MARK




MARK : The story of Jesus Christ begins with the birth of the "messenger," John the Baptist, who lived in the wilderness, teaching that everyone should be baptised to publicly show their decision to change their lives. John the Baptist said that "I baptize you with water, but He (referring to Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." (Mark 1:8) Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, when the Spirit descended on Jesus "like a dove" and heaven responded, "...You are My Son who I love; with you I am well pleased." (Mark 1:11) After Jesus' baptism, he was tempted by Satan in the desert, then going to Galilee to preach the "good news." Jesus' healing the sick and destroying demons from the demon-possessed are presented as He went throughout Galilee, with the news spreading far and wide, and with large numbers of people coming to see Him. After King Herod had killed John the Baptist (with his head brought to Herodias' daughter on a tray), he thought that Jesus was John the Baptist raised from the dead. (Mark 6:14-29)


CAPERNAUM HEALING (Mark 2:1-12):
This story is of a paralyzed man being lowered through the roof on a stretcher, with Jesus' healing him, saying "...Son, your sins are forgiven!" (Mark 2:5) This upset many Jewish religious leaders, who thought of this as "blaspheming" (dishonoring God).


Asked why He would eat with and associate with people that were not well thought of (tax collectors and sinners), Jesus said, "...It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mark 2:17)


Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God:


Jesus had many statements regarding how to live; some important ones were:


Jesus had many story-illustrations (parables -- simple stories illustrating a moral or religious lesson) for people of his time.

An example:

Jesus performed many healings and miracles. Summaries include:

  1. Disciples in terrible storm with high waves -- winds quieted, calmed (Mark 4:35-41)
  2. Woman with 12-year hemorrhage -- healed by touching His clothes (Mark 5:24-34)
  3. Feeding 5000 men with five loaves and two fish, with 12 basketfuls left over (Mark 6:35-44)
  4. Walking on the water, calming the wind and waves (Mark 6:46-52)
  5. Demon-removal from the daughter of a Gentile (Mark 7:25-30)
  6. Feeding 4000 people with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish, with 7 basketfuls left over (Mark 8:1-9)
  7. Bartimaeus, blind beggar -- sight restored (Mark 10:46-52)


    Jesus had many other main points, some including:

    1. "...all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin." (Mark 3:28-29)
    2. "Whoever does God's will is My brother and sister and mother." (Mark 3:35)
    3. On His home town (Nazareth): "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." (Mark 6:4)
    4. On a rich person getting into heaven (Mark 10:17-27), Jesus said "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (Mark 10:25) And yet, He also said, "...all things are possible with God." (Mark 10: 27)
    5. "Watch out for the teachers of the law (i.e., of religion). They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues...for a show make lengthy prayers..." (Mark 12:38-40)


    Jesus' disagreements with the Pharisees and Sadducees were further told:

    • Pharisees question on not following the ritual washing ceremony before eating. Jesus answer: "Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.'" (Mark 7:15-16) "All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'" (Mark 7:23)
    • Pharisees question on divorce (Mark 10:2-12). Jesus answer: "...Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery." (Mark 10:11-12)


    Jesus' interactions with his disciples were described:

    1. Jesus asked His disciples, "Who do people say I am?" They responded that some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah back to life. Jesus said, "Who do you say I am?" Peter (Simon PETER) responded, "You are the Christ (i.e., the Messiah; the Anointed One)." (Mark 8:27-30)
    2. To His disciples and the crowds, He said, "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life (or soul) will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:34-36)
    3. To Peter, James, and John on a mountain top, Jesus transfigured to white, dazzling; and Elijah and Moses appeared along with a Voice saying "This is My Son, Whom I love. Listen to Him." (Mark 9:2-10)
    4. In response to questions from them on Elijah needing to return before the Messiah, Jesus said that he had already come and had been abused (implied), possibly indicating that John the Baptist could have been Elijah. (Mark 9:11-13)
    5. He said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." And, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in My name welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me does not welcome Me but the One who sent Me." (Mark 9:35-37)
    6. When the disciples told children to go away from Jesus, He said to them, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these...anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." (Mark 10:13-15)
    7. James and John wanted to "sit at Your right and ...at Your left in Your glory." Jesus told them "These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared," and also said that whoever wants "to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all." (Mark10:35-45)
    8. On Temple offerings, Jesus watched a poor widow put in two small copper coins. Jesus said to the disciples, "...this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything -- all she had to live on." (Mark 12:41-44)
    9. Concerning signs of the "End of the Age," Jesus told the disciples, "And the gospel must first be preached to all nations." (Mark 13:10) And, "...following that distress (i.e., at the end times), 'the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'" (Mark 13:24-25) Then, the angels will be sent out "to gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens." (Mark 13:27) "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away." (Mark 13:31)


    JESUS IN JERUSALEM (Mark 11):

    Jesus rode a colt that had never been ridden and was praised by crowds of people as He rode into Jerusalem to shouts of "Hosanna! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!" In Jerusalem, Jesus drove out the buyers, sellers, and moneychangers, saying "My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations..."


    JESUS' PASSOVER SUPPER (THE LORD'S SUPPER) in Jerusalem (Mark 14):

    With the twelve disciples, in a large upper room, Jesus said that one of His disciples would betray Him. Then, Jesus took bread, and said, "Take it -- this is My body." And, a cup of wine was passed to all of them, with Jesus saying, "This is My blood of the covenant (i.e., the new agreement of God and man), which is poured out for many..." (Mark 14:22-24). After the supper, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus told them that, after He was raised to life again, He would go to Galilee and meet them. Also, after the supper, Jesus said that Peter would deny Jesus three times before the rooster crowed the second time in the morning; Peter said that would not happen.


    JESUS' "TRIAL" (Mark 14;15):

    In Gethsemane, at night, Jesus asked God, if possible, to "Take this cup from Me." In the morning, Judas greeted Jesus, and an armed crowd took Jesus to meet the Sanhedrin (Jewish Supreme Court). The high priest asked Him, "Are you the Christ (or Messiah)...?" and Jesus answered "I am..." They voted for the death sentence. Peter denied knowing Jesus three times before the rooster crowed the second time that morning. Jesus was carried to Pilate, the Roman governor, who asked Jesus, "Are You the King of the Jews?" Jesus said, "Yes, it is as you say." Pilate offered to release Jesus or Barabbas (a murderer), with the crowd to decide. The crowd, urged by the Jewish priests, asked to free Barabbas and to crucify Jesus. Roman soldiers mocked Jesus, dressed Him in a purple robe, gave Him a crown of thorns, beat Him, and then led Him to be crucified.


    THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS (Mark 15):

    Jesus' cross was carried by Simon, a man from Cyrene, to Golgotha (meaning "The Place of the Skull"). Jesus was offered wine drugged with myrrh, which He refused. The crucifixion took place at "the third hour," with a written notice of His charge, reading "THE KING OF THE JEWS." Two robbers were crucified, with crosses on either side of His cross. After three hours on the cross, darkness occurred for three hours, at which point Jesus said "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" (Aramaic, meaning "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"); then Jesus "breathed His last." The curtain in the Temple tore in two (this signifying access to God now by man).

    Joseph, a man from Arimathea, asked Pilate for Jesus' body, took Jesus' body down from the cross, put it in a long linen cloth and laid it in a tomb cut out of rock, and rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.


    THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS (Mark 16):

    The next evening, Mary Magdalene, another Mary, and Salome bought spices to "anoint" the body of Jesus. The following morning, at sunrise, they went to the tomb and saw a young man in a white robe (i.e., angel of the Lord), who told them that Jesus was not there, that He had "risen" (come back to life) and was going to Galilee. Mary Magdalene saw Him that Sunday morning, and she told His disciples, who did not believe her. Later, as Jesus appeared to the eleven remaining disciples, He said, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:15-16) And, Jesus said that believers could drive out demons, speak in new tongues (i.e., new languages), handle snakes, drink poison, and heal sick people. Then, Jesus was "...taken up into heaven and He sat at the right hand of God." (Mark 16:19)


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