Introduction Mark 1:1-8

 

1:1-8        The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

 

It has been written in Isaiah the prophet:  “Behold I send my messenger before your face.  He will prepare your way.  There will be a voice of one crying in the desert. “Prepare the way of the Lord and make his paths straight.”  Therefore it happened that John came baptizing in the desert and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  And all the Judaean people went out to him.  Also, there were all the Jerusalemites.  They were baptized by him in the Jordan river, confessing their sins. 

 

John had been clothed in camel hair and a leather girdle was around his waist.  He lived by eating locusts and wild honey.  He proclaimed saying  "Someone is coming who is stronger than me.  (Compared with him) I am not even competent in stooping down to loosen his sandal thongs.  I baptize you in water.  But he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit."

 

(Text is mainly a paraphrase of the Literal translation in the RSV Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, 1988)

 

 

Section A

                             LAW IS BASED UPON AUTHORITY                    1:9 - 3:35

 

Paragraph "hooks" are "where Jesus went"

1.       (Authority is) Based on God's will

1:9-11

c/f new base

            my beloved son

3:20-35

c/f new base

my brother and sister and mother

 

1:9-11  And it happened in those days that Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee came and was baptized by John in the Jordan river.  And immediately, as he was going up out of the water he saw the heavens being rent and the Spirit coming down to Continued over

3:20-35   And he comes into a house and again the crowd comes together so that they were not able to eat.  And hearing about this his relatives went forth to take control of him for they said “He is beside himself.” And the scribes from Jerusalem, coming down said, “He is possessed by Beelzebub (the devil). It is by the power of the ruler of demons that he expels demons."

And calling them to him he said to them in parables.  "How can Satan expel Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself it cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself that house will not be able to stand.  And if Satan stood up against himself and was divided, he cannot stand but is at an end.  In the same way somebody cannot come into the house of the strong man in order to plunder his goods, unless he first binds up the strong man and then he will plunder his house. 

Truly I tell you that all will be forgiven to the sons of men - their sins and blasphemies, whatever they may blaspheme.  But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit does not have forgiveness ever but is liable to an eternal sin."  He said this because they said “He has an unclean spirit”.                             Continued over