Lenten Study Notes
Mark 1-2

I have studied through Mark in depth five or six times and taught it in various situations at least four or five times. It is my favorite Gospel of the four perhaps because of it’s quick pace, literary value, and brutal honesty. The Gospel itself is marked (no pun) by the constant use of a small Greek phrase ‘kai euthus’, which means something like ‘and then’ or ‘immediately’ or ‘at once.’ The NIV, as do most translations, I noticed translates it differently so as to give the Gospel ‘flavor’ (although it appears that the NASB is fairly consistent in its use of ‘immediately’). This creates a sense of urgency in the Gospel as if Mark were always in a hurry to get us from one point to the next, never content to leave us lingering too long at one scene. In the overall picture, we know where Mark is in a hurry to get us and by the time we get to the crucifixion the pace has slowed (in my judgment) considerably. He wants us to drink deeply at this point.

I don’t know why Mark was in a hurry to get us through the story (as a whole). I do know that Mark starts his story of Jesus in Nazareth in Galilee (1:9) and that when the story ends, after the Resurrection, he instructs his people to go back to that very place (16:7) which I take as Mark’s way of saying something to the reader like: Go back and start the story all over again. Read it again! It becomes quite circular to the point that one might never stop reading the Gospel story Mark tells which by his estimation I gather would be just fine. We are to be engaged in the Gospel story and engaging it constantly, continuously, never stopping for a breath. I’m fairly certain that is Mark’s objective even if he doesn’t say so in so many words.

Mark tells us nothing of Jesus’ birth or childhood. He begins abruptly by announcing the appearance of John the Baptizer with a quote from Isaiah (and Malachi). There’s also another aspect of this Gospel that is intriguing and it is the first verse: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Now it could be that your Bible as put a footnote saying that ‘Son of God’ here is in ‘many’ manuscripts but not ‘all’ and thus ‘Son of God’ is either eliminated altogether, footnoted, or written in such a way as to suggest that the translators are uncertain as to whether to include it or not. I’m rather particular at this point, and I hope not too contradictory. At the end of Mark’s Gospel we encounter a similar problem: Do we take the short ending and stop at verse 8 or do we take the long ending and stop at verse 20? Well, here’s the thing. I like ‘Son of God’ included in 1:1 and I like ending the Gospel at 16:8 thus eliminating verses 9-20. It’s not the end of the world if you believe differently. Let me show you why by talking just about 1:1 and leaving 16:8 for another discusssion.

If ‘Son of God’ is included in 1:1 then we, the readers, know something about Jesus that those inside the story do not know. Namely, that this story we are reading is about Jesus Messiah, the Son of God. Inside the story, the characters never quite get this. Jesus won’t let demons talk about it (rightfully so!) and the disciples are often dense (so Peter). Jesus tells people to keep quiet about it and more than once does his best to escape detection. Thus has been born in Mark the so-called ‘Messianic Secret.’ So those of us reading the story, we are whispering things like ‘duh! It’s the Son of God. How can you miss that?’ when he calms a storm (4) or drives out a herd of demons (5) or feeds five-thousand (6) for example. But what we see, those inside the story miss or they are told to keep quiet or tell no one. Until…until chapter 15 where the most unlikely of all characters makes a startling announcement at a rather strange moment in the story.

Chapter 15 is the narrative of the crucifixion of Jesus and isn’t it interesting that the last human to speak in Mark’s Gospel (aside from the Jesus after his resurrection) is a Roman Centurion who was guarding the crucifixion. And do you know what he says? That’s right: “Surely, this man was the Son of God!” So it is not ironic at all then: Jesus doesn’t tell him to be quiet either, does he? This is the one time when it is alright for the ’secret’ to be out; that is, at the crucifixion. Jesus’ full Sonship is to be seen by us in the cross where he died.

I think this is most significant especially if the Gospel ends at verse 8 of chapter 16 where we read this: “They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.” Now we, the readers, are saying this: “It’s the Son of God! Say something! Say something!” And we wonder: If they said nothing, who will? Someone has to say something. Well, that’s all very preliminary to be sure, but there might be some homiletical thoughts in all that madness somewhere.

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Notes on Mark 1-2 (includes questions)

At this point, I will offer a brief comment or two on a couple of the pericopes in chapters 1 and 2 and follow up this section with some prayer thoughts.

1:1-8: Here I like The Message translation (vs 7-8): “As he preached he said, ‘The real action comes next: The star in this drama, to whom I’m a mere stagehand, will change your life. I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. His baptism-a holy baptism by the Holy Spirit-will change you from the inside out.’” Jesus would change what it meant to be clean, what it meant to be pure, what it meant to be washed and baptized. He would give these things new meaning. John says essentially, ‘I can only get you wet. The one coming after me will totally undo your life.’

1:9-13: Jesus is baptized here and immediately (‘kai euthus’) he is driven out into the desert where he is tried by the Satan. I wonder if we prepare people for baptism in this way, that is, by warning them ahead of time that once the Spirit gets a hold of them there’s no telling where he might drive them? Oh, and about the baptism of Jesus and the ‘voice from heaven’ and the ‘Spirit hovering like a dove,’ and the ‘Son in the water’…do you remember any other place in the Bible where the Spirit ‘hovered’ over the water and God spoke? (Genesis 1:1-2?) So what does this say about Jesus and the inauguration of the New heavens and new earth, new creation, new covenant? Also, see that word concerning the ‘heaven being torn open’? You know where else the Greek word for ‘torn open’ (’schizo’) appears? That’s right: The crucifixion chapter: 15:38: “The curtain of the temple was ‘torn’ (’schizo’) in two from top to bottom.” How might the baptism of Jesus be related to his crucifixion?

1:14-15: William Willimon notes, concerning Jesus’ sermon in Luke 4, his first sermon, something that fits well here too, “So one might have thought, but no-with Jesus, the attack begins in the very first sermon. Jesus, in his preaching, is a troublemaker who brings, not peace, but a sword.” (Conversations with Barth on Preaching, 197).

1:21-39: Anyone else find it ironic, or not, that the first place Jesus does a miracle in Mark’s Gospel is in the synagogue? In John, he turns water to wine at a wedding. In Mark, he drives a demon out of a synagogue. Jesus came to bind the strongman and rob his house so I don’t suppose it is odd at all that he begins by binding the strongman who sat in the midst of the worshipers. Perhaps we too need Jesus to do some house-cleaning. And judgment, wrote Peter elsewhere, begins with the household of God. As these verses continue, we see that Jesus continued to drive out demons from the midst of the people and the synagogues (1:39). It kind of makes one wonder if these demons in the midst of these places of worship were not disrupting the worship and stirring up the people so as to prevent them from hearing the Word of God spoken among them? Could we too be so blind and self-absorbed that we don’t even know there are demons among us? Or could we be so indifferent to their presence that we tolerate them among us? Or could it be that we are so weak and powerless that we believe we cannot do anything about their presence among us? Whatever the case, Jesus came among the people and began by driving out th demons from their midst. This says a lot to me about his work.

1:40-45: I love the statement, “I am willing.”

2:1-12: Again, short and sweet. I love this remark by the author of the book, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’” (2:5) He saw their faith. Hmm. Did his friends happen to recognize a connection between his physical condition and his spiritual condition? Is that why Jesus first forgave his sins? Do you think this might be true also in the life of someone we know? Do we know anyone who is physically undone and the only thing that might fix them is to bring them to Jesus so that he can forgive them their sins? Is there a connection between physical sickness and spiritual sickness?

2:13-28: If Jesus only came to ‘call the sinners’ and not the ‘righteous’ then it seems to me that before we can hear or answer his call we have to recognize that we are ’sinners.’ So long as we are convinced we are ‘righteous’ then we can be fairly well convinced that he did not come to call us. ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ is an odd question. I wonder if these people weren’t just a wee bit jealous that he wasn’t eating with them? Maybe a better question would be, “Why are the tax collectors and sinners eating with him?” They go on to criticize his ‘fasting’ habits. Evidently, he is not fasting enough for their taste. And he is also criticized for not taking the Sabbath seriously enough to actually observe it. What we see here is something that perhaps we have lost a bit of in our quest to be the biggest church on the block: Jesus truly was concerned with people. So he eats with people who invite him to dinner and it makes no difference who they are. He refuses to ruin people by forcing them to observe old habits when a new time was upon them. And he refuses to elevate a ‘day’ above a person. “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath.” So they criticize him for eating with the wrong people, for not giving up food enough, and for eating on the wrong days. What sort of people have we become when we have sunk down to the point of criticizing when and if and how people eat? Jesus is pointing out that these people are missing the greater picture: People give rules value not the other way around. The observance of a practice must never become so strict that it prevents people from practicing it with joy. Note too, that chapter 2 begins and ends on the Sabbath as Jesus helps them understand exactly what the Sabbath is supposed to be: Liberating, freeing, full of rejoicing, and rejuvenation.

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Some Prayer Thoughts from Mark 1-2

We can pray for those who are baptized because they will invariably be driven into places by the Spirit that we cannot control. They will face all sorts of trials and struggles and tests. We can and should pray for their protection and strength. Many will give up, but it must not be because we have given up on them.

We can pray for Jesus to fill our nets as we go about fishing. We can pray that those who are called to follow will follow and leave behind whatever baggage that has weighed them down. Many still carry around nets. Jesus calls us to a life without a net.

We can pray that Jesus drive the demons out of our churches. They are there. They lurk. Open our eyes Lord, that we may no longer be indifferent to their presence.

We can pray that he will raise up a generation of pray-ers. (1:35). Isn’t it striking that Jesus, the Son of God who possesses power enough to drive out demons, survive a wilderness of trials, and preaches the Kingdom still must pray? We too must be people of prayer. Pray he raise up a generation of pray-ers.

Dare we pray that God would stretch out his hand and heal lepers, raise the dead, cause the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the mute to speak, the paralyzed to walk, and the demons to be gone? Is God’s hand too short to do this in our generation?

We can pray for more people to sit and eat meals with tax collectors and sinners. We can pray that more of us would be so attractive to others that tax collectors and sinners would invite us over to their house to eat and enjoy dinner. When was the last time a ’sinner’ invited you over to their house to eat food? Would you go? Make this a simple prayer this week: “Lord, let some sinner I know invite me over for dinner.” Do you know any ’sinners’? That might be a place to start too.

The bridegroom is not with us. Have you fasted recently? Maybe now is the time to fast?

When was the last time you took a break? A Sabbath? If Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, a mere day of the week, then is there anything he is not Lord of? So examine yourself in the Lord: Is there any part of yourself that you have not submitted to His Lorship?

Finally, pray for Gospel preachers. Mark says that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the beginning of the Gospel. Then Jesus comes on the scene and starts preaching ‘The time has come. The Kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the Gospel!’ Lord prepare us to repent. Lord prepare us for the Kingdom come near. Lord prepare us to hear the Gospel. Lord prepare us to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom come near. May your will be done. May your Kingdom come. Let the Gospel be on our lips.

I hope these, admittedly, preliminary thoughts are helpful to you in your prayer life and your study of Mark’s Gospel. We learn a great deal about Jesus in these two fast-paced, whirlwind chapters. There’s much more to learn as Mark’s Gospel progresses.