INTRODUCTION: THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH (1:1-13)

a. READ this segment through at one sitting, slowly and attentively,

b. DIVIDE it into the following 3 paragraphs: 1:1-8; 1:9-11; 1:12-13.
c. GIVE an appropriate title to each paragraph and write it on your Master Chart.
d. NOTE on your Master Chart any key verse(s) and key word(s) you may have discovered in this
segment

1.1 Read 1:1-8.

a. “Gospel” means “good news” and “Christ’ means “Messiah” or “the anointed one”.
What is the good news that Mk wishes us to hear and believe?
b. Mk quotes from two Old Testament prophets in 1:2-3 One is Isaiah. Who is the other?
Why does Mark refer to OT prophecy?
c. Look at John the Baptizer.
• What do we learn about this man of God in this para?
• Compare the description of John in v.6 with that of Elijah in 2 Kings 1:8.
• Why does Mk compare John with Elijah? Look up Malachi 4:5 and Mk 9:11-13.
d. What are the two key points in the Baptizer’s preaching as found in 1:4-8?
e. What two truths about Jesus do we learn in 1:7-8?
f. What is the difference between John’s baptism and Jesus’ baptism (1:4-8)?
g. The real focus of these first eight verses is not John but Jesus. Would you agree?

1.2 Read 1:9-11.

a. The NT writers clearly say that Jesus was without sin (2 Cor 5:21; Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:22).
Then why did Jesus ask for baptism? Three answers have been given by Bible scholars
which indicate his role as the Servant Messiah of Isaiah:
1. to identify himself with the people’s sinfulness and their need for cleansing (cf. Is
53:12; Phil 2:7);
2. to fulfil all righteousness (Mt 3:15);
3. to do his Father’s will (cf. Jn 5:30).
b. What do verses 10 and 11 mean? To understand them we need to know something of
Jewish beliefs and expectations at the time.
1. The Jews looked back with yearning to the days of the prophets for in their own
days God seemed in some ways very remote. The Spirit had not been sent since
the days of the prophets and the voice of God which had spoken directly to the
prophets was no longer heard directly.
2. In the past it was believed, God had been in the habit of piercing the heavens to
come to men’s assistance (cf Pss 1&9; 144:5; 2 Sam 22:10). But now, despite
entreaties (Is 84), the sky had become a fixed barrier between heaven and earth.
3. But the Jews continued to hope: they looked for a decisive deliverance by the
hand of God himself when the heavens would once again be rent asunder and
the voice and Spirit of God would descend to earth.
4. What Mk is saying then in these verses is that this hope of deliverance was being
fulfilled in the person of Jesus.
 c. On voices:
1. Do you hear 2 voices in this para and the previous para?
2. Whose voices, are they?
3. To whom does each voice witness?
d. “Thou art my beloved son; with thee I am well pleased” is not exactly a scripture
quotation. It echoes, however, the messianic Ps 2:7 and the servant song of Is 42:1.
Read these references.
e. What references to the three Persons of the Trinity do you see in the segment?

1.3. Read 1:12-13.

a. Compare Mk’s brief reference to the temptation of Jesus with the accounts in Mt 4:1-11
and Lk 4:1-13. Mk’s emphasis is on the conflict between Jesus and Satan. It was the
current Jewish belief that the Messiah was God’s agent to overthrow Satan and all his
powers; there-fore, a tremendous battle, or trial of strength, between the Messiah and
Satan would be an integral element in the final days.
b. Which two details indicate Jesus’ victory over Satan? This victory, how-ever, was not a
final one: the struggle and conflict with Satan will continue throughout Jesus’ ministry.
Expect to find Mk making constant references in his gospel to the victory of the power
of Jesus over the power of Satan.
c. Mk’s gospel was written in Rome in the late 60s as an encouragement to Christians
suffering persecution under Nero.
1. Tacitus, a Roman historian, wrote that Emperor Nero found the Christians to be
convenient scapegoats for Rome’s disastrous fire. Christians were rounded up.
some were crucified, some torn apart by wild beasts, some made into human
torches.
2. The gospel reflects, here and there, the crisis which the Roman Christians faced.
Here we see Jesus driven into the desert where he is “with the wild beasts”.
Christians facing the beasts of the arena would do well to remember their
Master and draw strength from him!

CONCLUSION
a. What light does this segment throw on YOUR PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP TO
JESUS CHRIST?
b. What is your prayerful response?
c. As in the case of Jesus, struggle, and conflict with evil is an integral part of the
life and ministry of Jesus’ disciple. Does this say anything to you with regard to
your own struggle and conflict with evil?
d. As further study you may want to:
• look up the word “Satan” in a Bible Dictionary and write out a brief outline;
• use the Concordance and other Bible resources to understand the place of
temptation and trial in our lives.
e. Did you or your group find any verse(s) in this segment puzzling? Did your group
disagree on the interpretation of any verse?