Mark
1:1-13
Lesson 63
1:1-13
Lesson 63
Mark: 1:1-13
Jesus is baptized and tested 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 thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; 7 And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. 8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. 9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. 10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: 11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 12 And immediately the spirit driveth him into the wilderness. 13 And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him. |
Margin notes:
"The gospel of Jesus Christ." (1:1) - Means, "the good news of Jesus Christ." "Christ." (1:1) - From the Greek word Christos meaning "Messiah" "anointed one." "I send my messenger before thy face." (1:2) - This is a paraphrase from Malachi 3:1, meaning, "I send my messenger ahead of you." As stated above, that messenger was John the Baptist and his job was to announce the coming of Jesus Christ. "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." (1:3) - This is a paraphrase from Isaiah 40:3, written almost seven hundred years before the birth of Christ. The second half of the book of Isaiah (including this verse) speaks of God's promise of salvation and predicts the coming of John the Baptist and the Messiah. To "make his paths straight" is a call for people to repent. "John did baptize." (1:4) - As prophesized by his father years earlier Luke 1:76-77). "For the remission of sins." (1:4) - "For the forgiveness of sins." "Jerusalem." (1:5) - Hebrew for "foundation of Shalem" (peace). Jerusalem is also called Mount Zion, David's city, or the Holy City. Jerusalem is located fourteen miles west of the Dead Sea and thirty-three miles east of the Mediterranean and sits in the Judaean Mountains approximately 2,500 feet above sea level. Surrounded by valleys on three sides, Jerusalem dominated the area and in Jesus' time was the epicenter of Jewish life, government, and religion. The ancestral home of Israel's King David, ancient Egyptian texts mention the city going back to the 19th century B.C. It is first mentioned in the Bible under the name Salem (Genesis 14:18) and is first called Jerusalem in Joshua 10:1. The original city covered only about eight acres but was constantly being rebuilt and expanded. Many early Christians had to flee Jerusalem or face persecution. Through the centuries Jerusalem has been occupied by Assyria, Egypt, Babylon (2 Kings 25), Persia, Greece, and Rome (who destroyed the city and murdered its citizens in 70 A.D.). Rome then rebuilt the city, renamed it Colonia Aelia Capitolina, banned Jews, and constructed a temple to the pagan god Jupiter. In 614 A. D., the Persians captured the city and again Jerusalem's citizens were killed. The European Crusaders occupied Jerusalem in 1099 and later the Turks. Today, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and holds religious significance for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. "Judaea." (1:5) - Also called Judea, it is the southern area of Palestine covering approximately two thousand square miles from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River. It is almost fifty percent desert. Jerusalem and Bethlehem are in Judea. "The river of Jordan." (1:5) - The Jordan River lies approximately twenty miles east of Jerusalem and is about seventy miles long. It flows from the Sea of Galilee south to the Dead Sea. "John was clothed with camel's hair." (1:6) - John dressed as a poor person, similar to the prophet Elijah (2 Kings 1:8). "A girdle of a skin about his loins." (1:6) - "A leather belt around his waist." "Nazareth." (1:9) - Jesus' hometown, Nazareth was a small city (population 18,000) in Galilee (Luke 1:26) located approximately seventy-five miles north of Jerusalem and fourteen miles west of the Sea of Galilee along the southern ridges of Lebanon. The main road between Egypt and Asia passed by Nazareth and brought many travelers and tradesmen. In Jesus' day, the people of Nazareth were considered second class citizens and looked down on (John 1:46). Although Jesus was raised in Nazareth (Matthew 2:21-23; Mark 1:9), its citizens rejected Him (Matthew 13:54-58; Mark 6:1-4) and tried to throw Him from a cliff (Luke 4:22-30). "Straightway coming up out of the water." (1:10) - "Immediately coming out of the water." "The spirit driveth him into the wilderness." (1:12) - "The spirit drove (led) him into the wilderness." "Tempted of Satan." (1:13) - "Tested by Satan." To learn how Satan tested Jesus, read Matthew 4:1-11. "The angels ministered unto him." (1:13) - "The angels helped Him." |