Our first reading of the new year is Mark, chapter one.
I won’t always have a comment on the reading, but simply leave a post like this one for you to comment on and discuss the reading. But today, I’ll say these couple of things.
1. Mark’s gospel usually has a lot action taking place in a short number of verses — like “Action Headline News”. In this chapter, Jesus is announced by John according to the prophecy of Isaiah; John is at work calling the people to be baptized for repentance; Jesus is baptized; John is arrested; Jesus is tempted; John is arrested; Jesus begins his ministry, calls his first disciples, heals, casts out demons, spends time alone, does more healing, and states that the Kingdom of God has come near and it’s time to repent.
Whew.
2. The supernatural world bleeds through into the natural world in this chapter. Notice the voice from heaven (God) approving Jesus’ baptism, followed by the Spirit compelling Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted, and angels attending him when his 40 days are completed. Notice also that Jesus first healing action was the casting out of a demon from a man in Capernaum, followed by many healings and demon-casting.
3. We already see that Jesus wants to control the message of his identity until the appropriate time.
4. Jesus maintains a balance between his preaching and his healing.
What did you notice in your reading? Add a comment using the link.
In 2022, I “listened’ through the Bible. Listening to the narrative parts of the Bible made them come alive in a new dimension for me. As I read through the New Testament this year, for the narrative parts, I am going to read and listen to the passages.
Good plan!
I’m so thankful Jesus came for the sick and sinful as we read in Mark 2
This chapter is a bit disorienting! It doesn’t follow a chronological order and it seems like Mark just drops a bunch of moments to introduce the wholeness of Jesus to the reader. And John is a weirdo 😂. But I like the quick action.
You’re funny Sarah. Glad you’ve joined us.
I like the way Mark starts out in a straightforward way: “This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.” This is like a title of a book or news article. He tells us exactly where is headed.
Mark 1: 13. Jesus in the wilderness..”angels took care of him.” Sometimes Pam and I talked about our interactions with angels. I bet there is a lot more going on in the spiritual realm that we know about.
Mark 1:35 …Jesus…went to an isolated place to pray. What a good reminder for us as this new year begins, to make prayer a priority.