Mark Chapter 1: 1- 8
Verse 1: An introduction. Recognizes Jesus Christ as the ‘gospel’ and as God.
Verse 2-3: Prophecy from Isaiah (Isaiah 40:3) regarding the coming of John the Baptist.
Verse 4-7: Summary of John the Baptist’s work
Verse 7-8: John the Baptist points to Christ.
Interpretation:
Mark opens with the written recognition of Jesus Christ as both the gospel and the Son of God. It’s important to recognize that gospel is the ‘good news’ or the fulfillment of the scripture characterized by God’s salvation. For the jews the good news sounded like it was going to be salvation from their enemies and the establishment of a physical kingdom. But the good news of Jesus Christ was of perfect spiritual salvation. After the cornerstone is laid Mark summarizes John the Baptist’s ministry. John the Baptist humbly worked toward Christ, whose work he recognized as greater than his own. John’s work was in baptism that recognized the person as apart from God and the emergent person as one who was now pursuing Him. In verse 7 and 8 John the Baptist proclaims that his work of calling Israel to repentance was about to be dwarfed by Christ who would perfectly baptize with the power of God.
Application:
The baptism that John performed was a symbolic turning or washing of former ways. This was a baptism of action. John baptized those who recognized their sin and when they rose from the water they were baptized into pursuing God. So we too should stop and not only recognize sin, but we should respond to it by pursuing God’s work. John’s leadership is in humility and in constant recognition of Christ. So we should go about our pursuit of Christ in humility and in constant recognition of him.
S-SUBS 