Gospel – Mark 1-2

Background of Gospel of Mark

When we think of the Gospel of Mark, we remember it as the shortest gospel book. I once heard someone said that the gospel of Mark was written in the most concise and powerful way recording mainly miracles, because it was targeted at preaching to the Romans. Then there was also a preacher who told me that every gospel book contains a full gospel to the people of that time, because they do not have the compiled Bible like we do nowadays, so each gospel book that they manage to come across is already sufficient to let them comprehend the gospel news.

Well, instead of focusing on the traditional beliefs of the gospel’s origin which you can find better on other websites, I shall just mention 2 facts that I can gather. In case you wonder who is this Mark in the title of the book, the gospel is actually written anonymously, but traditionally ascribe to John Mark, the cousin of Barnabas who went on missionary trip with Paul once, hence named… the gospel according to Mark. Secondly, he gospel can be split into 3 main parts:

1. Jesus’ Galilean ministry – Chapters 1 to 9, including the surrounding regions of Phoenicia, Decapolis, and Caesarea Philippi.

2. The Journey to Jerusalem – Chapter 10

3. The events in Jerusalem – Chapters 11 to 16

As you can see the gospel concentrates particularly on the last week of Jesus’ life. In the gospel the terms Son of Man, Son of God and the Christ appears, but the term most used is “Son of Man”.

So here we are, starting on the first passages of Mark. You will be surprised to find the number of events recorded in one single chapter!

Bible Passage:  Mark 1-2

Chapter 1 records briefly about John the baptist the forerunner of Christ, and then it records the baptism of Jesus, him being tempted by Satan, how he enlisted his first 4 disciples, and then 2 miracles – Jesus cast out an unclean spirit in Capernaum, and Jesus healing the Mother-in-law of Peter. In the first chapter we already see the power of the Savior – he fulfilled the prophecy, he overcame temptations, he performed miracles.

One word that caught my attention because it kept on repeating, was the word “immediately”. I’m reading NKJV version. And in the American standard version the word used was “straightaway” and it was repeated as often.

“immediately coming up from the water” v.10

“immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness” v.12

“immediately they left their nets and followed Him.” v.18

“immediately He called them” v.20

“immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught” v.21

“immediately his fame spread” v.28

“immediately the fever left her” v.31

“immediately the leprosy left him” v.42

Later I found information on the net that indeed the book of Mark uses “immediately” very often, as many as 40 times! No other gospels used the word as often.

Immediately the disciples left their nets and their father when Jesus called them. This makes me think how immediate can I respond to God’s calling?

At the end of Chapter 2, Jesus said “No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment”, and “no one puts new wine into old wineskins”, and he also thought them the true significance of Sabbath day, and that Sabbath day is made for man, not man for sabbath.

This makes me think that when God works, things can move really fast. And when Jesus came, He was not going to slowly convert their mindsets, but to bring about a flip! For all the misunderstandings they had of His teachings, it is time to make the 180degrees turn to the truth!

About the works of God happening quickly, I remember years ago I was asked by a RE teacher what do I think about the then recent terrorist attacks and natural catastrophes of the familiar numbers 921 and 911, I said that it felt that Jesus 2^nd coming can come anytime soon. If he wills, all the signs of His coming can happen faster than we can imagine, quicker than we can react. So now as the signs of the 2^nd coming are already put before our eyes, perhaps more apparent to some than to others, can we afford to take our time slowly to see if we are going to get out of our comfort zone and whether we want to be zealous for God or continue in our indulgence or sedentary spiritual life?

I would like to write about the event of Jesus forgives and heals a paralytic.

There is this question that Jesus posed which made me ponder a bit.

He asked “Which is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘ Arise, take up your bed and walk’?

This sounds like a rhetorical question, isn’t it? There is only God who can forgive sins so there should be no one else who is fit to say to another “your sins are forgiven you”

But really, which do you think it’s easier to say as a man? If someone were to say your sins are forgiven, you cannot really prove if what he says is true or not. But if someone tells a paralyzed man to stand up and walk, you will get to see if he fulfills his words with a miracle or not rightaway.

When someone makes a statement like this before you, will you be more concerned whether what he speaks is true or not, or whether he has the power to perform miracles or not?

Many times people base their beliefs on miracles, on results, on power, which is not right.

If you were the paralytic, or the 4 men who took a lot of trouble to bring him to Jesus, would you be happy to hear this statement that “your sins are forgiven”, or would you be disappointed that Jesus did not say immediately “your faith has made you well?”

if you were a witness at the scene, would you hope to see a miracle or would you be glad for the man whose sins have been forgiven?

Do we need to be healed of our diseases more than we need forgiveness?