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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781414393810 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Tyndale House Publishers |
| Publication date: | 11/08/2016 |
| Series: | Swindoll's Living Insights New Testament Commentary , #2 |
| Pages: | 424 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d) |
Read an Excerpt
Insights on Mark
By Charles R. Swindoll
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Copyright © 2016 Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4143-9381-0
CHAPTER 1
DISCIPLES CALLED (MARK 1:1–3:35)
Jesus' earthly ministry — and Mark's Gospel — begins with the long-awaited Messiah's individual baptism in the Jordan (1:9-11) and personal testing and temptation (1:12-13). However, though this commissioning and launch into public ministry was a very personal, individual affair, Jesus never intended to redeem the world from the dominion of Satan all by Himself. Because He is God — all powerful, all knowing, all sufficient — He could accomplish this miraculous feat on His own. But He chose not to. For reasons known only among the three persons of the Trinity, God's plan to save humanity and to transform the world involves people. He seeks and invites disciples. He calls ordinary men and women, like you and me, to become students of His person and His work and then, through a lifelong process of internal renovation, to become responsible agents of His redemptive plan.
For this plan to work, however, God's people must be completely dedicated to His cause. A mission this critical requires people ready to offer their complete, undivided devotion without condition, reservation, or hesitation. In the process of discipleship, we become like servants of a great master who teaches and employs us. Most people, however, are ill-prepared to go "all-in" right away. Of course, the Lord knows this. So, in the beginning, He merely issues a call to follow. The disciple's only responsibility is to heed this call. When we say, "Yes, Lord, here am I," God will take the lead.
Discipleship can be stretching. As Jesus took the lead in revealing the kingdom of God — both its message and its power — His disciples undoubtedly found themselves in uncomfortable situations. Their Master took stances that were not always popular. A survey of this section finds Jesus and His followers accused of excessive fraternizing with sinners (2:15-17) and violating rules about the Sabbath (2:23-28). There is even a question about whether Jesus was a messenger of Satan (3:20-30)! The disciples would learn to commit to their Master in spite of such adversity, and they would learn the true teaching of the kingdom of God. This would prepare them for steadfast ministry at His side when the going really got rough.
This initial period in Jesus' ministry led up to His selection of twelve of His disciples to be the apostles (3:14-19) — those He would send out with the power and message of the kingdom.
Are You Ready for Some Good News?
MARK 1:1-13
NLT
1 This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. It began 2 just as the prophet Isaiah had written:
"Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way. 3 He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord's coming! Clear the road for him!'"
4 This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. 5 All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. 6 His clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey.
7 John announced: "Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am — so much greater that I'm not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!"
9 One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. 10 As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice from heaven said, "You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy."
12 The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness, 13 where he was tempted by Satan for forty days. He was out among the wild animals, and angels took care of him.
"Always grab the reader by the throat in the first paragraph, sink your thumbs into his windpipe in the second, and hold him against the wall until the tagline." That's the advice of Paul O'Neil, an author, playwright, and television producer whose career began in the 1950s. More than sixty years later, his advice is timelier than ever. Today's readers gain much of their information from two- to three-minute television sound bites and three-hundred-word Internet articles. Writers today must understand that reality or risk losing their audience before the tagline.
John Mark, writing two thousand years ago, understood the importance of grabbing the reader by the throat. While we today struggle with a million tiny diversions, the Christians in Rome were driven to distraction by a single ominous prospect: the very real potential of a grisly, agonizing death by torture. Roman officials were rounding up believers by the hundreds and forcing upon them the choice of profaning Christ or suffering torture.
Writing about a later persecution under Emperor Trajan around ad 100, a Roman governor named Pliny the Younger described how he conducted these tribunals:
The method I have observed towards those who have been brought before me as Christians is this: I asked them whether they were Christians; if they admitted it, I repeated the question twice, and threatened them with punishment; if they persisted, I ordered them to be at once punished: for I was persuaded, whatever the nature of their opinions might be, a contumacious and inflexible obstinacy certainly deserved correction. ... [Some of the accused] repeated after me an invocation to the gods, and offered religious rites with wine and incense before your statue (which for that purpose I had ordered to be brought, together with those of the gods), and even reviled the name of Christ.
John Mark understood the urgency of his narrative, so he wasted no time getting his readers into the story of Jesus and His disciples, using just a handful of words (twelve in our translation) to set the stage. Compare that to Matthew's Gospel, which begins with a genealogy containing no fewer than forty-seven names (many of them unpronounceable). Luke's account opens with an almost eighty-word sentence in the NASB translation before the action begins. John's readers must wrestle with a philosophical prologue of eighteen verses before he describes the ministry of John the Baptizer. Mark, on the other hand, gets right to business, launching us into the narrative like a pebble from a slingshot.
He quickly establishes the arrival of Jesus as the fulfillment of prophecies given centuries prior by Isaiah and in His own time by John the Baptizer (1:2-3, 7-8). Although Jesus bears the Spirit and is God's beloved Son (1:11), He would be subject to temptation and trial, just as Mark's ancient audience was — and as we are today. Believers under trial can find encouragement as we read about how Jesus would remain faithful and be ministered to by angels (1:13).
— 1:1 —
In the secular sphere, the verb form of the word for "gospel," euangelizo [2097], was used to describe the duties of an official messenger bringing news — usually good — concerning the progress of battle, the birth of a royal, the pending arrival of the king, or other matters. The early church borrowed this term, emphasizing the ideas of liberation and victory and applying it specifically to eternal salvation in Jesus Christ.
Though Mark describes his narrative as "beginning" the account of Jesus Christ and the gospel, the plan of God to redeem humanity from evil existed before time, space, the universe, or anything else came into being — including evil itself (cf. Rev. 13:8). The good news of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ existed in the mind of the Trinity even as God fashioned the world, filled it with life, and called His creation good.
Stop for a moment and think about that. God was not shocked by Adam's rebellion in the Garden. The reign of sin and evil didn't take the Creator by surprise. The Lord didn't have to adapt His plan in reaction to the subversion of Satan. He saw it all. Satan's sedition. Adam's rebellion. Cain's murder. My sin. Your sin. God saw everything before the first moment of creation, and He wove His plan of redemption into the fabric of history.
While the gospel existed before creation, God began to accomplish the plan through the work of Jesus on earth. Mark links the appearance of the good news to the official beginning of the Messiah's public ministry. This is not just any official announcement; this good news concerns Jesus, who bears the title "Christ," which is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew title "Messiah." Moreover, this Christ is "the Son of God," an explicit assertion of His deity. The good news isn't a mystery to be unraveled. The good news isn't a philosophy to comprehend, a perspective to adopt, or a set of life principles to apply. The good news is a person. He is the long-awaited Messiah, God in human flesh, whose name is Jesus.
— 1:2-3 —
Mark didn't write this Gospel narrative primarily to authenticate the identity of Jesus or to convince anyone to embrace Him as Savior, King, or Messiah. He wrote to a predominantly Gentile audience that had already accepted the gift of salvation from sin and identified themselves as Christ-followers. Even so, Mark linked the history of Jesus to God's covenant relationship with Israel. After all, Jesus didn't start a brand-new religion. He didn't suddenly appear on the earthly stage with no prior context. His life and ministry flowed out of a long history of God's interaction with humanity.
Because Mark's original audience was Gentile and Roman, his appeal to Old Testament prophecy might seem out of place. But these Roman Gentiles were followers of Jesus, a Jewish rabbi who claimed to be the Son of God and whose original followers affirmed him as the Messiah. Jesus validated both claims by fulfilling ancient prophecy throughout His earthly ministry and then bodily and miraculously rising from the dead.
Mark's appeal to prophecy begins with a paraphrase of Malachi 3:1 as a preamble to the oracle of Isaiah 40:3. Even Gentile Christians would have been familiar with the Old Testament Scriptures; they would have learned in their gatherings that the good news of Jesus Christ grew from the soil of God's faithfulness to Israel. While Jesus came to save people from all nations, He is the King of Israel, and His future throne on earth will be established in Jerusalem. He will fulfill all of the promises given to Israel, including the promise of land made to Abraham and his progeny.
God promised through Isaiah — as well as other prophets — that a forerunner would prepare the way for the Messiah. The exhortations "Make ready the way of the Lord" and "Make His paths straight" (Mark 1:3) refer to customs no longer familiar, but everyone in the first century would have understood them immediately. In ancient times, construction crews would arrive at a city long before the planned arrival of a king to level hills, fill ditches, clear debris, and remove obstructions in order to prepare a wide, unencumbered, straight road into the heart of town. This work also served as notice to city officials: "Prepare yourselves and your city to receive the king."
— 1:4-6 —
John the Baptizer fulfilled this ancient promise. He was everything you imagine when you think "Old Testament prophet." He was an enigmatic, passionate man who chose to become the very opposite of Israel's religious elite. The Sadducees, Pharisees, chief priests, scribes, and Herodians dined on the best meat and drank the finest wine money could buy. And they had plenty of money, thanks to careful bartering with Rome. John, however, ate from the hand of God, as it were. He depended on no human institution or economy, which left him free from politics and social pressures. His lifestyle choices gave him the freedom to fear no man and to fear God alone.
While the religious elite arrayed themselves in finery, John chose, instead, to wrap himself in a rough garment of camel's hair cinched with a crude leather belt. The image recalls the apparel of Elijah (2 Kgs. 1:8; cf. Zech. 13:4), one of Israel's most courageous and revered prophets. He, too, lived off the land, beyond the reach of kings and culture.
Unlike his wealthy counterparts in Jerusalem, John called his countrymen to a "baptism of repentance" (Mark 1:4). The message proclaimed in the temple assured natural-born Jews that they had a guaranteed place in the kingdom of God by virtue of Abraham's DNA — as long as they faithfully kept the Law. Gentiles could receive this assurance by studying the Law, passing an exam, and (for males) submitting to circumcision. To mark their new status as adopted "sons of the covenant," converts were baptized.
John's preaching unsettled natural-born Jews. He proclaimed that sin had separated them from God. He urged Jews to approach the Lord like Gentiles — to repent of their sins and to mark the restart of their relationship with God by submitting to a proselyte's baptism.
Make no mistake, however: The symbol of baptism cannot save sinners any more than circumcision can save Jews. Like circumcision, baptism is supposed to be an outward symbol of one's inner devotion to God (cf. Rom. 2:25-29). Even in the Old Testament, God regarded physical circumcision as worthless apart from obedience, which He described as "circumcision of the heart" (see Lev. 26:41; Deut. 10:16; 30:6; Jer. 4:4; 9:25-26; and Ezek. 44:7, 9). John's baptism, like his ministry, mainly prepared people for the coming of the Christ.
— 1:7-8 —
Later in His ministry among the disciples, Jesus would say of John the Baptizer, "Among those born of women there is no one greater than John" (Luke 7:28). Few people in history have surrendered so much for so long with such intensity to serve God as John had. John was set apart for his role even before God allowed his aging, barren parents to conceive him. From birth, he observed the restrictions of the Nazirite vow (Num. 6:1-21). As an adult, he communed with God in the wilderness, denying himself the creature comforts of civilization in order to remain free of any entanglements of the world that might intrude on his singular devotion.
If good deeds and self-denial could save one's soul, certainly John would have earned his place in heaven. Yet his message shifted the focus away from any goodness he might claim so as to deliberately shine the spotlight on the coming Christ. Take note of his honest spiritual self-assessment: "After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals" (Mark 1:7).
This isn't false modesty. This is authenticity. This is no mere magnanimous gesture. This is true humility. At best, John recognized that his deeds counted for nothing toward salvation. In speaking of one "mightier," John didn't have physical strength in mind; he spoke of spiritual power and moral might. Comparatively, this man — the greatest servant of God up to that time — saw his own moral might as insufficient to qualify him for the lowest form of service then known. The least of household slaves removed shoes and washed feet. (Take note, also, of Mark's subtle message in this episode: Service to Christ is a privilege.)
Having compared his relative moral worth to the coming Messiah, John also contrasted their ministries. Perhaps standing hip deep in the Jordan River, immersing repentant Jews by the hundreds, John said to them, in effect, "I immerse you in water as a symbol of your newly restored relationship with God; the Christ will immerse you into God's Spirit." We can be reasonably certain that the implications of John's promise were not lost on his audience. They may not have believed him, but they understood his allusion to Old Testament prophecies describing the world under the Messiah's reign (Isa. 44:3; Ezek. 36:26-27; Joel 2:28-29).
— 1:9 —
Mark suddenly turns from the Baptizer's promise of the coming Christ to Jesus of Nazareth. "In those days" marks the general time during which John preached along the Jordan and baptized repentant Jews. Some time after John's prediction, Jesus came to be baptized.
The Son of God didn't need to repent, of course. Unlike the other participants, he would not have confessed any sins (cf. 1:5; Matt. 3:6). So the obvious question becomes, Why did Jesus have John baptize Him? Matthew's Gospel records the exchange between John and Jesus, which sheds some light on the Lord's motivation:
John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?" But Jesus answering said to him, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." (Matt. 3:14-15)
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Insights on Mark by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2016 Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc..
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Table of Contents
Contents
Author's Preface, v,The Strong's Numbering System, vii,
Introduction, 3,
Disciples Called (Mark 1:1–3:35), 11,
Disciples Culled (Mark 4:1–8:38), 104,
Disciples Cultivated (Mark 9:1–13:37), 231,
Disciples Challenged (Mark 14:1–16:20), 336,
Endnotes, 407,
List of Features and Images,