Tehillah 2011

Mark – Study Two

Beginning of A Gospel

Brainstorm: How would you introduce Jesus in a book?

For the first study, we'll be looking at a short but important passage of the bible. Here we will read through what could be Jesus' “introduction to the world”. Read through Mark 1:1-13

Part I : John the Baptist

An important character has been introduced before Jesus. How can we know who Jesus is and what He is doing on earth unless someone introduces Him? John the Baptist did exactly that. He makes the way for the Son of God and the fulfilment of a promise.

1. What does John the Baptist have to do with prophecies? What do you notice? Why?

Most bibles we have a footnote next to V2,3 of chapter 1. These will likely refer to Isaiah 40:3, and Malachi 3:1 who prophesy the coming of a prophet-like figure before the coming of the Messiah.

If the NT is the fulfilment of God’s promises established first in the OT, then verses like Mark 1:2-3 are vitally important because they draw the connection between OT prophecies and their fulfilment ultimately in Jesus. What is amazing that the OT in its entirety points to its Jesus in great detail- in another book (Case for Christ), the odds of a single individual fulfilling all of the OT prophecies was put to something incredibly small.

2. Why did Mark start off with John’s ministry? What’s the significance?

This question is answered almost incidentally, by q1. It is strange to begin a book about Jesus Christ with someone else, but by doing so we can see that the coming of Jesus was foretold long ago, exactly as it was said.

In v 3, we see that people were confessing their sins and being baptised. There are 2 issues I feel we need to consider:

- The call to repent: In getting people to confess their sins, John was fulfilling the prophet archetype, through which the people of Israel had long been warned by when they were walking astray from God. Seeing John as a prophet also seems to be backed up by the account of his appearance, bearing significant similarity with Elijah. What is so amazing however, is that the judgement which John is speaking of is so vastly different from what was seen in the OT- instead of punishment, we are saved; instead of a series of warnings, we are saved once for all by the death/resurrection of Jesus Christ.

- Baptism: While not completely analogous, Jewish cleansing rituals bear some similarity with baptism. We can make too a logical assumption by the location John was in and what is recorded in v5 that ‘all the people of Jerusalem’ came out to John that the majority were Jewish. For people to convert to Judaism, converts would have to undergo a purification ritual (‘Mikvah’). The call by John the Baptist for baptism of the Jews also declares the brokenness of all mankind and their methods to restore the relationship with God, and foretell the new baptism that we have in Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3).

3. What did John preach? Why and what can we learn from John?

This is me just conjecturing, but by beginning with John, the author of Mark seems to set up a direct comparison between John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. Although John the Baptist had ‘the whole Judean countryside’ coming out to him, by his own admission he was not worthy to ‘stoop down and untie’ the sandals of Him who would come after.

Part II : The Baptism of Jesus

Like all baptisms, Jesus' baptism was a special occasion. Here we see Jesus being “anointed” and a sign of what is to come.

1. What 2 phenomena do we see at Jesus’ baptism? Who is responsible for these events?

We see the HS descending on Jesus like a dove and a voice from heaven speaking to Jesus (v10,11). God is responsible for both these events.

2. Why are they important?

Once again, we must go back to the John the Baptist’s ministry- people were confessing their sins and being cleansed/baptised in the river Jordan. However, with Jesus (of whom no sin is found), the baptism is no longer ad admission of guilt, but cause for recognition by God.

The account also gives us a beautiful image of the triune God. WE have God the Father, talking to his Son in which the descends upon.

3. After the baptism, Jesus is tempted. Why do you think that Jesus is taken so soon after his baptism?

In the gospel of Mark, we will see that Jesus is engaged in warfare with Satan.. In doing so, Jesus Christ is made to submit to the very same temptations which plague humanity. By letting the reader know that it was immediately after the HS descend upon Jesus that he was sent off into the desert, we are unable to ignore that part of Jesus’ plan was to combat Satan and later, defeat him on the cross.

All this, for us.

Part III : Reflection

1. Is God well-pleased with us as humans? Why?

2. Could God be ever well-pleased with us? Why?