Mark 1: The Barmore-Linsley Study

 

The wings identify John the Baptist as a divine messenger, the “Evangelos” 

who proclaimed Messiah's appearance in the flesh.

Welcome to a study of the Gospel according to Mark. If you followed our study of the Book of Matthew, you will be excited about this next cooperative effort of Mary Barmore and Alice C. Linsley. In this study, observations about each chapter of Mark are followed by 10 questions. The answers may be found by scrolling to the bottom of the post.

Prepare for this lesson by reading Mark Chapter 1.

Let's begin with prayer.

Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

INTRODUCTION

The Gospel of Mark is believed to be the work of John Mark who traveled with Paul and Barnabas and later assisted Peter (1 Pt. 5:13). The book does not mention the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, so most scholars believe it was written before that catastrophic event. According to Church tradition, Mark's account is the earliest of the Synoptic Gospels and was composed while the author was in Rome.

Mark's main message is about Jesus Christ, God's Son, whose Messianic ministry was characterized by mighty works of God and whose sacrifice on the Cross was for the redemption of the world. In Mark's account, Jesus seems to keep his identity as the eternal Son of God a secret. However, his power and authority are evident throughout his ministry as the "Son of Man" and fully revealed after His death and resurrection. 

Mark's Gospel is a fast-paced book. Jesus is always on the move, making his way over time to his destiny in Jerusalem, where prophets are killed (Matt. 23:27; Lk. 13:34). The connective tissue is the word immediately which appears more than 40 times in the book. An example is Mark 1:21 which states that Jesus and some of his disciples went to Capernaum "and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught."

Compared to Matthew's Gospel, Mark records fewer words from Jesus. Instead, Jesus is seen as a man of action.

CHAPTER ONE

The first chapter of Mark's Gospel opens with the ministry of John the Baptist (1:1–11). John was the son of the Jewish priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. John was preaching repentance in the wilderness, thus preparing the way for Jesus the Messiah. The people came out of the towns and cities to be baptized by John in the Jordan River.

Jesus traveled from Nazareth to be baptized by John. As Jesus came up out of the water the heavens opened, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove, and a voice from heaven declared Jesus as God's beloved Son. At Jesus' Baptism the reality of the Holy Trinity was perfectly manifested.

The Spirit then directed Jesus into the wilderness for 40 days where He was tempted by Satan and where angels ministered to Him. 

After John the Forerunner was arrested, Jesus began his public ministry in Galilee where He proclaimed that the kingdom of God is near and called people to repent and believe. At the Sea of Galilee, Jesus called two sets of brothers to be his first disciples. All were fishermen. Simon (Peter) and his brother Andrew, and James and his brother John left their fishing nets and followed Him.

The chapter closes with accounts of Jesus teaching in the synagogues, delivering a man from the oppression of an evil spirit, and cleansing a leper. By this time, Jesus was not able to move about as freely as before because news of his miracles brought out large crowds.

QUESTIONS

1. According to Mark's account Jesus began His public ministry in Galilee. How does this differ from the account in John's Gospel?

2. What activities characterize Jesus' early ministry in Galilee?

3. What was Jesus' relationship to John the Baptist?

4. What was John's message?

5. What central dogma of Christianity was made evident at Jesus' Baptism and why is this dogma to be preserved?

6. What was Jesus' main message after His temptation in the wilderness?

7. Who were the first disciples called by Jesus and what is known about them?

8. How did people respond to Jesus' teaching in the synagogues?

9. Mark's Gospel identifies Jesus as the "Son of God" (verse 1). What prophesies about the Son of God, or the Messiah, were fulfilled by Jesus' actions in this first chapter of Mark?

10. Why did Jesus command the evil spirits to be silent and why did he tell people not to broadcast how He healed them?

ANSWERS

1. According to Mark, Jesus began his public ministry in Galilee after John was arrested. In the Gospel of John, Jesus' public ministry began at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. 

2. Jesus' early ministry in Galilee was characterized by healing, teaching in the synagogues, and driving out evil spirits. 

3. Jesus and John were cousins. Both were descendants of the Hebrew ruler-priests who believed in God Father and God Son before Judaism emerged as a world religion. According to John's Gospel, Jesus regarded John as the greatest of all the prophets (Matt. 11:11; Lk. 7:28). John the Immerser personified all 3 types of authority: derived, attributed, and achieved. Read more about their relationship here: Jesus and John Fulfill All Righteousness.

4. John's message was to prepare the people to receive Jesus the Messiah by repenting of their sins and receiving the baptism of repentance by ritual purification in the Jordan River.

5. At Jesus' baptism, the central dogma of the Holy Trinity was made evident. The Son of God came up from the water. The Holy Spirit descended upon Him, and the voice of God declared that Jesus is the Father's beloved son. This is divine revelation to be preserved by all Christians. The term "dogma" refers to a teaching or belief that cannot be changed or eliminated because doing so would completely change the substance of the Christian Faith.

6. Jesus' main message was a call to repentance because the time of the Kingdom of God is at hand. 

7. The first disciples called by Jesus were Simon and his brother Andrew, and James and his brother John. All 3 were Galilean fishermen. Simon was married. Jesus healed his mother-in-law of a fever (Mk. 1:30). James and John were the sons of a Jewish man named Zebedee. Jesus called James and John Boanerges which means "Sons of Thunder" (Mk. 3:17).

8. When Jesus taught in the synagogues, the people were astonished because he taught them as one having real authority and not as the scribes (Mk.1:22). According to Mark 1:38, Jesus did not stay long in any one town. He believed his work was to preach throughout Galilee.

9. Many prophesies about the long-awaited Messiah were fulfilled in the first chapter of Mark. In Isaiah 40:3 John the Baptist's preparation for Jesus' servant ministry is declared: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God." Jesus casting out demons and healing various diseases fulfilled the prophecies associated with the Messianic dawning of the Kingdom of God. 

10. Jesus commanded the evil spirits to be silent because He wanted freedom to preach and teach in as many places as possible without being hindered by large crowds. He told people he healed not to broadcast their experiences because the circulation of rumors would bring out crowds making it difficult for him to go about freely. Even with these precautions, Jesus spent much of his time in the countryside. Mark 1:45 explains that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town. Instead, He stayed out in the country. Even then, people found him, coming to him from every quarter.

Related reading: Mary Barmore's Testimony; John the Forerunner, the Greatest Prophet; A Disciple’s Guide to Bible Study; Formed and Informed by the Bible; A Living Faith Justifies; The Ethnicity of Abraham and David; Belonging to Christ is a Serious Matter

Jesus and John Fulfill All Righteousness

The Revealing of Jesus, the Son of God and the Messiah.

Welcome to this study of Matthew's Gospel, a collaborative effort between Mary Barmore and Alice C. Linsley. We will use Mary's study notes and Alice will add some notes of historical and anthropological relevance.

After you read Matthew Chapter 3 answer the questions. Check your answers by scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Introduction

Matthew Chapter 3 introduces some of Jesus' relatives, including the priest Zechariah, his wife Elizabeth, and Jesus' cousin John the Baptizer (also known as the "Forerunner"). They are people who believe God's promise concerning the Messiah who would come to save His people from their sins. 

The first chapter of Luke's Gospel provides these details about John the Baptist and his family:

John was the son of a priest named Zechariah who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah. In ancient Israel there were 24 priest divisions (mishmarot, meaning the "watches"). One of them was the division of Abijah. These served in rotation at the Temple in Jerusalem. 

The divisions were located in different settlements, including Bethlehem and Nazareth. According to 1 Chronicles 24:15 Nazareth was the home of the eighteenth priestly division, ha·pi·TSETS (Happizzez) or Aphses in some Bibles. Abijah was the eighth division.

During the Old Kingdom (c. 2575-2130 BC) the Hebrew priests of the Nile Valley were organized in groups called "phyles". Each phyle served a two-week duration at the royal temple before returning home. The organization of priests in Israel appears to have developed from the earlier Hebrew phyle system.

Luke explains that when it was time for a division to serve the priests went to Jerusalem for a week. Afterwards they returned to their homes. Each division served twice a year. The division of Abijah would have served at the end of Iyyar (mid-April to mid-May) and again at the end of Marheshvan (mid-October to mid-November). We don't know at which time the angel appeared to Zechariah.

Zechariah's wife Elizabeth was barren but miraculously conceived as foretold by an angel who appeared to Zechariah while he was serving in the Temple. The angel said: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:13-17)

Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. She declared, "The Lord has done this for me. In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people." (Luke 1:23-25)

When Mary visited Elizabeth, the babe in Elizabeth's womb leapt for joy. Being filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:41), Elizabeth confessed Mary’s unborn baby as "my Lord".

Before Jesus began his public ministry, he came to John to be baptized. Though the Hebrew believed in God Father and the Spirit of God (Gen. 1) at Jesus' baptism the Holy Trinity was made manifest as was the divinity of Jesus.

Matthew, Chapter 3

1. What message was John preaching?

2. What details about John tell us that he was not a worldly man?

3. Where did John perform the baptisms?

4. How does John describe the difference between his baptism and that of the Messiah?

5. Where had Jesus been before he came to John?

6. How did John react when Jesus asked to be baptized by him?

7. What reply did Jesus give John about righteousness?

8. What happened when Jesus came up out of the water?

9. What sign over Jesus' head spoke of his divine Sonship?

10. Who heard the voice of God the Father?

1. John's message was a call to repentance in order that his Jewish people would be prepared to receive the Messiah. Paul explains this to some Christians in Ephesus who knew only of John's baptism. Paul told them, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus."

2. John's clothing was made of coarse camel hair, and he subsisted on locusts and wild honey.

3. John baptized people in the Jordan River, the principal water system of Israel. The Hebrew name for the Jordan River is Nehar haYarden and the Arabic name is Nahr al-Urdun. The words Yarden and Urdun mean "descender" because the river flows south from a higher elevation. 

The place where John was baptizing was in the wilderness. Going to see him required effort, involved some discomfort and expense. Only those serious about their spiritual condition sought to be baptized by him. 

Isolation away from the cities characterizes true prophets. In Judges 4:4-6 we read that the prophet Deborah sat under her Palm between the cities of Ramah and Bethel, and the Israelites had to leave their cities to go to her. Likewise, Abraham consulted the Moreh (Seer) whose Oak tree was between the cities of Ai and Bethel (Gen. 13). John recognized that some of the Jewish leaders did not come seeking the baptism of repentance. He called them a "brood of vipers" and warned them about the coming judgement. 

4. John states that he baptizes with water, but the Messiah (the Christ) will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. This was fulfilled at Pentecost (Acts 2). In the Book of Acts there are several examples (Acts 4:31, Acts 10).

5. Jesus came to John from Galilee. He grew up in Nazareth of Galilee, and his closest followers were from Galilee. It was to Galilee that He returned and met with His disciples after His resurrection. At the Last Supper He informed his disciples: "After I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.” (Matthew 26:32) There Jesus ate a breakfast of fish with his beloved disciples (John 21:7-12).

6. John recognized Jesus' superior authority as the Messiah, and he considered himself unworthy to baptize Jesus.

7. Jesus told John that baptizing him "is fitting for [them] to fulfill all righteousness." Jesus and John together "fulfill all righteousness" (1) by publicly foreshadowing the way sin can be forgiven; (2) by fulfilling the prophet's calling to proclaim the Kingdom, (3) by doing what pleases the Father, and (4) by acknowledging each other's spiritual authority.

8. The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove alighted on Jesus and the voice of Jesus' Father in heaven declared, "This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased".

9. The heavens opened and the Spirit descended like a dove and hovered over Jesus' head. In the dispensation of the Church the dove over a person's head symbolized divine favor. This is why some images of the Virgin Mary show her with a dove hovering above her. This painting of the Annunciation by Joos van Cleve is an example.

Among Jesus' early Hebrew ancestors (4000-2000 BC) the sign of divine favor was the sun over the head of the one chosen to serve. This is why Hathor, the mother Horus/HR, appears in ancient images overshadowed by the sun. Consider how this belief is expressed in the solar imagery of James 1:17. "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

    

Hathor conceived by divine overshadowing (cf. Luke 1:35). Hathor is the archetype of the "Woman" who would bring forth the Seed of God (Genesis 3:15).

Usually, the sun rested in the horns of the bull. This sign of divine favor is represented by the initial Y in the Hebrew names of many righteous men of the Bible: Yaqtan (Joktan); Yishmael (Ishmael); Yitzak (Isaac); Yacob (Jacob); Yehuda (Judah); Yosef (Joseph); Yetro (Jethro); Yeshai (Jesse), Yonah (Jonah), Yeroboam (Jeroboam), Yosedech (Josedech) and his son Yeshua (Joshua) who wore the double crown (Zechariah 6:11). The name Jesus originally had the initial Y also. (See Why the Name Jesus?) The initial Y is a solar cradle.

10. The voice of God the Father was heard by both Jesus and John. Luke's account of Jesus' baptism agrees with Matthew's account. John's act of obedience in baptizing Jesus was rewarded by an experience that only he and Jesus Christ shared. 

It is evident from Matthew Chapter 3 that there can be no fulfillment of righteousness apart from faith in the Holy Trinity.

Next week, we will investigate Matthew Chapter 4. Please share this with your friends and join us for more deep digging.