Mark 10:43b-45
"...whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
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The Gospel of Mark is all about Jesus, the One Who came not to be served, but to serve. Though this verse isn't recorded until chapter 10, it expressly declares His purpose.
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In the first chapter, Mark talks all about Jesus going here, going there, doing this, doing that, being busy, busy, busy, busy. He is healing, restoring, preaching, ministering, cleansing the leper, and casting out devils. It is action all the time, moving, healing, delivering, restoring, and of course, more preaching.
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Glorious Servant.
The word, "Immediately," is in practically every paragraph. It is translated from the Greek word, "Eutheós," which means "Immediately, straight away, soon, at once, forth with;" well, you get the idea.
Mark records "Immediately He did this; immediately He did that," eleven times in the first chapter alone, and 42 times in the sixteen chapters of his gospel. By comparison, it appears only 18 times in Matthew, 7 times in Luke, and 6 times in John!
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Bad Grammar?
Many sentences in this gospel begin with the word, "And." From verse 16 onward, it is "And He walked by the sea...". "And immediately He did this," "And immediately He went there." He is always working, tirelessly serving! He is the Divine Worker.
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That is not good English. Only the Holy Spirit can get away with grammar like that. Our English teachers would never let us get away with that! Beginning every other sentence with "And," would never fly. It's as if the entire book is one long running narrative.
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There are 45 verses in chapter one AND 35 of them begin with the word, "AND!" AND of the 16 chapters, 11 of them open with the word, "AND!" Though the shortest of all the gospels, Mark uses this word approximately 1,200 times!
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Why "And?" And speaks of "Movement." That's Jesus! He never stops working, always on the move. He never gets tired of serving His people. He is the Perfect Servant, the Divine worker. No wonder it is the Ox that represented this gospel in the Old Testament!
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The Seven A's.
Look at the beauty and symmetry in this gospel, in the movements of our Lord Jesus in the first chapter. Below are the seven A's of chapter 1:
#1) Announced by the forerunner, John the Baptist.
Mark 1:1-3
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the Prophets:
“Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
Who will prepare Your way before You.”
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, (Yahweh)
make straight in the desert a highway for our God." (Elohim)
(Malachi 3:1, Isaiah 40:3)
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#2) Approved by the Father.
Mark 1:10-11
"And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, “YOU ARE MY BELOVED SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED.”
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#3) Anointed By The Spirit.
Mark 1:9-10, (YLT)
"9 And it came to pass in those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John at the Jordan;
10 and immediately coming up from the water, he saw the *heavens dividing, and the Spirit as a dove coming down upon him;"
-*Literally, the heavens divided for Him as He rose from the waters of baptism. Also, talking about Jesus causes the heavens will open up to you! Demons hear His Name and run screaming! His Name is the Name above every other. EVERY KNEE must bow!
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"9 And it came to pass in those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John at the Jordan;
10 and immediately coming up from the water, he saw the *heavens dividing, and the Spirit as a dove coming down upon him;"
-*Literally, the heavens divided for Him as He rose from the waters of baptism. Also, talking about Jesus causes the heavens will open up to you! Demons hear His Name and run screaming! His Name is the Name above every other. EVERY KNEE must bow!
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#4) Assailed by the devil.
Mark 1:12-13
"Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. 13a And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan..."
The devil didn't drive Jesus into the wilderness. The Holy Spirit did so that He could be tested to show He was the real deal.
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Hebrews 14:15 says, "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." The Greek here, if you study it carefully, reveals that He was tempted but nothing to do with sin, as how you would test a gold nugget to determine it is the genuine article.
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#5) Acknowledged by the wild beasts.
Mark 13b: "...and was with the wild beasts;"
For 40 days (6 weeks) Jesus' only company was that of the wild (not domesticated) beasts, which were subject to Him. Unlike man, they recognized their Creator. Man did not know their God, even though He walked among them and performed incredible miracles!
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#6) Attended to by Angels.
Mark 1:13c "...and the angels ministered to Him."
Just like Jesus, angels minister to you and I because we are valuable to God!
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#7) Acclaimed by the multitude.
Mark 1:32-34
32 At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him."
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Finally, man acknowledges this wonderful Servant Who came from Heaven. He healed ALL who came to Him and taught as One having authority, not as the scribes and Pharisees.
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Written TO Gentiles.
Comprised of only 16 chapters, this is the shortest of all the gospels. It was written primarily to the non-Jewish Church and is the only one in which events are listed most often in chronological order. The others put events that happened at an earlier time later in their narratives and visa versa. The Holy Spirit, Who has a Divine order in mind, does this on purpose to convey a specific message.
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Because he was writing to Gentiles, he didn't mention anything about Jewish laws, since those things never applied to them. Matthew, on the other hand, who wrote specifically to the Jewish people, is full of Jewish laws and traditions.
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It's interesting to note that Mark records 3 times more miracles than parables in comparison to Matthew. Matthew records more parables. Why?
Mark 1:12-13
"Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. 13a And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan..."
The devil didn't drive Jesus into the wilderness. The Holy Spirit did so that He could be tested to show He was the real deal.
-
Hebrews 14:15 says, "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." The Greek here, if you study it carefully, reveals that He was tempted but nothing to do with sin, as how you would test a gold nugget to determine it is the genuine article.
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#5) Acknowledged by the wild beasts.
Mark 13b: "...and was with the wild beasts;"
For 40 days (6 weeks) Jesus' only company was that of the wild (not domesticated) beasts, which were subject to Him. Unlike man, they recognized their Creator. Man did not know their God, even though He walked among them and performed incredible miracles!
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#6) Attended to by Angels.
Mark 1:13c "...and the angels ministered to Him."
Just like Jesus, angels minister to you and I because we are valuable to God!
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#7) Acclaimed by the multitude.
Mark 1:32-34
32 At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him."
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Finally, man acknowledges this wonderful Servant Who came from Heaven. He healed ALL who came to Him and taught as One having authority, not as the scribes and Pharisees.
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Written TO Gentiles.
Comprised of only 16 chapters, this is the shortest of all the gospels. It was written primarily to the non-Jewish Church and is the only one in which events are listed most often in chronological order. The others put events that happened at an earlier time later in their narratives and visa versa. The Holy Spirit, Who has a Divine order in mind, does this on purpose to convey a specific message.
-
Because he was writing to Gentiles, he didn't mention anything about Jewish laws, since those things never applied to them. Matthew, on the other hand, who wrote specifically to the Jewish people, is full of Jewish laws and traditions.
-
It's interesting to note that Mark records 3 times more miracles than parables in comparison to Matthew. Matthew records more parables. Why?
When it comes to serving Jesus, what you do is more important and telling than what you say. Talk is cheap, after all.
Remember, the theme of Mark is the Divine Servant. Jesus came and served mankind but, unlike frail humans, He had the grace, knowledge of the Father's will, and power to carry it out.
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The humblest thing you and I can do is allow Jesus to serve us. Will you consent to allow Him to serve you?
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The humblest thing you and I can do is allow Jesus to serve us. Will you consent to allow Him to serve you?
He wants to give you gifts of healings, of provision, of every good thing the Father desires you to have.
God's power, like water, flows most to the lowest places. It seeks those who are lowly and have a servant heart, like Jesus, the Servant Leader. He is the One Who said that the greatest in the kingdom of God is the greatest servant of all.
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John Marcus.
John Mark was the Jewish secretary the Holy Spirit used to write the Gospel of Mark. How it shows the grace and mercy of our Father in that He had this young man pen this particular gospel! Who was he?
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He was not one of Jesus' disciples. John is a Greek name, from the Hebrew, "Hananiah," which means, "Grace." Marcus was a Roman name.
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Remember the story in Acts 12 where Peter was in prison for preaching the gospel? There had been much prayer going up for him at the house of a woman named, "Mary." Let's follow the story:
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Acts 12:5-10
Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. 6 And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.
7 Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.”
9 So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him."
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Because of constant prayer being offered for him, Peter was miraculously delivered from prison. The account goes on to say, "he (Peter) came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying."
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Mary was John Mark's mother. It was at her home that the Church was gathered to pray.
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Three chapters later, there was a quarrel between Paul and Barnabas over this same young man. Though we are not told exactly what he did, he failed big time in doing the work of the Lord while ministering in Pamphylia. He was a servant who failed.
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John Mark Grew Up.
But fear not! Later on in 2 Timothy 4:9-11, John Mark has been restored for Paul says to Timothy:
"Be diligent to come to me quickly; 10 for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry."
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Somewhere along the way, John Mark grew up. He is the servant who failed that the Holy Spirit used to write the Gospel of Mark, about the UNFAILING SERVANT!
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Please follow the link below to Part 6 where we'll discuss the theme of the Gospel of Luke:
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John Marcus.
John Mark was the Jewish secretary the Holy Spirit used to write the Gospel of Mark. How it shows the grace and mercy of our Father in that He had this young man pen this particular gospel! Who was he?
-
He was not one of Jesus' disciples. John is a Greek name, from the Hebrew, "Hananiah," which means, "Grace." Marcus was a Roman name.
-
Remember the story in Acts 12 where Peter was in prison for preaching the gospel? There had been much prayer going up for him at the house of a woman named, "Mary." Let's follow the story:
-
Acts 12:5-10
Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. 6 And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.
7 Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.”
9 So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him."
-
-
Because of constant prayer being offered for him, Peter was miraculously delivered from prison. The account goes on to say, "he (Peter) came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying."
-
Mary was John Mark's mother. It was at her home that the Church was gathered to pray.
-
Three chapters later, there was a quarrel between Paul and Barnabas over this same young man. Though we are not told exactly what he did, he failed big time in doing the work of the Lord while ministering in Pamphylia. He was a servant who failed.
-
John Mark Grew Up.
But fear not! Later on in 2 Timothy 4:9-11, John Mark has been restored for Paul says to Timothy:
"Be diligent to come to me quickly; 10 for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry."
-
Somewhere along the way, John Mark grew up. He is the servant who failed that the Holy Spirit used to write the Gospel of Mark, about the UNFAILING SERVANT!
-
Please follow the link below to Part 6 where we'll discuss the theme of the Gospel of Luke:
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