Mark Chapter 1

Mark Chapter One

Mark announces itself as the “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God.” So, you know, I’m all a tingle waiting to find out just what’s going to happen and I get great payoff right away. We meet John the Baptist, you know the one whose head Salome requests on a silver platter, but that’s getting ahead of the story. Although, I don’t remember much of the bible, I do seem to remember having a fondness for this guy, so I was super excited to meet him right away.

My friend John starts out in the woods basically baptizing anything that moves (I guess that’s where he gets his name). He tells them all about how your sins can be absolved through repentance and people from all over Judea and Jerusalem came to be baptized in the river Jordan. All the while, John doesn’t have much money so he’s nourishing himself on such delicacies as honey dipped locusts. Yum! So far so good, I’m still pretty into this guy.

Just when everyone’s getting into the action and feeling all types of holy, John just happens to mention to them that his baptism is essentially worthless because someone a whole heck of a lot more powerful is on his way. Hmm, can we take a guess who this guy might be? You got it! Low and behold old JC shows at the river Jordan and has John give him a baptism. Who knew Jesus needed such things! But just as JC is feeling as grand as anyone... the heavens part, and a spirit says some sweet nothings like, “You are my beloved son and I am well pleased with you.” Just to show how well pleased he is, the spirit drives poor Jesus off to the wilderness. Probably leaving a crowd of people and John sitting there thinking, “Huh? I mean, wasn’t that the guy who was supposed to really baptize us? And uh, if that spirit liked him so much, how come he’s been banished?”

They get no answers to there ponderances.

JC hangs out in the woods and apparently Satan comes to tempt him, and wild beasts chill out with him, all while angels are hanging around just to keep an eye on the guy. After forty days Jesus comes back to Galilee where apparently John has been arrested (no indication is given why or whether or not Jesus is aware of this little turn. But I have to be honest, if memory serves, it’s not going to end well for my locust munching friend). JC decides to collect a few people on his way to the synagogue so he grabs a few fishers and a few seafaring gents and has them come along to a class that he puts on. All the students are just beside themselves impressed by his tone of authority. He then further amazes the classes by finding a man with “an unclean spirit” (I’m left believing people think this dude is possessed). He exorcises that spirit and everyone practically swoons. Who IS this guy? They don't know... but they LOVE him!

Jesus continues amazing crowds as he heals some guy named Simon’s mom. When people here this, they bring anyone they can think of to him. His reputation grows beyond all belief. Hurray Jesus! JC heads off to the next town and finds the most despicable of all diseased creatures… a leper! But, it IS Jesus, afterall, so after only a moment of hesitation, he heals that guy too. But where everyone else gets off with a mere healing, the leper has to go show himself to a priest and “offer for [his] cleansing, those things which Moses commanded”. Well, I don’t have enough knowledge of the Old Testament to remember what that is, but I know one thing… God likes lepers a lot less than everyone else. Good thing it’s barely a disease in the industrialized world!

JC goes on about town screaming and yelling his propaganda and soon finds himself unable to enter the cities. So, he just starts screaming from the desert, and would you believe it? People came to listen. Amazing.

Well, that’s Mark Chapter One in a nutself. I’m not sure I got too much out of it. The gist seems to be that John announced Jesus and got himself arrested. Jesus started preaching and put himself on a sure path to arrest. Seems the world wasn’t too tolerant of folks trying to overturn the system, not like today… oh wait. Hmmmm.