notes

Main point summary

When John the Baptist appeared in fulfillment of prophecy, Jesus came to Judea, where the Father proclaimed his pleasure in him as his beloved Son and strengthened him when tempted by Satan; then he returned to Galilee, preaching the gospel .

Bracket

editing

NT

Mark 1:1-15

esv

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, a the Son of God . 1

b As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, 1

c “Behold, I send my messenger before your face,

who will prepare your way,

d the voice of one crying in the wilderness:

e ‘Prepare 1 the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight,’”

series

ideaexplanation

actionmanner

f John appeared,

baptizing in g the wilderness

and proclaiming h a baptism of i repentance j for the forgiveness of sins.

comparison

And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him

and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan,

k confessing their sins.

progression

actionresult

Now John was l clothed with camel’s hair

and l wore a leather belt around his waist

and ate m locusts and n wild honey.

And he preached, saying,

o “After me comes he who is mightier than I,

the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.

p I have baptized you with water,

but q he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

negativepositive

r In those days Jesus s came from Nazareth of Galilee

and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

And when he came up out of the water,

immediately he t saw u the heavens being torn open

v and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

temporal

And w a voice came from heaven,

x “You are my beloved Son ; 1

with you I am well pleased.”

y The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

y And he was in the wilderness forty days,

being z tempted by a Satan.

And he was with the wild animals,

and b the angels were ministering to him.

c Now after John was arrested,

Jesus d came into Galilee,

proclaiming the gospel of God,

and saying,

e “The time is fulfilled,

and f the kingdom of God is at hand;

g repent and believe in the gospel.”

inference

When Jesus was baptized, the Father proclaimed his pleasure in his beloved Son.

Then Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness for 40 days.

Then Jesus returned to Galilee, preaching the gospel.

When Jesus came to Judea, the Father proclaimed his pleasure in his beloved Son, and then strengthened him when tempted by Satan.

discourse

Notes

After the introduction to the whole book in verse 1, I see two major sections: Verses 2-8 and verses 9-15. I divided the passage there because verses 2-8 describe the prophecy of John's coming, and his actual coming. Then verses 9-15 describe Jesus' baptism, temptation by Satan, and the beginning of his public ministry. And verse 9 separates verses 2-8 from what comes next by describing verses 2-8 with the phrase "in those days," thus referring to them as the historical circumstances in which something else happened, something more important . So the emphasis of the passage is in verses 9-15. Verse 1: Introduction Verses 2-8: John's preparatory ministry Verses 2-5: In fulfillment of prophecy, John appeared to prepare God's people for Jesus' ministry, which led to widespread repentance and baptism. Verses 6-8: John, who dressed like Elijah, proclaimed that one mightier than he was coming, who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. On Elijah, see 2 Kings 1:8; Mal 3:1; 4:5-6; Mark 9:13. Verses 9-15: Jesus' greater ministry Verses 9-11: Jesus was God's beloved Son, attested from Heaven by the Father and the Spirit. CONTRAST: John was a messenger for the Lord, but Jesus was the Son of the Father's delight, who had the Spirit without measure! See John 3:28-30 about Jesus being greater than John, John being just the friend of the bridegroom. Verses 12-13: Jesus was tempted by Satan for 40 days, but given heavenly aid. CONTRAST: John lived and preached in the wild, but Jesus was assaulted by Satan and strengthened by angels! The Spirit's coming upon Christ here is reminiscent of OT heroes, except that never in a visible form! Then that same "Spirit" led him into the wilderness. Christ is filled with the Spirit for his ministry. "The heavens" in 10b and "the angels" in 13d shows God's approbation of his ministry. Verses 14-15: Jesus preached the gospel of the imminent kingdom of God. CONTRAST: John preached that someone greater was coming, but Jesus preached that prophecy was being fulfilled, and that he was the king of the imminent kingdom of God! I connected 9-13 as a Progression , and then the whole as a Progression with 14-15, because I saw the first two events as connected more closely, with the Spirit in both, and heaven in both; after those events, Jesus left Judah, at a later point ("after John was arrested," 14a), and came back to Galilee (thus bookending the second half of the passage with 9a).