On Line Bible Study - For the week November 10 - 16, 2008

Lesson 361

The Gospel of Mark . . . 0 – 60 in 17 Verses . . .

Mark 1: 12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness . . .

The sense of the word translated here (NIV) as “sent” might be more appropriately articulated as Eugene Peterson has paraphrased it in The Message:

“At once, this same Spirit pushed Jesus out into the wild . . .”

The sense of the Greek is almost a violent shoving – as if Jesus were thrust by the Spirit into the wilderness for a time of testing. It is the same word used to describe what happened when Jesus cast out demons – In Mark 1:34 – He drove out many demons . . . (see also Mark 1:39, 43 [“sent away with strong warnings . . .”], Mark 3:15, etc.

Mark gives us none of the details we find in Matthew (4:1-11) or Luke (4:1-13) regarding the temptation of Jesus. How important are the details? We do know that there was a Jewish expectation that in the last days a battle would ensue in which the evil spirit would be conquered (Mally*).

So – two verses and we are finished with the temptations. Now, on to the heart of the matter. We are told John was imprisoned, and then this . . .

Mark 1:15 “The time has come,” said [Jesus]. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!

That is what this gospel is all about. The time is “Now”. The kingdom of God is “Near”. What should we do? “Repent; believe!” And lest you think you will have time to warm up to the idea ...

Mark 1:16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.

When we pick out the “at once’s”, “at that time’s”, “just as’s” in the first 17 verses of the Gospel, we see that this is a story that has an urgency to it, an immediacy. Mark wastes no time on the niceties; he gets right down to business, and he lets us know we have to do the same. The time to hear the message is Now! The time to respond to it is At Once. What are we waiting for?

For next week we will continue with Chapter One.

(* - Some of the information for these studies on the Gospel of Mark is taken from the Jerome Biblical Commentary article written by Edward J. Mally, S. J.)