Sunday School Lesson 1 - Mark 1:9-20 - CALLS
INTRODUCTION TO STUDY: Although the gospel of Mark does not name its author, the early church fathers commonly ascribe authorship to Mark, also identified as the "John Mark" mentioned in Acts 12:12; 15:37-38, and 2 Tim. 4:11. Mark is known to have been a companion of the apostle Peter from whom he learned a first-hand account of Jesus's ministry and teachings. Mark's gospel is almost universally held to have been the first of three "synoptic" gospels written, most likely between 55 and 59 A.D. When Mark's gospel is read synoptically (= with the same eye) beside the gospels of Matthew and Luke, there is a very distinct literary connection between them, and because it was the earliest, is thought to have formed the outline for both of those gospels, though the sequence of events differ. As the shortest of all four gospel accounts (678 verses), Mark's gospel was targeted primarily to Gentile believers who had previously heard and believed the gospel message but lacked a full biographical account of Jesus' ministry and teachings. Compared to Matthew's gospel, which was intended for a Jewish audience, Mark's gospel doesn't feature a genealogy of Jesus and has fewer OT quotations. This gospel is also unique because it places greatest emphasis on Jesus' actions rather than His teachings, and moves very rapidly from one episode in the life of Christ to the next.
In today's lesson, Marks covers a lot of territory in these 12 verses. They pull together Jesus' baptism (vv. 9-11), His temptation (vv. 12-13), His announcement of the coming near of the kingdom and call to repentance and belief (vv. 14-15), and His call of the first disciples (vv. 16-20). Jesus' journey through these verses parallels the Israelites passage through the waters (the Red sea) and then through the wilderness, where they encountered many temptations; however, where the Israelites repeatedly failed their test, Jesus would not fail His.
Read Mark 1:9-11 - JESUS BAPTIZED BY JOHN IN THE JORDAN
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; 11 and a voice came out of the heavens: "You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased."
v. 9a: "In those days" - This is an eschatological term (Jer. 31:33; Joel 3:1), announcing that the "One coming who is mightier than I" (John the Baptist in Mk. 1:7) has arrived.
v.9b: "Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee" - Because Jerusalem is the site of the Temple, and thus associated with the presence of God, we might think that Jesus, like Samuel would grow up in the Temple (1 Sam. 1-2) rather than Nazareth, an obscure village in the backwater province of Galilee that is mentioned nowhere in the OT or in any Rabbinic literature. Yet, it is from Galilee that Jesus comes, and it will be to Galilee that Jesus will return after His resurrection. In contrast, Jerusalem and the Temple will be places associated with His opposition, not His support. The first 10 chapters of the gospel, which covers the bulk of Jesus' public ministry, take place in Galilee. Chapters 11-16, located in Jerusalem, cover Jesus' trial, crucifixion and resurrection, along with the events leading up to them.
v. 9c: "and was baptized by John in the Jordan" - You might ask why Jesus, a sinless person, needed to be baptized. The reason was three-fold: (1) to identify Jesus with the sins of His people, though He Himself was free from sin; (2) to identify Him as the Son of God; and (3) to symbolize his coming death, burial, and resurrection, which, all taken together identified Him as fully man and fully God. According to Christian Tradition, the baptism is thought to have taken place in the vicinity of the northern Jordan River just south of the Sea of Galilee.
v. 10a: "Immediately coming up out of the water" - The phrase "coming up out of" combined with the word "baptized" (Gk. baptizo = immersed) suggest that Jesus underwent full immersion baptism.
v. 10b: "He saw the heavens opening" - This phrase alludes to Isaiah prayer that God would "rend the heavens and come down" (Isa. 64:1); and Mark clearly intends to demonstrate that this event at Jesus' baptism was the answer to Isaiah's prayer.
v. 10c: "and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him" - The "Spirit" was God's manner and sign for anointing Jesus for His public ministry, and the "dove descending" symbolized the gentleness, purity, of truthfulness of the Holy Spirit.
v. 11: "and a voice came out of the heavens: 'You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased'" - In this phrase we hear God Himself in an audible voice confirm Jesus' identity as His son. Notice that God directs these worlds to Jesus, and it is He who hears them. We cannot know for sure the extent to which Jesus understood His unique status as the Son of God prior to His baptism; however, these words would serve to remove any ambiguity from His mind. And we should notice that all three persons of the Trinity are involved in this transaction: (1) the Father speaks , (2) the Son is baptized, and (3) the Spirit descends. (In effect-a word picture of the Trinity.)
Read Luke 1:12-13 - THE SPIRIT IMPELLED HIM INTO THE WILDERNESS
12 Immediately the Spirit *impelled Him to go out into the wilderness. 13 And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.
v. 12: "Immediately the Spirit *impelled Him to go out into the wilderness" - The adverb "immediately" is one of Mark's favorite words (used 47 times) and is characteristic of the fast pace of the entire gospel. For those of you using the NASB, the "*" preceding a verb denotes a change from present to past tense to conform to modern usage. The whole sense of this verse shows Jesus being rushed from one venue to the other (from the river to the wilderness with no break). Why? After 30 years of life, Jesus was prepared to act in the job for which He was sent, the time to begin was now! Those of us who served in the military have all had a somewhat similar experience: After taking a physical exam and being tested and processed-in, we new recruits were all quickly sworn-in, put on a bus or an airplane and immediately went to boot camp. No party!
v. 13a1: "And He was in the wilderness" - In all three of the synoptic gospels, Jesus goes straight from His baptism into temptation. We might think of His baptism as an official commissioning and His temptation as a strengthening and toughening stage; again, using the military analogy, like a military recruit who goes through boot camp training to be conditioned and prepared for war. Throughout Israel's history, the "wilderness" was a place where the Israelites were often tested, and though they often failed, it was also a place where they had been deepened spiritually.
v. 13a2: "forty days being tempted by Satan" - Forty is a Biblical number often associated with intense spiritual events: 40 days and nights of rain during Noah's flood (Gen. 7); Moses spending 40 days and nights on Mt. Sinai (Ex. 24 and 34); and Elijah journeying 40 days and nights to Mt. Horeb (1 Kings 19). Here, Jesus is tempted 40 days by Satan. The Greek word used for "tempted" (peirazó) lit. translates to a trial designed to test and tempt someone; a type of test that gives you options of choosing what is right or what is wrong. We might call this type of testing as something designed to set someone up for failure.
v. 13b1: "and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him" - The "wild beasts" mentioned are a mystery. That they are "wild" implies they may have been dangerous something to be feared.
Lions and poisonous reptiles are known to have been in Israel in those times.
v. 13b2: "and the angels were ministering to Him" - The Greek word used here for "ministering" (diēkonoun) is a derivative of the word used for "deacon," which both mean to provide service. Ir could mean providing food and drink or moral support. It gives us a picture of two opposing camps: the angels and the Spirit on one hand as Jesus support group and Satan and his minions on the other trying to take him down. Unlike the other gospels, Mark doesn't report the details or the outcome.
Read Mark 1:14-15 - JESUS PREACHES THE KINGDOM HAS COME NEAR IN GALILEE
14 Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."
v. 14: "Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God" - Matthew 14:3-12, Luke 3:19-20, and John 6:17-29 all report that John was arrested and imprisoned because he had publically rebuked Herod Antipas. But in the broader context, we see God's plan being implemented, where at the beginning of this gospel, John was the forerunner and preacher, and now Jesus takes his place. Jesus not only preaches the "Gospel (good news) of God" but is the embodiment of this good news, and He's much more than John's successor because He has been baptized with the Holy Spirit and so is able Himself to baptize others with the Spirit.
v. 15a: "The time is fulfilled" - The "time" (Gk. kairos) of which He speaks is not just any old time but a decisive, opportune moment in history.
v. 15b: "and the kingdom of God is at hand" - The gospel (good news) has two components: (1) the "time" of the coming of the gospel is fulfilled and (2) "the kingdom of God is at hand," which means the kingdom comes to a person whenever he or she welcomes God as king of their lives.
v. 15c: "repent and believe in the gospel" - The gospel (good news) also comes with two requirements: (1) to repent and (2) to believe. This expresses the fundamental truth that repenting of your sin and believing in Jesus is the only right response to the gospel.
Read Mark 1:16-20 - JESUS CALLS FOUR DISCIPLES
16 As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." 18 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 19 Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.
vv. 16-20: I'm going to simply summarize these verses rather than analyze them one at a time. The call of these first four disciples marks the opening of Jesus public ministry. Mark's account of the call of these men is much more succinct than reported in the other gospels. Questions like why did Jesus call these four disciples and why did they agree to follow Him aren't really answered in the text. Apparently Jesus saw something positive in them-not so much what they were at that time, but what they had the potential to be. It's obvious that the four men must have seen something convincing about Jesus-compelling enough to cause to drop everything and walk away from their jobs and families. All of them had to make sacrifices in order to follow Jesus. We should also notice that it was Jesus' initiative-not theirs-that result in their becoming Jesus' followers. This is typical of Biblical call stories and suffice it to say that God chooses whom God chooses, a mystery.
APPLICATION-The lesson can be boiled-down to one all-encompassing question: Is Jesus worthy?
FUNDAMENTAL TRUTH: We follow Jesus because He is worthy. As the lesson text proves, Jesus is the Son of God who came to bring us the good news of eternal salvation (v. 15 God's kingdom) through the power of His Holy Spirit (v. 10). The good news Jesus brings comes with two very basic requirements: (1) to repent and (2) to believe, which expresses the central truth that repenting of our sin and believing in Jesus is the only right response to the gospel. Accepting the gospel is an all or nothing proposition. The big question that confronts every human being about trusting Jesus is the same: Is He worth it? At some point in your life there will be a cost of following Him, sacrifices you will need to make-things you need to stop doing and give up, answering the call to serve in some capacity, obeying God moral commandments, and in general, putting God above everything else in your life. It's not always easy. Would these sacrifices make the cost of following Jesus too great? This is a life or death question.
PRAYER: Our Father in heaven, this is Your day, and I believe I can say for all of the people present this morning in this good church, that we are thankful to be here, to be in Your Almighty Presence, and to worship you for Who You are. We thank You for this nation where we are free to share the Gospel message that Mark talked about this morning. And Lord, it's truly amazing that the right response to this Gospel message is so simple and so easy-(1) to humbly repent before You of our sins and (2) confess Your Son Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. For anyone listening this morning, whether you're here in this church or watching us on Facebook, Mark's gospel may be calling you to make a decision-Today. If that is the case, please stay for the morning worship service and come forward at the invitation. Pastor JR or Pastor Philiip will be glad to talk to you about and pray with you. But you really don't have to be here; you can ask Jesus to enter your heart and save you as soon as I finish this prayer, and it's in Jesus' holy name I ask these things, AMEN.
