Mark Chapter 4
4:1-34. Jesus extends His influence by His teaching.
4:2. Doctrine refers here to the act of teaching, as well as to the content.
4:10. The Twelve do not grasp Jesus' meaning. Mark does not glorify the Twelve; they often lack understanding or
are out of step with Jesus. This is part of what gives Mark its ring of genuineness, since a story embellished by the
later church would surely paint more complimentary portraits of the apostles.
4:11. In the New Testament a mystery is not a decipherable puzzle but a profound spiritual truth, which God is just
now revealing to whomever He chooses. The Twelve are evidently regarded as being receptive to the deeper
meaning or application of the parable just related. In this sense the parable has a positive aim: to reveal a mystery of
God's working. On the other hand, the parable obscures its meaning to those who are outside- who evidently lack
the spiritual responsiveness for Jesus to divulge His story's full import.
4:12-20. Jesus interprets the parable. The four soils represent four kinds of people who hear the gospel. (1)
Unresponsive people, they by the way side, fail to respond to the seed or word (gospel) sown, so Satan quickly
removes it lest they be saved (Luke 8:12). (2) Impulsive people, the stony ground, are those who immediately
receive (v. 16) the gospel, but not counting the cost, have no root [spiritual reality] in themselves (v. 17). They
believe for a while (Luke 8:13), but soon are offended (v. 17, defect from the truth) because of persecution. Their
rejection of the gospel is a speedy as their reception of it. (3) Preoccupied people, those among thorns, allow
legitimate matters (cares of this world) and illegitimate matters (deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things)
to take priority over the gospel. And (4) some people, good ground, hear and receive (take to heart) the gospel,
which bears the fruits of faith, obedience, and fidelity in them.
4:21-23. Here is another practical illustration. Candle refers to a small lamp. Jesus' point in verses 21 and 22 seems
to be that God's in-breaking kingdom, which it is Jesus' task to reveal in God's time, must for now be partially hidden.
But the time will come when it is gloriously revealed.
4:24, 25. This may be paraphrased: "Give careful attention to what you hear. For according to the proportion of
study given God's Word, a corresponding amount of knowledge will be given you, and generously multiplied at that."
The point is that God's truth, instead of being divinely hidden from man (vv. 21, 22) will be understood in proportion
to one's attention to and study of it.
4:26-29. The point of this parable is that God causes the gospel to bear fruit and His kingdom to grow. Just how he
does things we do not fully understand.
4:30-32. The central truth here is: Although God's work in Jesus currently is very small, apparently insignificant, and
making little visible headway, His kingdom will grow eventually worldwide and have global impact.
4:33, 34. This is a summary statement. Jesus' indirect method of teaching created interest and summoned to
decision, while yet leaving time to reflect and decide. The parables are at once both a sort of judgement on the
hearers' spiritual dullness and an expression of God's active willingness to enlighten and save.
4:35-5:43. Jesus takes His disciples from the classroom to the laboratory. Having just taught that God's power will
cause His kingdom to grow to worldwide proportion and influence (4:30-32), Jesus now performs four miracles that
demonstrate this divine might. God's power is seen overcoming (1) the danger of a storm (4:35-41); (2) demons in a
victim possessed (5:1-20); (3) disease in a woman physically ravished (5:21-34); (4) the death of a little girl (5:35-
43).
4:40. Jesus constantly questions in order to spur people to deeper trust. See 2:8, 19, 25, 26; 3:4, 23, 33; 4:13, 21,
30.
4:41. The fear must have been a mixture of reverential awe and real fright-it would be chillingly eerie to witness the
instantaneous dissipation of av violent storm.
Mark Chapter 5
5:1-20. Jesus minsters to a demoniac.
5:6. Not worshiped in the full sense. The idea is that he knelt or prostrated himself before Jesus.
5:9. Legion would mean simply a vast number. A legion was a Roman army consisting of as many as six thousand
soldiers.
5:15. Possessed with the devil and had the legion refers to this one man having been the victim of multiple-demon
possession. Afraid: the same response the Twelve had in 4:41.
5:17. Pray here means "request" or "implore." Coasts means "region." The local citizens asked Jesus to leave their
region, out of fear of suffering further financial losses, though His presence might have brought them additional
blessings and their sick more healings.
5:20. Decapolis was the area southeast of the Sea of Galilee, containing many Gentile settlers. Jesus seems to have
been more willing to make His deeds and identity known in a non-Jewish context. (See also John 4:4-26.) In the
Capernaum area, by contrast, He fell the need to maintain a lower profile (1:34, 44; 3:12). The man tells what Jesus
has done, although Jesus told Him to speak of "the Lord," the God of Israel (v. 19).
5:22. A synagogue ruler was a layman who helped oversee and plan the synagogue services. He also saw to the
care of the building. Jairus may have previous contact with Jesus, who attended synagogue regularly.
5:23. The laying on of hands was commonly associated with healing.
5:24. Thronged stresses that people were physically being pushed up against Jesus. See verse 31.
5:28. Popular belief had it that a person's dignity and power extend to what he wears.
5:30. Jesus is immediately aware that God has exercised His power (virtue) through Jesus. The woman's faith has
been rewarded.
5:31. The disciples express impatience or annoyance, perhaps resenting Jesus' delay at a critical time for Jairus's
daughter.
5:33. The woman would be fearful of a rebuke, since her bleeding rendered her "unclean" according to Jewish law.
She ought not to have been mixing in the crowd, nor reaching out purposely to touch a man. That she owned up
openly indicates that her interest lay not only in physical health: she wanted to be right with Jesus Himself. Her faith,
not the grasp of her hand, brought restoration to her.
5:35. Obviously, Jesus has intentionally let the time pass in which He might have preserved the girl's life.
5:36. Believe, literally: "Keep on believing."
5:37. Peter, and James, and John were also chosen to witness the Transfiguration (9:2).
5:38. Professional mourners would be already singing dirges and raising a stir.
5:39. The girl was in fact dead (v. 35). But Jesus knows her death will be reversed.
5:41. Talitha cumi is Aramaic for "Little girl, arise."
5:43. The crowd would eventually know, of course, that the girl had been raised from the dead. Jesus wants the fact
to be concealed for the time being, giving Him time to depart and avoid ostentatious acclaim. Also, the parents will
still be able to keep the details of the resuscitation secret from the scornful unbelievers outside the door. Jesus'
custom all along was to make Himself known to earnest seekers, but to conceal His true identity from skeptics.
Mark Chapter 6
6:1-6. Here begins Jesus' final extended ministry to His native area. His rejection there sets the stage for the mission
beginning in verse 7.
6:5. The point is not that Jesus was suddenly lacking in ability to do miracles-He does perform a few. Rather He finds
contempt and hardness of heart, which are the antitheses of receptivity and faith. Under such circumstances, further
disclosure of God's presence in His Messiah is denied.
6:6. Only here does Mark speak of Jesus as having marveled. Resistance to Him is tragically astounding.
6:7-13.. The twelve are sent out. From here to 9:50, Jesus and His followers will minster in a wide area well north of
Jerusalem.
6:8. Scrip is a knapsack of some sort. Purse is a belt.
6:9. Jesus' commands make His disciples totally dependent on God. Not bread, no bag, not even a coin or second
coat (tunic) to ward off the night chill-all was calculated to make their initial preaching tour an exercise in radical faith.
6:12. The message is that of Jesus Himself (1:15).
6:14-29. This parenthetical section on Herod is inserted for the following reasons: (1) It elaborates on John the
Baptist's sudden disappearance from the public scene (briefly mentioned in 1:14) and his death. (2) The Baptist's
martyrdom foreshadows one sort of persecution awaiting Jesus and many of His servants. (3) The Baptist's loss of
ministry is one reason Jesus dispatches the Twelve in their mission in verses 7-13. (4) It shows Jesus' fame to be so
widespread that it reaches Herod's court. (5) It reveals the world's blindness to Jesus: while many hold Him in high
regard, identifying Him as Elijah, a prophet, or as the Baptist, they do not esteem Him highly enough; they fail to
recognize Him as God's Son.
6:16. Herod's conscience troubles him.
6:17-29. Mark gives background for readers who might not be aware of the details behind Herod's and John's
relationship, and John's eventual fate.
6:25. The use of charger perhaps indicates Herodias's warped humor on that festive day when she could get even
with her husband and be rid of John.
6:30-56. Jesus' influence broadens through additional miracles.
6:31, 32. Jesus recognizes their need for a break.
6:37. The Roman denarius, a silver coin used in Palestine. A pennyworth amounted to the wage for one day of a
rural worker's labor.
6:41. Judaism forbade taking food without thanking God.
6:44. Five thousand would be a immense crowd, towns like Capernaum and Bethsaida numbering perhaps only two
to three thousand inhabitants. But they were all filled, and there was an excess of food remaining- and the number
does not include women and children.
6:45-52. In the wake of a miraculous feeding, Jesus performs yet other wonders, namely walking on the lake and
stilling a gale.
6:48. The fourth watch was from 3 to 6 A.M.
6:49. Spirit here means an apparition or a ghost.
6:50. Troubled speaks of abject terror. Spirits of the night were thought to portend disaster.
6:51. See the disciples' earlier response (4:41).
6:52. The disciples' terror and confusion were rooted in not perceiving the true significance of Jesus' words and
deeds. They were unable to grasp that he was the divine Son of God, the Lord incarnate.
6:53-56. This scene summarizes Jesus' wondrous and compassionate activity.
6:54. By this time, Jesus had gained fame throughout the region.