I am just starting a study of the Gospel of Mark.\u00a0 I haven’t posted in a very long time here and thought I’d take the time to docucment the studies here in case someone would find them useful.<\/p>\n
The first 8 verses of Mark talk about John the Baptizer and his ministry leading up to Jesus’ ministry.\u00a0 Here are my notes and outline of the lesson from Mark 1:1-8<\/p>\n
Mark 1:1-8 (NIV)<\/p>\n
1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI will send my messenger ahead of you, 4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel\u2019s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: \u201cAfter me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/strong><\/em> Mark opens his gospel with a couple of quotes: \u00a0The first comes from Malachi 3:1. \u00a0This is followed by another quote from Isaiah 40:3.<\/p>\n God\u2019s purpose is that all men live in relationship with him. \u00a0This is not possible due to sin. \u00a0This is why Jesus came to the earth in the first place. \u00a0Malachi 3:1 says that BEFORE the \u201chard\u201d part that the Lord will bring comes, he will provide a messenger to \u201cprepare\u201d the way. \u00a0This role is fulfilled by John the Baptizer. \u00a0John preached repentance. \u00a0This is the first step to restoration. \u00a0The Lord is coming to purify (Mal 3:3) and judge (Mal 3:5). \u00a0John\u2019s message of repentance and forgiveness (Mark 1:4) would allow them to be ready for the purification.<\/p>\n In Isaiah 40:1, we read: \u201cComfort, comfort my people, \u00a0says your God.\u201d. \u00a0Isaiah 40:3 (quoted by Mark) describes ONE of the 3 voices from that chapter that show how God will bring about that comfort. \u00a0Again, John\u2019s call to repentance is one that prepares the hearer to make a way for the coming Lord.<\/p>\n How does John\u2019s message resonate with us today? \u00a0In what ways does God prepare us for what he calls us to do? \u00a0In what ways do you see God using the same pattern of sending one to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus today? \u00a0How are YOU responding to the message calling us to repent?<\/p>\n Verse 4-5<\/p>\n Though it is not called “baptism”, Leviticus 16:3-4 describes what God commanded Aaron to do before entering the Most Holy Place in the temple. \u00a0It says: “\u201cBefore Aaron enters the Most Holy Place, he will offer a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. \u00a0Aaron will wash his whole body with water and put on the special clothes. He will put on the linen underwear next to his body, the linen robe, the linen belt, and then he will put the linen turban on his head.” \u00a0This is describing a ceremonial cleansing requirement placed upon Aaron (the priest) prior to coming before God. \u00a0This may be the origin of the Jewish practice of baptism.<\/p>\n What John was doing as the forerunner of Christ the Messiah was performing a ceremonial act symbolizing the repentance in the hearts of those he baptized. \u00a0New Testament baptism is similar to both of these in that it is symbolic in nature. \u00a0Paul describes this in Romans 6:3-4, “Did you forget that all of us became part of Christ Jesus when we were baptized? In our baptism we shared in his death. \u00a0So when we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and took part in his death. And just as Christ was raised from death by the wonderful power of the Father, so we can now live a new life.”<\/p>\n How are the early ceremonial cleansing and John’s baptism the same? \u00a0How do they differ? \u00a0In what ways, if any, is the New Testament baptism that we practice the same as either of the Jewish practices? \u00a0What makes the New Testament unique compared to either of the earlier baptisms?<\/p>\n Verses 6-8<\/p>\n Mark\u2019s description of John\u2019s message is very brief. \u00a0Matthew 3:1-12, John 1:15-40, Luke 3:1-21 fill in a lot of the detail that Mark leaves out. \u00a0The critical part of John\u2019s message, however, is that Jesus is coming behind him and that John recognizes himself is the servant of the one to come and that he is, himself, not the long awaited Messiah. \u00a0John states that the baptism he is able to do is \u201cwith water\u201d, meaning it is just symbolic in nature. \u00a0When the Lord comes, John says, he will baptize with the Holy Spirit. \u00a0The Holy Spirit is able to separate those who simply SAY they are repentant and those who are truly repentant. \u00a0In Matthew 3:12, we read, \u201cHe will come ready to clean the grain. \u00a0He will separate the good grain from the straw, and he will put the good part into his barn. Then he will burn the useless part with a fire that cannot be stopped.\u201d \u00a0While Mark leaves out this detail, this is describing the primary difference between the two baptisms.<\/p>\n As you think about these 2 baptisms, let\u2019s reflect on the difference between what we show outwardly (water baptism) and the inner reality ( baptism of the Holy Spirit) of our hearts. \u00a0Is there a difference between someone who is TRULY repentant, but returns to the sinful behavior and one who just gives lip service to repentance? \u00a0Would you say the truly repentant (yet imperfect) man would be \u201cgood grain\u201d or the \u201cstraw\u201d?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I am just starting a study of the Gospel of Mark.\u00a0 I haven’t posted in a very long time here and thought I’d take the time to docucment the studies here in case someone would find them useful. The first 8 verses of Mark talk about John the Baptizer and his ministry leading up to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,33,37,6,7],"tags":[8,36,31,14,20,21],"class_list":["post-398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-christian-living","category-mark-bible-study","category-personal","category-sundayschool","tag-beliefs","tag-bible","tag-christian-living","tag-god","tag-jesus","tag-sunday-school"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Mji6-6q","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=398"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":404,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398\/revisions\/404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nwho will prepare your way\u201d[c]\u2014
\n3 \u201ca voice of one calling in the wilderness,
\n\u2018Prepare the way for the Lord,
\nmake straight paths for him.\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
\nVerses 1-3<\/p>\n