jewish, he was part Jewish. He had a background with Jewish parentage, his mother or grandmother. But that was enough for John, just because you're related to Judaism, he just, like, slammed him, came against him. And so he got arrested, put in jail, and eventually he was killed.

Now, John the Baptist's arrest, when he was put in prison, most gospel commentators, and there are some taters more common than others, but most writers of books that give comment on the gospels will tell you that this marks a new beginning in Jesus' ministry. John said, "I must decrease, and he must increase." So as soon as he's put in prison, he decreases, and Jesus really starts the public inauguration of his ministry upon the prison sentence of John the Baptist.

We're told that Jesus went to Galilee. Why Galilee? Because it was predicted by Isaiah that he would go to Galilee. Isaiah, chapter 9, speaks about the Messiah being introduced in the "Galilee of the Gentiles, for those who sat in darkness have seen a great light." So it would be another indicator that this is the Messiah.

Verse 16, "And as he walked by the Sea of Galilee." And you got to understand, a sea in the Bible isn't an ocean, okay? The Sea of Galilee was a lake. The Lake of Galilee is about thirteen miles from north to south, and about eight miles for east to west, shaped like a harp. It's below sea level, about six hundred feet below sea level. But it was called the Sea of Galilee, and the other lake that just has an inlet down south was called the Dead Sea. Of course, the Great Sea was always the Mediterranean, that's a real sea, but this is the Sea of Galilee, that lake.

"And he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, 'Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.' " Andrew had been a disciple of John the Baptist. Possibly Peter his brother was also a disciple of John the Baptist. And evidently once John was put into prison they went back to their fishing business, like, "Okay, well, that was fun, but that's over." No, it wasn't—just beginning.

It says, "They immediately left their nets and they followed him." Something that might help you, it's called the Sea of Galilee here, it goes by other names. The Sea of Gennesaret it is called, if you've read that. Gennesaret is a plain, a flat, little plain to the western side of the sea or the Lake of Galilee. It's also called the Sea of Tiberias because of a Hellenistic city that is on the southwest shore. And it's also given the title of the Lake Kinneret, or the Kinneret Sea. Kinneret from the Hebrew kinnor which means harp, because it's shaped like an ancient Old Testament harp.

Verse 19, "When he had gone a little farther from there, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. And immediately they called, he called them; they left their father Zebedee in the boat." I wonder what dad thought. "Jesus is calling." "Who's that?" "That guy. See ya, dad."

"Left him in the boat with the hired servants, and went after him." What a journey these two guys, James and John, would go on. All they knew—their whole world was a lake—that's it. Their whole world, their whole existence was just that little, rural, agricultural Lake of Galilee; that's all they knew. Maybe a trip to Jerusalem every now and then for the feast, but that was it. But they would be in on an adventure, they would see things and hear things they could not even imagine. They would fish for men's souls.

And so would Peter and Andrew. Peter will be a guy who will stand up on Pentecost and give the gospel and see three thousand souls saved. John will pastor in Ephesus and get a vision of the end of times, the book of Revelation.

"They went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, not as the scribes. Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit," that is a demon-possessed man in the synagogue. See, not everybody who comes to church is necessarily all right, and awesome, and filled with the Holy Spirit. Here's a demon-possessed guy in church that day, in synagogue that day.

"And he cried out," I would love to be in that synagogue service, the tension mounting in the room. "And he cried out, saying, 'Let us alone! What have we to do with you?" "We" being plural, meaning he's possessed with more than one demon spirit. "What have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the holy One of God!" But Jesus rebuked him, saying, 'Be quiet!' "

I like, I just like the idea of Jesus saying, "Be quiet." I don't know why, but I usually underline this in my Bible. Because typically people have this Sunday school, milquetoast, little, you know, Jesus—"Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, look upon this little child" kind of a— And there's Jesus, "Hi." And here's Jesus, it's in a synagogue service and somebody's crying out, and he says, "Be quiet!" Yeah! I'll follow that guy. He has authority.

" 'And come out of him!' And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, 'What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him. His fame spread throughout all the region, immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee."

Did you know that the synagogue is a New Testament development? You don't read about it at all in the Old Testament. Ever wonder why? It's because the Jews never saw them as relevant or needful. There was a temple where they worshiped. As long as that temple was there, that's where they met, that was according to the law.

But when the Babylonians came and destroyed the temple in 586 BC and took the children of Israel captive to Babylon, now they had no temple. Now they could not practice ceremonial law with the priesthood in a temple, so they decided to gather together. The word sunagógé, synagogue, means the gathering together. And so Jews in Babylon in captivity gather together, and since they couldn't sacrifice, they couldn't practice ceremonial law, they could only discuss and teach written law.

And so they would ask themselves questions like, "What would Moses do in a situation like this?" Just like we would say, "What would Jesus do?" they would say, "What would Moses do?" And so that's how the oral law developed, in the synagogue by the discussion and the application of the written law to their lives. Okay, when they came back from the captivity and rebuilt their temple, it had become such an institution that it stuck in Judaism to this day.

In ancient times there were different people that worked in the synagogue. First of all, there was the hazzan or the minister. And the hazzan's duty was to keep the scroll, the Torah scrolls in the wooden ark up front, he would trim the lamps for lighting, and he would sweep the floors, keep it clean—that's the hazzan, the minister.

Then there was the ruler of the synagogue. He would plan the service from the community, every time they met on Sabbath or for feast days, the ruler of the synagogue did that. Now we know the name of the ruler of the synagogue in this city. His name was . . .? Anybody? Jarius. Jairus had the daughter, little girl, who died and came to Jesus, the ruler of the synagogue in Capernaum. "Jesus, come, my little daughter has died," while Jesus was teaching; so we know his name.

Then at the front of the synagogue there were seats for the elders of the synagogue, the principled men of the community. Then there was a special attendant called the attendant of the congregation who would come and read the Bible text and give an explanation, and on this day it was Jesus. He was teaching, he would be given the Torah scroll, and he would teach out of it.

Then next to him was the interpreter, because the Scriptures were written in Hebrew, but they weren't speaking Hebrew, they were speaking the language of the captivity, Chaldean Aramaic. You saw the movie The Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson? The whole film was done in resurrected Aramaic. It's a dead language; it hadn't been around. They found documents and they resurrected it for the film to make it accurate. That's what they were speaking in those days, the language of the Babylonian captivity.

Then there were also in the congregation a group called almoners. Two or three almoners took the alms, the offerings for the poor, or items for the poor and distributed them in the community——that's the synagogue in ancient times.

If you want to know what it was like, it would open with the ruler or the hazzan singing a prayer called the Shema: "Shema Yisrael, Adonai elohenu/eloheinu, Adonai echad; Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One," and everybody would say, "Amen." Thank you.

Then the attendant of the congregation, Jesus in this case, would get up, open the scroll, read from it, give an explanation like he did in Nazareth (Luke, chapter 4), close it. There would be some more activities, the very end would be a benediction, hands would be raised facing Jerusalem. So, let's see, in the synagogue in Capernaum since it faces south, they would have had their hands raised and been pointing to the right, because Jerusalem was down south from them. So that's a typical service, if you wanted to know what it was like in the day of Jesus, that's what happened.

"Now as soon as they came out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew." Simon and Andrew were not from Capernaum, they were from a little village a couple miles away called Bethsaida on the shores of Galilee, but they moved to this town when Jesus moved to this town.

"With James and John. But Simon's wife's mother lay sick with a fever." Now this tells you something about Peter the first pope. What does it tell you? He was married. He had a wife, and his mother-in-law was living with him. Peter's wife's mother, the first pope's mother was there at his house. It also tells a lot about Peter's integrity and character that he would allow his mother-in-law to be at his house, and that he would take care of her. Evidently her husband died, don't know that for sure, by I'm guessing that. And she's sick, and he loved his wife, and he loved his mother-in-law, and to honor her it was only fitting that she was there.

"And they told him about her at once. So he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. At evening when the sun had set, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed." Now there's a very interesting reason why they waited until evening, but we have to wait until next week to discover what that is because it's 8:31, so let's pray. I always like to leave a little thing hanging at the end.

Father, we see the simplicity of people who gathered even two thousand years ago in a very rural area of Galilee in a gathering place, a synagogue, the place of gathering. And it simply consisted of song, and the Word, and the explanation of the Word, prayer at the beginning, prayer at the end. Very similar to this synagogue, this gathering place; there's prayer, and song, there's worship, there's the Word, and the explanation of the Word, the interpretation of the Word.

Thank you for the testimony of John the Baptist, the voice, the road worker who said, "Make a straight highway for the Messiah." We appreciate the testimony of John Mark, an impressionable teenager who became a disciple by the witness of Peter, a missionary worker who failed, who was restored by his cousin, who went on to serve Peter in Rome, and gave us this glorious and fast-paced book.

Thank you once again for those whose hearts are hungry to week by week be fed truth, more than wanting tricks, more than wanting pabulum, or just a few flashy phrases of exhortation, they want the depth and the teaching of truth in the Scripture; thank you. I pray, Lord, that the blessing that you give them wouldn't be stolen after the church service, in Jesus' name, amen.

Additional Messages in this Series

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4/10/2013
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Mark 1:32-2:20
Mark 1:32-2:20
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Jesus Christ, the selfless Servant, is not "willing that any should perish" (2 Peter 3:9). He came in the flesh and touched contagious, sick, and demon-possessed people—He healed them and He forgave their sins. He ate with tax collectors and sinners—the ones that needed to be saved. The Pharisees scorned Him for that. But He didn't mind, because He didn't come to pour new life into an old system, He came to bring something brand new.
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4/24/2013
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Mark 2:21-3:35
Mark 2:21-3:35
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Jesus Christ is the rightful King who possesses ultimate authority. His authority is one of compassion before custom. In this text, Jesus heals and cares for people in ways that are in direct opposition to the rules and customs of the Jewish culture. Through His words and actions, He elevates the importance of relationships and compassion over religious traditions.
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5/1/2013
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Mark 4
Mark 4
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"To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God" (Mark 4:11). One of the ways that Jesus taught was through parables. On many occasions, Jesus shared a story of something familiar—farming or shepherding, for instance—in order to reveal truths that were previously unknown. These were stories with a message. Jesus wanted to teach the people spiritual things; He did it by showing them physical things. The power of a good, well-told story drives the truth home so that it can be applied in the life of the hearer.
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5/15/2013
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Mark 5:1-35
Mark 5:1-35
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Jesus has compassion on everyone who is lost and entangled with the enemy of God, Satan. From this study of Jesus’ encounter with a demon-possessed man, we learn that while Satan desires to rob us of joy and see us condemned to eternal judgment, Jesus has ultimate power and has already defeated this enemy.
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5/22/2013
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Mark 5:30-6:13
Mark 5:30-6:13
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God is not a prisoner to the laws of nature—He is God of the extraordinary. The miracles Jesus and his disciples performed validate who Jesus is and they reveal the heart of God. In this study, we learn to face life's difficulties, while remembering that God is good. Both faith and unbelief are powerful—and they carry eternal consequences.
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5/29/2013
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Mark 6:7-56
Mark 6:7-56
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Jesus made His disciples apostles by sending them out to deliver His message. That message was heard by Herod, whose worldly sorrow led to death—the death of John the Baptist. When Jesus invited His messengers to go with Him to a quiet place and rest, they discovered a multitude of people in need of compassion and teaching, like sheep without a shepherd. As believers, we too are called to become apostles—careful to share the gospel with those in need.
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6/12/2013
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Mark 6:45-7:23
Mark 6:45-7:23
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In this study, we learn that obedience to God's Word does not always equal smooth sailing. Yet, the Pharisees were more concerned with being ceremonially pure than morally upright. We must remember that God is first concerned with our inward attitudes before our outward actions.
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6/19/2013
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Mark 7:24-37
Mark 7:24-37
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No matter what we do, we cannot get to Heaven based on our own merit. Jesus came to earth to offer His life as a sacrifice so we could be reconciled to God and fellowship with Him. In this study, we see Jesus demonstrate His amazing love by seeking outsiders to bring into His covenant. We're reminded that God alone can satisfy us, and He offers His salvation as a gift, but first we must receive it.
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6/26/2013
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Mark 8:1-33
Mark 8:1-33
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The feeding of the 4,000 in Mark 8 is a miracle we don't often consider, but through this miracle, Jesus demonstrated that His love isn't just for the Jewish nation but for anyone who will receive Him. And, through the Pharisees' refusal to see Jesus' authority and the man Jesus healed from blindness, we get a valuable lesson in faith. We also learn that we should seek God first in all of life's matters and are reminded that when we fail to remember God's mercies, our hearts begin to harden.
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7/10/2013
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Mark 8:34-9:41
Mark 8:34-9:41
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Jesus presented two lifestyles to His disciples: They could deny themselves or live for themselves. Today, we face the same decision. Will we embrace the cross or ignore it? In this study, we learn that if we choose to follow Jesus, we must be willing to serve others, dethrone ourselves, abandon our personal ambition, and submit to God's will for our lives.
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8/7/2013
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Mark 9:42-50
Mark 9:42-50
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Jesus explained that the faith of true believers would be like the faith of a child: simple, open, and dependent. In this study, we learn a tough message from Jesus about how we should deal with our sins and take care of younger believers. As His followers, we must remember that we were bought with a price and our lives should be consumed with His glory.
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8/14/2013
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Mark 10:1-52
Mark 10:1-52
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As Jesus continued His journey to Jerusalem where He would be crucified, He knew He still had divine appointments with people—appointments that would change lives and teach timeless truths. In this study, we see Jesus address self-righteousness, salvation, servanthood, and what it truly means to have sight.
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8/21/2013
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Mark 11:1-33
Mark 11:1-33
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Mark 11 opens with Jesus' triumphant and peaceful entry into Jerusalem. As He encounters the chief priests, scribes, and elders in the temple, Jesus proves His rightful authority, God demonstrates His amazing sovereignty, and we gain insight about how our lives should look as we follow Jesus.
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8/28/2013
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Mark 12:1-44
Mark 12:1-44
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Jesus often spoke in parables, presenting earthly stories with heavenly meanings to all who would listen. However, the religious leaders would challenge Jesus, waiting for Him to make a mistake. Instead, the truths He proclaimed would stumble them. As we look at His responses to the religious leaders, we learn about stewardship and the greatest commandment.
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9/4/2013
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Mark 13:1-37
Mark 13:1-37
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In Mark 13, Jesus addresses His disciples in what is known as the Olivet Discourse. He warns them about spiritual warfare, false prophets, and the coming tribulation for the nation of Israel. As we study this teaching from Jesus, we are reminded as believers to be alert and to get busy telling the good news of Jesus Christ.
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9/11/2013
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Mark 14:1-26
Mark 14:1-26
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As we consider Jesus' last days on the earth, we look at His Last Supper with the disciples and get a glimpse into the hearts of some people who spent time with Him. In this study, we see Jesus' tender and unconditional love and are reminded to take every opportunity for personal intimacy with our Lord.
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9/18/2013
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Mark 14:26-72
Mark 14:26-72
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In Mark 14, we see Jesus preparing for His death on the cross, His trial before the Sanhedrin, and Peter's denial. As we study these moments, we understand the need for believers to be engaged in spiritual battle through prayer, Bible study, and being in the Lord's presence. We are also encouraged through Peter's life that even when we fail, God's grace covers us.
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9/25/2013
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Mark 15:1-32
Mark 15:1-32
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Jesus' claims to be God were so offensive to the Jewish leaders that they gave Jesus an unfair trial—even breaking their own rules—so they could have Him killed. As we examine the trials and beatings that led up to the crucifixion, we learn who the real Judge is and see the extent of Christ's love for us.
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10/2/2013
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Mark 15:22-47
Mark 15:22-47
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The early church leaders drew an interesting comparison between the sacrifice of Jesus and the near-sacrifice of Abraham's son, Isaac. We know God stopped Isaac's sacrifice, but He allowed Jesus to die on the cross. He acted as Judge: giving Jesus what we deserved and giving us what Jesus deserved. As we continue this study in Mark 15, we are reminded to keep Christ's sacrifice for us fresh in our memories.
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10/9/2013
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Mark 16:1-20
Mark 16:1-20
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The resurrection of Christ is the greatest miracle in all of history; it was central in the apostle's teachings. They wanted everyone to know that Jesus conquered death! As we wrap up our study in Mark, we learn about the evidence for the resurrection. But it's not enough to just have the facts. Our lives are a witness and testimony to the people around us, so we must allow these truths to transform our lives.
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There are 20 additional messages in this series.
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