Mark chapter 1
1:1 Mark begins with a burst of information that functions as a title. The gospel here refers not to the whole book but
to the content of the early Christian proclamation, which in turn centers on a person. Jesus is His given name; Christ
is both a name and His Old Testament title; the Son of God points to his unique familial intimacy with the God of the
Old Testament.
1:2, 3 By prophets, Mark means the so-called major and minor prophets of the Old Testament, specifically Malachi
and Isaiah: Because early Christians had a great reverence for Scripture, and had only the Old Testament for their
Bible, passages foretelling Jesus’ coming are regarded as strong proof of His divine identity. These prophecies
relate especially to John’s activity.
1:4 John (the Baptist) breaks a centuries-long prophetic silence in Israel. Other Jewish groups practiced ritual water
cleansing, but John called call Israel to repentance (v. 15). John’s baptism was not regarded as equal to baptism in
the name of the Trinity as a testimony to one’s personal trust in Christ. (See Acts 19:1-5.) For here means “with a
view to,” that is, in order to attain remission of sins. The Greek word order shows that is it not baptism but
repentance that secures remission of sins.
1:5 The whole of Judea and Jerusalem is rocked by John’s presence. The tense of baptized stresses that it took
place continually over a length of time. The condition for baptism was a public response, by which and in which one
confessed his sins.
1:6 John’s appearance is reminiscent of Elijah (2Kin. 1:8; Mark 6:15).
1:7 Latchet refers to the thong of a sandal. John is concerned to make clear both his inferiority (so as not to distract
from the future-oriented focus of his message) and the Coming One’s superiority (so as to cultivate longing and
expectancy). Preached, saying denotes a continuous activity: this is John’s characteristic message.
1:8 I and he are emphatic, stressing the contrast. John has a vital function, but Jesus has an even greater one. As
John was sued by God to administer immersion in water, Jesus will serve to bring men under the influence of the Holy
Spirit.
1:9 Jesus did not need to repent of sin, but as the Messiah of Israel He identified thoroughly with the people of Israel.
He also would have wished to show His support for John as God’s prophet.
Mark Chapter 2
2:1-12. Jesus continues to astound (and offend) by extraordinary works and claims.
2:5. Touched by their obvious and active trust, Jesus acts. But instead of a physical healing alone, Jesus proclaims a
remission of sins.
2:6, 7. Scribes were professional students and teachers of the Old Testament and Jewish tradition surrounding it.
They also served as judges in the Jewish legal body, the Sanhedrin. They were influential men in society. They take
strong issue with Jesus' seeming presumptuousness, for it was common knowledge to students of the Old Testament
that forgiving sin is God's prerogative alone. Jesus is implicitly making a claim to divinity, which to the Scribes ranks
as blasphemy.
2:8. Jesus senses their indignation and address them directly, as in Mark He is inclined to do.
2:9. Modern English would drop the whether.
2:10, 11. Son of man is one of Jesus' favorite self-designations, used some 14 times in Mark. Scholars debate its
exact meaning, some incredibly denying that Jesus applied the term to Himself. But such skepticism is surely
misplaced. It seems to be a deliberately unclear title, one that could conjure up images of divine presence and might
(Dan. 7:13, 14), but which could at the same time give willful skeptics enough rope, so to speak, to hang themselves
in the tortuous coils of their stubborn doubt. By healing sickness in conjunction with forgiving sin, Jesus is not
equating physical infirmity with spiritual depravity. Yet there is some ultimate connection, for sickness and death
apparently invaded humanity through sin. (See Gen. 3; Rom. 5:12.) Some day, by God's grace in Christ, sin, death,
and all sickness will be vanquished. Jesus' exercise of divine forgiveness here and its immediate consequences are
perhaps advance tokens of the wondrous boon of ultimate redemption. In Jesus the sphere of God's restorative
influence, His kingdom, is indeed at hand (1:15), and that with great power.
2:12. Here as previously (1"22, 28, 45; 2:7) Mark calls attention to the response Jesus provoked. The observers
have never seen anything like this.
2:13-22. Jesus returns to activity by the lake. Mark pictures a constant coming and going of crowds.
2:14. Levi is known also as Matthew, the tax collector (publican).
2:15. By now Jesus has attracted a number of devotes. But He also managed to appeal to those whom most pious
Jews of that time and place would have avoided.
2:16, 17. With some irony Jesus deflects the barb of His detractors, who first seek to stir up His own disciples against
Him. For Jesus, as well as for the Old Testament, no man is righteous in god's sight by virtue of his own goodness.
The point is that Jesus seeks out those who, being in need, sense and own up to it. Sinners refers to common folk
who in their religious practices were less scrupulous than the Pharisees, and often more responsive to Jesus than
cultivated religious people.
2:18-22. This is evidently a further incident, not directly connected in time with verses 13-17. Pharisees fasted twice
weekly (Luke 18:12).
2:20. Jesus foresees the days when His disciples will fast. That time will be when He has returned to heaven. Fasting
is practiced during a time of grief, not joy. As a bridegroom's friends rejoice while he is with them (v. 19) and grieve
when he is taken away from them, so Jesus' disciples rejoice while He is among them, but will fast after His ascension
into heaven. See Acts 13:2, 3; 14:23.
2:22. Bottles are wineskins, the old ones figuratively representing Judaism and the new ones, Christianity. Old
wineskins lose their elasticity and would be burst open by the fermentation of new win put into them. The point: the
old faith of Judaism and the new faith of Christianity cannot be mixed, nor can the practices or traditions (e.g., the
time of fasting) of Judaism be forced on Christianity.
2:23-28. Jesus astounds by defying then-current Sabbath practice.
2:25. David's action is found in 1 Samuel 21:1-6.
2:27, 28. Jesus' reasoning is that divine institutions on earth are to have a God-honoring, noble, and liberating
function. Sabbath laws had for some degenerated into a mockery of God's intent. Jesus, the Son of man and Lord ...
of the sabbath, having power to forgive sin, can also teach rightly regarding proper observance of the Jewish
Sabbath. Jesus here touches a raw nerve, as the next incident shows.
Mark Chapter 3
3:1-7. Jesus' power continues to be manifest, this time causing strong negative reaction.
3:2. Jesus was critical of certain aspects of the Jewish religion of His time, but He remained faithful in weekly
synagogue attendance.
3:4. Based of the Old Testament alone, the answer would obviously be "to do good," even on the Sabbath. But
religious tradition had added greatly to the Old Testament, in essence setting the Scripture aside for the sake of
human rules. See 7:7.
3:5. Jesus again expresses strong displeasure. (See 1:43.) But along with a certain anger comes being grieved,
connoting not censure but compassion.
3:6. The Pharisees were in Jesus' time the most influential Jewish sect. Some, like Nicodemus (John 3), gave Jesus a
hearing. But many, perhaps most, were more zealous for their somewhat arbitrary rules than for the spirit of the Old
Testament and for a personal relationship to God. Subservience to a man-made code of ethics worked a spiritually
deadly result. The Pharisees appear to have been at the vanguard of attempts to discredit Jesus. They are joined
here by the Herodians. This group, much smaller than the Pharisees, tended toward political opportunism. They
would have perceived Jesus as a threat to the status quo of Roman rule, which benefited them.
3:12. Jesus seeks to keep His messianic identity somewhat hidden. (See 1:34, 44.) This was not totally possible, nor
always desirable (John 4:26). But it seems to have been Jesus' general policy not to prejudice the masses unduly in
His favor, as easy as this would have been. He sought the earnest commitment of true seekers for the living God, not
merely hangers-on attaching themselves to a new and popular leader.
3:14, 15. The twelve doubtless represent in some new form the nation Israel with its 12 tribes. They have three
functions: to be with Him (see Acts 1:21; 4:13), to be sent out to preach, and to share Jesus' uncanny mastery over
physical and spiritual disorder.
3:20-35. Mark writes of three incidents of opposition to Jesus: among friends, scribes, and family.
3:22-30. Scribes (see 2:6, 7) make a long journey to assess Jesus' work. Their verdict is negative.
3:28-30. Verily translates the Greek amen. This manner of speaking has the effect of solemnifying Jesus' words by
implicitly invoking God's sanction of them. Jesus thereby claims to be God's very spokesman. Said (or, "they kept
saying," v. 30) denotes repetition, showing the minds of men who should have known better being tragically closed to
God's presence in Jesus. The sin Jesus warns against consists in a deliberate and psychologically irrevocable
spurning of God's redeeming and cleansing power, going as far as to see in Jesus the incarnation of a demon.
Profaning even God's name is deadly business (Ex. 20:7). But unforgivable, says Jesus, is the callousness of heart
that leads to such debased spiritual sensitivity that God's Word, and deed, through Jesus can be trodden so
ruthlessly underfoot. Such a perverse heart cuts itself off from saving grace. There can be no reconciliation. God
gives the guilty party over to that ruler whom the man has willfully chosen to elevate above the Son of God.
3:31, 32. Like His friends (vv. 20, 21), His family wants to temper Jesus' by now quite controversial operations with
some demands or advice.
3:33-35. Mutual obedience to God comprises a tie that binds more closely than mere bloodlines.