Mark E-Book

Brian Vickers

• Herausgeber: Lexham Press
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: Planted in the Word
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 247

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

"WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?" — MARK 8:29 Jesus asked his disciples this question, and no question is more important. The Gospel of Mark answers by presenting Jesus as the king who suffered and gave his life for us and invited us to take up our cross and follow him. Mark: A 40-Day Bible Study is meditative, gospel-centered, practical, and prayerful. Over forty days, you will: - Read and reflect on Mark's Gospel. - Meditate on Jesus and the good news he brings. - Pray through Mark's Gospel. - Apply Mark's Gospel to your life. Planted in the Word: Bible studies for individuals or small groups. Each volume provides forty days of guided Bible study written by respected scholars for everyday Christians. Short enough to read in 15 minutes or less, each day includes:  - Reading and meditation on Scripture - Reflection on how the text points to Christ - Application of God's word to our lives - Praying for God's help - Suggestions for further study or discussion.  Each volume includes a reading plan for group study.

Leseprobe

Mark

A 40-DAY BIBLE STUDY

BRIAN VICKERS

Benjamin L. Merkle, Series Editor

Mark: A 40-Day Bible Study

Planted in the Word, edited by Benjamin L. Merkle

Copyright 2025 Brian Vickers

Lexham Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225

LexhamPress.com

You may use brief quotations from this resource in presentations, articles, and books. For all other uses, please write Lexham Press for permission. Email us at [email protected].

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Print ISBN 9781683597889

Digital ISBN 9781683597896

Library of Congress Control Number 2024946236

Lexham Editorial: Elliot Ritzema, Allisyn Ma, Danielle Burlaga, Mandi Newell

Cover Design: Joshua Hunt

For Jamie

Contents

Series Preface

Introduction to the Gospel of Mark

DAY 1Mark 1:1–8

DAY 2Mark 1:9–15

DAY 3Mark 1:16–28

DAY 4Mark 1:29–45

DAY 5Mark 2:1–12

DAY 6Mark 2:13–22

DAY 7Mark 2:23–3:6

DAY 8Mark 3:7–21

DAY 9Mark 3:22–35

DAY 10Mark 4:1–20

DAY 11Mark 4:21–34

DAY 12Mark 4:35–5:20

DAY 13Mark 5:21–43

DAY 14Mark 6:1–13

DAY 15Mark 6:14–29

DAY 16Mark 6:30–56

DAY 17Mark 7:1–23

DAY 18Mark 7:24–37

DAY 19Mark 8:1–21

DAY 20Mark 8:22–30

DAY 21Mark 8:31–38

DAY 22Mark 9:1–13

DAY 23Mark 9:14–29

DAY 24Mark 9:30–50

DAY 25Mark 10:1–16

DAY 26Mark 10:17–31

DAY 27Mark 10:32–52

DAY 28Mark 11:1–25

DAY 29Mark 11:27–12:12

DAY 30Mark 12:13–27

DAY 31Mark 12:28–44

DAY 32Mark 13:1–23

DAY 33Mark 13:24–37

DAY 34Mark 14:1–11

DAY 35Mark 14:12–25

DAY 36Mark 14:26–52

DAY 37Mark 14:53–72

DAY 38Mark 15:1–20

DAY 39Mark 15:21–47

DAY 40Mark 16:1–8

Group Reading Plan

Series Preface

The longest book of the Bible begins by describing someone who is blessed (Ps 1:1–3). Such a person does not walk with the wicked, stand with sinners, or sit with scoffers. Instead, they delight in God’s law, meditating on it day and night. They are further described as a tree that is located in an ideal setting—it is planted by streams of water. Water brings nourishment and sustenance to a tree. Without water, a tree will wither and die. But with sufficient water comes growth, causing the tree to produce its fruit. Where the tree is planted makes all the difference. If it is planted by a stream, it has a continual source of life-giving water.

God’s word is the water that nourishes the soul. Without it, we spiritually wither or shrivel, and in order to continue “life as normal” we are forced to draw sustenance from other places—places that were never designed to give us what only God can. The goal of this series is to help you experience God’s blessing by planting you beside the stream of God’s life-giving word. Each volume consists of forty days of guided Bible study through a particular book (or books) of the New Testament. And each day’s study consists of five components:

1.Read the passage of Scripture.

2.Meditate on the meaning of the text.

3.Reflect on Christ, since all the promises of God are “yes” and “amen” in him (2 Cor 1:20).

4.Apply God’s Word because it is alive and active, and is what God uses to transform us into the image of his Son.

5.Pray, asking for God’s help.

Additionally, the Study It Further section provides a way for you to dig deeper by examining how the Old Testament provides the background for the passage, by looking at a particular word or theme elsewhere in the New Testament, or by encouraging you to consider how the passage relates to you personally.

So, drink deeply from God’s word. Let us not be like those who are influenced by the things of this world, causing us to drift further and further away from God (from walking, to standing, and eventually to sitting with the wicked). Instead, let us be planted in the word, drawing continual nourishment for our souls through the life-giving and fruit-producing words of the living God.

Benjamin L. Merkle

Series Editor

Introduction to the Gospel of Mark

The Gospel of Mark is all about the kingdom of God and Jesus the King. What Mark makes clear, though, is that this is no ordinary king or kingdom. A surprise awaits the reader at every turn. In his teaching, Jesus upends expectations, confronts misconceptions, and exposes sin. He also declares forgiveness and offers salvation. On virtually every page, there are breathtaking acts of love and compassion. There are also acts of judgment. Mark offers new readers an invitation to meet Jesus, to hear him speak, and to see him in action. For those who know Jesus, reading Mark is the best way to get reacquainted with him, to recapture the wonder and awe of encountering Jesus Christ the Son of God.

AUTHOR

The title of this Gospel, the Gospel according to Mark, like the titles of the other Gospels, was not in the original text. As early as the second century, however, Papias (as recorded by Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History, circa AD 325) says that Mark “heard and followed Peter” and wrote his Gospel based on what he heard from Peter. In the New Testament, after Peter was rescued from Herod’s prison by an angel, “he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark” (Acts 12:12). In 1 Peter 5:13, Peter sends greetings from “Mark, my son” (not his biological son, but in the same way that Paul refers to Timothy as “my true child in the faith” [1 Tim 1:2]). This is the Mark identified several times in the New Testament (Acts 12:25; 13:5, 13; 15:37, 39; Col 4:10; 2 Tim 4:11; Phlm 24). All orthodox Christian traditions affirm Mark as the author of the Gospel.

PLACE, DATE, AND AUDIENCE

Early Christian tradition, beginning with Papias, claims Mark wrote from Rome. If, in 1 Peter 5:13, “Babylon” refers to Rome (as it almost certainly does), then that places Mark there at the time of 1 Peter’s writing. First Peter was likely written in the 60s of the first century, and that lines up with the common view that Mark also wrote his Gospel in the 60s. Based on this view of the place and time of Mark’s writing, it is likely he wrote to Christians in Rome.

MAIN THEMES

The Kingdom of God. One of the most prominent themes in the Gospel of Mark is the kingdom of God. Jesus’s ministry begins with a proclamation of the kingdom, which is also a proclamation of the gospel: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (1:15). The combination of God’s kingdom with the good news goes back to Isaiah the prophet (Isa 52:7). The kingdom is not unique to Mark—Matthew and Luke feature it too—but Mark has his own emphases and ways of presenting the kingdom of God. An example of this is how Mark begins with the kingdom. John the Baptist appears announcing the coming of the Messiah (the Christ, the King), and Mark launches right into Jesus’s ministry of the kingdom. He does not include Jesus’s birth narratives or anything about his early life or ministry.

In Mark, the kingdom of God is the “mustard seed” kingdom. In 4:30–32, Jesus tells the parable of the mustard seed, along with two other seed parables. Looking at a mustard seed, it is not impressive. It is a speck you could fit under the tip of your fingernail. Yet that seed contains what one day will be a tree so big that birds will build nests in it. The kingdom Jesus brings is like that—you must enter and receive his kingdom by faith because it appears in weakness and suffering. It looks unimpressive, even seeming to fail at times (4:14–19) or featuring unimpressive people (3:13–19), and its king says he is going to suffer and die to establish it (8:31). In addition, the king’s subjects can also expect suffering and even death (8:34; 13:9, 13). Mark’s kingdom is built on suffering and the cross, not on glory. There is, however, glory beyond measure and imagination for those who receive and accept Jesus and his way to God’s kingdom (8:35; 9:1–8; 16:6).

Son of Man. Jesus is the Son of Man. This was one of the most common ways Jesus identified himself. The title, by itself, is slightly vague. It can refer to a human being (Ezek 2:1; 3:1, 4, 17, 25; 4:1, 16; 5:1), or, as in Daniel 7:13–14, a heavenly figure “like a Son of Man” appears, and God gives him the very same dominion designated as God’s in Daniel 4. In Mark, Jesus uses that title in his claim to be “Lord of the Sabbath” (2:28). He also refers to himself as the Son of Man who will appear in the clouds (13:26; 14:62). In the Bible, clouds symbolize the presence of God (Exod 14:19; 33:9–10; Num 9:18). The most surprising use of the title Son of Man comes when Jesus connects it with another prominent Old Testament figure. In Isaiah 53 we read of the suffering servant of God. The servant is “despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isa 53:3). In Mark 10:45, Jesus unites the royal Son of Man and the suffering servant in himself: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Awe and Confusion. Another prominent theme in Mark we will encounter in our forty readings is the constant wonder, awe, and confusion that surrounds Jesus. If Mark had a subtitle, it might be “Who Is This?” From the crowds, to his disciples, to his family, to his enemies, no one can figure Jesus out (1:22, 27; 2:12; 4:41; 5:42; 6:2–3; 9:15; 10:24, 32; 15:2). Readers of Mark, however, are given a bird’s-eye view. Jesus’s identity is revealed explicitly by Mark (1:1; 9:7; 15:39). Tied directly to the question surrounding Jesus’s identity is the constant opposition and rejection of Jesus by the majority of the Jewish religious authorities. It begins with a question of blasphemy in 2:7 and ends with cruel mocking at the foot of the cross (15:32).

As you read, be careful to avoid becoming too aggravated or disgusted at the disciples for not recognizing or understanding Jesus. The inability of the disciples, and everyone else who meets Jesus, to conceptualize his identity is another prominent theme in Mark. You don’t have to overlook their failings because Mark includes them on purpose. On the other hand, always ask yourself if you would have done a better job, understood more, or supported Jesus when he told you he was going to suffer and die (8:31; 9:31; 10:34). Also remind yourself that after the resurrection that those men were commissioned by the king to preach the gospel. So if you are reading this and confess Jesus as Lord and Christ, it is because they were faithful.

It is good to remember that nearly no one in Mark could grasp the kind of kingdom Jesus was bringing, the sort of Messiah he was, or how glory comes only through suffering and the cross. Only one person seems to come close. In Bethany, not long before Jesus is crucified, a woman anoints him with expensive oil. Mark does not tell us the woman’s motives or thoughts. Jesus is the only one who understands the true significance of the woman’s act of devotion. He says, “She has anointed my body beforehand for burial” (14:8). Mark is not primarily about the people around Jesus, whether friends or enemies, but about Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, the king who brought God’s kingdom through suffering and the cross, and rose from the dead.

A NOTE ON SOURCES

After teaching Mark for many years in various seminary classes, as well as in Sunday school and church classes, and after years of writing in biblical studies, I am indebted to more biblical and theological scholars than I can remember. As anyone who has taught and/or preached for a substantial period of time can attest, the books, commentaries, and articles absorbed over countless hours of study, preparation, and writing become deeply integrated into one’s own interpretations and theology. That is no less true with regard to disagreement than in agreement. It becomes difficult to determine where the line between one’s sources end and one’s own views begin. In this book I have kept my citations to a minimum, but the following list of books have influenced my thinking on Mark over the years and undoubtedly made their way into my interpretation. I could easily add more to the list.

Carson, D. A., Douglas J. Moo, and Leon Morris. An Introduction to the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992.

Cole, R. Alan. Mark: An Introduction and Commentary. 2nd ed. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008.

Edwards, James R. The Gospel according to Mark. Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.

France, R. T. The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text. New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.

Garland, David E. Mark: From Biblical Text to Contemporary Life. NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996.

Garland, David E., and Andreas J. Köstenberger. A Theology of Mark’s Gospel: Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. Biblical Theology of the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015.

Gundry, Robert H. Mark: A Commentary on His Apology for the Cross. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993.

Köstenberger, Andreas J., Scott Kellum, and Charles L. Quarles. The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament. 2nd ed. Nashville: B&H, 2016.

Lane, William L. The Gospel according to Mark. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974.

Schnabel, Eckhard J. Mark: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2017.

Strauss, Mark L. Mark. Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014.

Watts, Rikki E. Isaiah’s New Exodus in Mark. Biblical Studies Library. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000.

Wright, N. T. Mark for Everyone. 2nd ed. New Testament for Everyone. London: SPCK, 2004.

Day 1

Mark 1:1–8

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (Mark 1:1)

READ MARK 1:1–8

MEDITATE

The gospel is good news. We have heard that before, and it is easy to brush past it without consideration. We have network news, news feeds, fake news, podcasts, local news, and breaking news; the meaning of the word “news” loses significance. There is a vast difference between the news and the gospel. The former is information. “The news” comes from a specific source with specific biases aimed at specific people. It conflicts with other news and may be true, false, or somewhere in between. It can change depending on the source. The good news of Jesus Christ, however, isn’t one piece of news among others. The gospel does originate from a specific source—God and his word—but it is not slanted to attract a certain audience by appealing to whatever they already believe or want to believe. That is, the gospel doesn’t affirm what is already believed by a particular group of people to draw them in by telling them what they want to hear.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the proclamation—the announcement—that God keeps his promises, that Jesus died for our sins, and that by faith in him our sins are forgiven, allowing us to enter the eternal kingdom of God. This good news of the gospel is unique because the hearers are implicated in the message. Forgiveness is for sinners, not for those who think they have no need of forgiveness, and the gospel message is not simply that you can have a better life. The good news is that sinners are called to repent (Mark 1:15) and believe, and that by faith they receive forgiveness and are made whole (Mark 2:5).

In the first chapter of Mark, we are introduced to John the Baptist. His ministry was all about proclaiming that God keeps his promises—because the Messiah (the promised one) is coming (Mark 1:3; Isa 40:3). And how does Mark describe John’s ministry? John was “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4). The people responded by confessing their sins (Mark 1:5). The gospel of Jesus Christ calls for confession—that we are sinners—and announces that God forgives sinners through faith in Jesus Christ. The gospel confronts and exposes sin—not just sin in general, but my sin, your sin. The preaching of the gospel reveals our sin to point us to Christ, the one in whom we are forgiven. It is not simply an invitation to get on board with God, or have a better life, or change your outlook and prospects. The proclamation of the gospel is not the same as the results of the gospel. The results are eternal life, a new way of being in the world today, and receiving more than we can ask or imagine (1 Cor 2:9; Isa 64:4). By announcing forgiveness upon faith and confession, the gospel of Jesus Christ is not just more, or better news; it is the only news by which sinners are saved.

REFLECT ON CHRIST

The first verses of Mark are about Jesus, not first and foremost about John. John’s life and message were consumed with one thing: preaching the coming of Jesus the Messiah. John was a prophet, the last of the prophets of the Messiah. Mark clearly identifies John as a prophet, describing his clothing like Elijah’s (2 Kgs 1:8). His coming marks the end of one era and the beginning of a new era. Prophets are called to give their life to the message they receive from God. John was single-minded and devoted to a single purpose. God has not called us to be prophets like John, but John’s devotion to Christ is an example for us. We can learn from him what it looks like to live for Christ, for Christ to be our center.

When Christ is the center, we will, like John, be authentic. We won’t need to jockey for a position above others. We know our worth is in Christ. To be authentic or transparent means remembering we are, and always will be, sinners saved by Christ. John knew he wasn’t worthy of his calling (Mark 1:7), and that freed him up to pursue his calling without thought of how others saw him or thought of him. When Christ is the center, everything else will revolve around him.

APPLY GOD’S WORD

When you hear “good news,” do you take that as merely information or as a word spoken to you? This passage is not only a historical account. Mark is not simply relaying past events so we can know what happened and put it together with other information in the Bible. This text is about what God in his word proclaims to you now. Take a moment and listen to what God is saying to you. Hear John’s call to repent as a call for you to repent. Hear the word of forgiveness as a word of forgiveness offered to you and confess your need for forgiveness. Before you say, “I’m already a Christian,” consider this: while our salvation is sure and does not need to be renewed, God graciously provides his word that exposes our sin and need of forgiveness to point us back to his perfect Son. The point is not to humiliate you so that you’ll pledge to do better. The goal is to show you, every day, your need of Christ (not just once when you were saved, or went forward, or made some sort of decision for Christ). Listen as God offers forgiveness in the gospel—forgiveness won by the death and resurrection of Christ—a daily message of good news.

PRAY

Father, let me hear you speaking in your word. I want to hear and believe and confess, but your word must work this in me or I’ll be in danger of just going through the motions. I ask that you make Christ the center of my life so that I can give myself to Christ and his kingdom to serve those around me. Amen.

STUDY IT FURTHER

1.Read the quote from Isaiah in Mark 1:2–3. How does it act as an anchor for the other two texts alluded to in the passage (Exod 23:20 and Mal 3:1)?

2.Though the term “kingdom of God” does not appear in the Old Testament, there are many texts that speak of God’s rule and reign (see Ps 103:9; Dan 4:3; Isa 43:15; Ps 96:10; Isa 66:1). How is God’s kingship and kingdom described in these texts?

3.John’s Gospel contains a long account of John the Baptist (John 1:19–36). After reading that account, can you see a connection between Jesus’s first disciples and John that Mark doesn’t include? How can reading parallel texts in the other three Gospels help us to learn the themes and purposes of each writer?

Day 2

Mark 1:9–15

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14–15)

READ MARK 1:9–15

MEDITATE

When you hear the word “kingdom,” what comes to mind? The word may bring to mind images of castles, armies, a large realm with borders, and a king or a queen. Whatever came to mind, there is one thing a kingdom must have to be successful: power. A kingdom’s worth and validity is measured by its degree of power. Kingdoms rise and fall as their power grows and fades. Kingdoms, like empires and nations, are strong if they can use and protect their power, particularly their power over other kingdoms.

When Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God, the people were primed for the message. Israel had endured centuries of persecution at the hands of foreign powers, the latest of which, the Roman Empire, was the most extensive and powerful. Israel had waited a long time for God to fulfill his promises to rescue them from their enemies (Ps 21:8–13; Isa 59:18; Mic 5:8), a time when a “Redeemer will come to Zion” (Isa 59:20). What no one expected, however, was a king like Jesus and the kingdom he brought—something we will see many times in Mark.

In the Old Testament, God’s kingdom is expressed in terms of dominion, God the Creator’s active rule and reign over all things, especially his people. God’s dominion in the Old Testament is both announced and shown, particularly in his saving acts on behalf of his people. The greatest display of all is God bringing Israel out of Egypt. He shows his dominion over nature, Pharoah, Egypt, and Israel. God’s rule and reign is inseparable from his salvation. This is why Jesus proclaims the kingdom of God along with belief in the gospel. In Mark 1:14–15 the proclamation of the kingdom and the gospel are combined. Like John, repentance is at the heart of Jesus’s message: “Repent and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Old Testament prophets like Joel prophesied about the day God would act decisively on behalf of his people, and they infused that message with a call to repent (Joel 2:12–18). In other words, Jesus is bringing the good news of the kingdom in the same pattern of the prophets, including John. Only by repenting of sin and turning to God in faith can people join Jesus’s kingdom.

This sets up the rest of the book of Mark. Jesus will both teach and show the kingdom of God. He will expose popular expectations about the Messiah and the kingdom, particularly those related to power and inclusion in the kingdom. Israel expected God to take over with a massive onrush of overwhelming power, but Jesus meets these desires with a call to believe in the one who brings the kingdom in weakness. Throughout Mark, he will compare the kingdom to a tiny seed, he will offer it to everyone, including the least welcomed people, and he will shock and disappoint those who thought they knew how things would go. Ultimately the kingdom is shown in Jesus’s suffering and his journey to the cross—the opposite of what people expected of a powerful king and kingdom.

REFLECT ON CHRIST

Why was Jesus baptized? John baptized people for repentance for forgiveness of sins (Mark 1:4), but how could that apply to Jesus, the perfect Son? Mark does not give us a direct answer, though Matthew includes Jesus telling a reluctant John that his baptism “is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt 3:15). The key is to think of Jesus’s baptism in connection to the cross. In his baptism, Jesus is taking his place among his people—identifying as one of us. He has no sin from which to repent, just as he had no sin for which to die under the full wrath of God the Father. Jesus’s baptism was the public beginning of his ministry—a ministry approved by God the Father and witnessed by God the Spirit. John promised that the one coming will “baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (1:8), and two verses later the Spirit is present as the Father proclaims his pleasure for his beloved Son. The holy Trinity is fully present and at work in the unfolding of God’s salvation of his people, including yours. God himself is witness of the truth and worth of our salvation in Christ. There is no better guarantee.

APPLY GOD’S WORD

Sinning is easy. Falling into temptation is easy. Enduring temptation is hard, often seemingly impossible. Sometimes Christians struggle with the temptation of Jesus because they think that since he is the Son of God his temptation was not “real.” Hebrews 4:15 states that Jesus understands us because he was tempted like we are “yet without sin.” This could lead us to question whether he really was tempted, but we need to be extremely careful not to think of Jesus as just going through the motions. Mark’s short temptation narrative serves to continue the theme of identification with God’s people. In Mark 1:12–13, Jesus was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days, evoking memories of Israel’s in the wilderness (Exod 16:35; Num 14:34). From his time of temptation, Jesus will return successful, cross back over the river, and begin his ministry. Just because the devil’s temptations could not attach to a sinful desire (Jas 1:15) doesn’t mean the temptation was not real (later we will see that the temptations Jesus faced were more severe than any others before or since). When tempted, you must not look to willpower, or your own resolutions; you need to look to Jesus who endured temptation for you.

PRAY

Father, make my expectations of the kingdom match your kingdom. Forgive me for how often I exchange your kingdom for what I can see rather than believing in Christ and the kingdom as he brings it. Lead me away from temptation, for you know I cannot bear it alone, and lead me to Christ who bore all things for me. Amen.

STUDY IT FURTHER

1.Read Matthew 4:1–11 and Luke 4:1–13. Why do you think Mark gives such a short account of Jesus’s temptation in comparison to these other Gospel accounts?

2.Read 1 Corinthians 10:13. How might meditating on Jesus’s temptation provide “a way of escape” from your temptations?

3.Mark 15:38 says the curtain in the temple was torn in two. How does that verse relate to Mark 1:10?

Day 3

Mark 1:16–28

And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” (Mark 1:27)

READ MARK 1:16–28

MEDITATE

If I had to give Mark a subtitle it would be: “Who Is This?” It is the question his disciples have, understandably, when Jesus calms the wind and sea with a word (4:41). Of course, Mark gives us the answer; he is “Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” but in Mark’s narrative of Jesus no one can quite figure out who he is. He is public, personal, and open, yet elusive. He meets expectations then dashes them. People receive his message gladly one day, then reject him the next. The best example of the question surrounding Jesus is when Peter sincerely confesses that Jesus is the Christ (8:29) before he is caught completely off guard (just as we would have been) when Jesus begins talking about suffering and the cross (8:32). We see the first inkling of questions surrounding Jesus’s identity in our text today. As soon