Mark Chapter 1

In my small group at church we've begun reading through and discussing Mark's Gospel. Below you'll find an annotated outline of Mark 1 that I worked up following our first meeting. I thought I might include these and subsequent notes because I believe that it's only in a right relationship with God (the Maker of humanity, not a divine light within humanity) that we come into the fullness of what it means to be human.

Hopefully the formatting isn't too cumbersome and text dense. And hopefully these entries will provoke a broader conversation that will lead to richer experiences with Scripture as well as with the God who is revealed in it.


Notes on Mark 1, an annotated outline:

I. Introduction: Jesus is the Anointed One (Christ) from God (vv. 1-8)
A. Jesus’ present arrival is linked to OT prophecy

B. John is an OT prophet in the manner of Elijah (indicated by dress and diet)

C. The OT (testament / covenant) events “prepare the way” for the New (“one is coming after me . . .”)


II. Jesus is the fulfillment of the OT (9-15)
A. Just as Elijah anointed Elisha who received a “double portion” of the former’s spirit (2 Kings 2), so John anoints Jesus; from the lesser / the shadow (John) emerges the greater / the reality (Jesus).

B. Heaven was torn open, the Spirit descended and “a voice came from heaven . . .” Foreshadows Mark 15:38-39 (making for a nice pair of bookends, or an inclusio, for the book). The Spirit coming down is the fulfillment of the core promise of the covenant – “I will be their God and they will be my people:” God (the Spirit) is coming to be with His people in an intimate way, beginning with the Firstborn (se Col 1:15, Ro 8:29).

C. Jesus is the new (true) Israel – driven into the wilderness by God the Spirit, just as God drove the people of Israel from the edge of Canaan back into the wilderness. Jesus stays one day for each year.

D. John is arrested: the OT era, the era of types, fades. Jesus makes the kingdom proclamation: the NT era, the era of fulfillment, is initiated. That may sound awfully Dispensational, but here’s the primary difference. In the Covenantal view, the Old gives way to the New; the New overtakes the Old. The types and shadows give way for their fulfillment. Think of the stars and the sun. The stars give light at night, but when the sun rises they “give way” to its greater light. They don’t go away; their lesser light is overtaken by the greater light. The Dispensationalist (who might use the same illustration differently) sees the Old as being interrupted by the New, not necessarily overtaken by it. Pointing primarily to Romans 11 (along with other key texts), they typically see a coming time when the Old will resume, the Temple rebuilt and the reinstitution of the OT sacrificial system (that’s typical of Dispensationalists, but not necessarily universal). Thus, they typically speak of God’s OT people and God’s NT people. Both Dispensationalists and Covenantalists see a change from Old to New; however, we disagree about the nature of that change. Lastly, we should remember that there is a great deal of variety within both views, which can allow for greater or lesser degrees of common ground dependent upon the particulars in each position.


III. Jesus is the God of the Covenant, establishing the Covenant relationship (16-20)
A. Jesus calls Simon and Andrew, then James and John, and tells them to leave their kinsman and way of life. He sets them apart for a purpose, promising them that they will mediate blessings to others, and he begins the process of reshaping them to fulfill that purpose (cf. Gen 12ff.)

B. Like Abraham, those who are called go.


IV. Jesus is the God of Power: Power over both the supernatural and the natural (21-39)
A. Jesus teaches with palpable authority.

B. Jesus exercises supreme power over demonic forces (the supernatural)

C. Jesus exercises supreme power over the physical body (the natural)

D. Some (Peter’s mother-in-law, in this case) will receive from Jesus and serve him, that is, enter into a properly ordered love relationship with him.


V. Jesus’ power restores us to God (40-45)
A. Leprosy barred a person from both the Temple (where one communed with God) and the nation (where one communed with his people -- see Levitical law, esp. Lev 13). Though it may not apply for this particular leper, the event itself indicates Jesus’ mission - to cleanse people from the blight of sin (the outward disease symbolizes the inward condition) so that they may be able to commune with God and his people.

B. Some will receive from Jesus and remain separate from him (contrast to IV.D., above). The cleansed leper disobeyed Jesus, and Mark gives no indication that he actually went to the Temple to be restored to worship.



Essentially, in chapter 1 Mark establishes Jesus’ link to former revelation; he presents Jesus as the God of Power, the Ruler or King over creation; he indicates that the King is on a rescue mission; and he defines the mission, to restore people to a right relationship to God. At our last meeting I said that Mark 1 gives the whole movement of Mark’s Gospel. I might go so far as to say that, if you’ve read Mark 1 then you have read Mark’s Gospel. Obviously the remainder of the text gives important details, but in chapter 1 Mark hits all his major themes.