Read Today's Passage
I find in my reading that Mark is very dry. I read the chapter and find that I yearn to know more details about what is happening. Did Jesus say anything to James and John beyond what we read here? What else does he say to Simon? And what about Simon's family? He has a mother-in-law, so obviously he is married (or was). Does he have children? Other in-laws? What is it that motivates Jesus to be baptized by John? Mark chooses to be pretty straightforward with his presentation of the Gospel. He gives us the larger picture, but so far is not diving into what happens in the human heart, or what is going on in Jesus' mind.
There are a few things that really struck me as I read. First, John's quoting of Isaiah 40.3 (in verse 2), giving Israel hope in their Messiah. Is this what might have attracted so many people to come to John for baptism? I mean, today we have to search for people who want to hear the Gospel far more often than we have people come to us. Is it something in our lifestyle that makes people not come to us looking for God?
Simon, Andrew, James and John all willingly left their jobs to follow a man they had more than likely never met or heard of before. How crazy is that? Would any of us do that today if Jesus showed up?
Was Jesus keeping demons from saying who He was simply because of what we see at the end of the chapter, or is there more to it?
Those are my thoughts. What are yours?
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4 comments:
I was amazed that the verse said, "The whole Judean countryside and all of Jerusalem went out to him [John]. Wow, did all of the Jews really go? Why did they go? How did they know to go? Well, the study Bible say this is an "obvious hyperbole" and not all of them really went. John was the first prophet in a long time, so it must have been a big deal when he started preaching and Mark is trying to make that point.
If we knew what drew people to John we'd be out doing that same thing right now, right? Is it easy but we don't do it, or is it really difficult to preach repentance and only a few have the gift? John had a reason to preach, there was going to be a specific event (Jesus' coming) that he could point to to create a need for repentance.
Think of the election. Everyone has the power to contact their elected official and try to influence the congress agenda. Instead we want one election to change the entire executive administration and bring the sweeping change we think will solve the problems. The Jews could jump through hoops of daily and annual ritual, and try and fulfill the Law to be spiritual. Or, they could go about their regular business ignoring their responsibility for the situation and wait for the Messiah to solve all of their problems. People are generally impatient.
I find it interesting that the first time Jesus confronts an evil spirit it immediately recognizes Jesus as who He is and is frightened of Him, knowing that it's time is limited. After that Jesus won't let them speak up. Why do you think that was? My guess is that He didn't want to turn His message into an arguing match between Himself and Satan's demons. That would distract peoples attention. Isn't that what the devil does now. Tries to distract up from Jesus?
I think you might be hitting the nail square on the head Nancy. That is one of Satan's favorite tactics, and how better to distract people from who Jesus is than to show them Him arguing with someone...
The other thing I notice is the lanuage of "at once" or "immediately" or other similar phrases. What is Mark trying to tell us by using those phrases frequently?
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