Mark 1

1. This is the beginning of the Gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Church history tells us that Mark was a young man who knew Peter, the follower of Jesus. Peter told Mark about the days when he walked with Jesus and Mark wrote down what Peter said.

2 – 3

Isaiah wrote: “I will send My messenger ahead of you. He will prepare Your way. There is a voice of a man who calls out in the desert: Prepare the way for the Lord. Make the crooked road straight for Him.”

There was a man named John the Baptist who was sent as a messenger to get people ready for Jesus to come. God can use us to get people ready to invite Jesus into their lives. Sometimes there are crooked things in their lives. We can show them how these things can be healed by telling them how Jesus has healed us and others! Malachi 3:1, Isaiah 40:3

4 – 5

John was baptizing people in the desert. He preached a baptism of changed hearts and lives for the forgiveness of sins. All the people from Judea and Jerusalem were going out to John. They told about the sins they had done. Then they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

When you are baptized it shows everyone that your old life is gone under the water and you are coming out of the water with a new life because your sins are forgiven. Being baptized without turning from sin does not do anything for you!

6. John wore clothes made from camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey.

Prophets in the Old Testament had this type of clothing. The Jews would know that John was a prophet.

7 – 8

This is what John taught the people: “There is One coming later who is greater than I. I am not good enough even to kneel down and untie His sandals. I baptize you with water, but the One who is coming will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

The Jews were baptized at this time to show that they wanted to turn away from sin and follow God, but when John baptized them they did not have God’s Spirit living inside of them. John was getting them ready to understand that Jesus would fill them with His Spirit if they would come to Him.

9 – 10

At that time Jesus came from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to the place where John was. John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. When Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw heaven open. The Holy Spirit came down on Him like a dove.

The original language says that the sky was torn open. The people may not have seen the sky open but remember that Peter is telling this to Mark and is telling us that he saw this. The dove is a gentle bird and God wants us to know that His Spirit is very kind to us.

11. A voice came from heaven and said: “You are my Son and I love You. I am very pleased with You.”

The people may not have understood the voice of God speaking. There was another time that God spoke from heaven, and people just thought it was thunder.

12 – 13

Right then the Spirit strongly led Jesus into the desert alone. He was in the desert 40 days and was there with the wild animals. While He was in the desert, He was tempted by Satan. Then angels came and took care of Jesus.

Sometimes we cannot explain it but we know that God is leading us to do something. God will always give you two or three witnesses from the Bible or from strong Christians to confirm where He is leading you. Sometimes He is leading us into the desert where we do not want to go. It is best to bow our heads and quietly trust Him even in the desert.

14 – 15

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee and preached the Gospel from God. Jesus said, “The right time has come. The kingdom of God is here. Change your hearts and lives and believe the Gospel!”

At this time the only thing the people could understand was that Jesus came to show them God’s kingdom. A kingdom has a king and a king tells his people how he wants them to live. This means that in God’s kingdom people live differently than the way the world lives.

16 – 18

When Jesus was walking by Lake Galilee, He saw Peter and Peter’s brother, Andrew. They were fishermen and were throwing a net into the lake to catch fish. Jesus said to them, “Come and follow Me. I will make you fish for men.” Right then Peter and Andrew left their nets and followed Him.

When there is something bad in the water, sometimes men will catch fish so they can take them to a safe place. Men who catch fish know that some fish are not interested in one kind of food, but they want another food.

We want to rescue men from the bad things that they are drowning in. Sometimes we talk with them about the things that they are interested in so that they will listen to what Jesus says about their lives.

19 – 20

Jesus continued walking by Lake Galilee. He saw two more brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in their boat, preparing their nets to catch fish.

Their father Zebedee and the men who worked for him were in the boat with the brothers. When Jesus saw the brothers, He called them to come with Him. They left their father with the servants and followed Jesus.

They must have come from a family that had money because they had servants. They left everything to follow Jesus!

21 – 22
Jesus and His followers went to Capernaum. On the Sabbath day Jesus went to the synagogue and began to teach. The people there were amazed at His teaching. He did not teach like their teachers of the law. He taught like a person who had authority.

These people built what they believed on what their teacher said. It is better to build what you believe on what the Bible says. We can speak with power if we speak the words of God. When we speak our own words, nobody is listening.

23 While He was in the synagogue, a man was there who had an unclean spirit in him. The man shouted,

There is a demon spirit called an unclean spirit. These demons are easy to see because the people they are living in smell bad and are dirty. When you are fighting against demons it does help to know what kind of demon it is.

We see that some people come to church with demons. The real person is looking for help and that is why we need to study the Bible so that we can see what the problem is and help them.

24. “Jesus of Nazareth! What do you want with us? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are–God’s Holy One!”

Demons know when Jesus is near and they will start making all kinds of trouble, even if people do not understand what is happening in.
You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. James 2:19

25 – 26

Jesus said strongly, “Be quiet! Come out of the man!” The evil spirit made the man shake violently. Then the spirit gave a loud cry and came out of him.

We do not allow demons to show what they can do. We do not have to become experts in spiritual warfare, but we can just ask God to rebuke demons.

27 – 28

The people were amazed. They asked each other, “What is happening here? This man is teaching something new. And He teaches with authority. He even gives commands to evil spirits, and they obey Him.” And the news about Jesus spread quickly everywhere in the area of Galilee.

Even if all we know is to say, “Jesus, please help us!” We still know more than the world does. When we bow our heads and ask Jesus to show Himself, people will believe that we have something real and they will not be able to say anything against it.

29 – 31

Jesus and His followers left the synagogue. They all went at once with James and John to the home of Peter and Andrew. Peter’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a fever. The people there told Jesus about her. So Jesus went to her bed, took her hand, and helped her up. Right then the fever left her, and she was healed. Then she began serving them.

Being healed so that we can serve is a normal part of the Christian life.

32. That night, after the sun went down, the people kept on bringing to Jesus all who were sick. They also brought those who had demons in them.

The Jews believed that healing someone on the Sabbath was the same as working which was against their law. They waited in a long line until the sun went down and the Sabbath was over, so that they could be healed.
The things that Jesus did show us what He would like to do today. The only thing stopping Him is that people do not believe in Him. If God healed people who did not believe in Him then they would use Him for what they needed without making a change in their lives. Mark 6:5

33 – 34

The whole town gathered at the door of the house. Jesus healed many who had different kinds of sicknesses. He also forced many demons to leave people. But He would not allow the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.

We do not let demons speak about the Gospel. They will pretend that they are teaching something about God and later add some lies and people will follow.

35. Early the next morning, Jesus woke and left the house while it was still dark. He went to a place to be alone and pray.

We need to spend some time alone with God. This where we get the power to do things that are impossible for us.

36 – 37

Later, Peter and his friends went to look for Jesus. They found Him and said, “Everyone is looking for you!”

Some people want to try Jesus and see what He can do for them, but they do not want to follow Him.

38. Jesus answered, “We should go somewhere else, to other towns around here. Then I can preach there too. That is the reason I came.”

Our reason for living is to help other people know what Jesus has done for us and what He can do for them.

39. So He traveled everywhere in Galilee. He preached in the synagogues and forced demons to leave people.

We see again that people with demons may come to church. This shows that the demons do not have total control over them and these people are looking for help. It would be a sad thing if these people fight against demons who try to stop them from coming to church, and then when they come we are not able to help them because we are asleep in our spirits.

40 – 42

A man who had leprosy came to Jesus. The man fell to his knees and begged Jesus, “I know that You can heal me if You will.”
Jesus felt sorry for the man. So He touched him and said, “I want to heal you. Be healed!” At once the disease left the man, and he was healed.

This man is saying that it is ok with him if Jesus does not heal him. This is what God is looking for when we ask Him something. We need to say, “You know what is best Lord. All I am asking is that You do what You know is best. Anything You want to do with me is ok with me!”

43 – 44

Jesus told the man to go at once. But Jesus warned him strongly, “Do not tell anyone about what I did for you. But go and show yourself to the priest. And offer a gift to God because you have been healed. Offer the gift that Moses commanded. This will show the people that you are healed.”

The Old Testament said that if a man was healed of leprosy he should go and show himself to the priest. Jesus wanted this man to be a witness to the Jewish priests. They would remember that the Old Testament said the Messiah would heal.

45. The man left there, but he told everyone he saw that Jesus had healed him. So the news about Jesus spread. That is the reason Jesus could not enter a town if people saw Him. He stayed in places where nobody lived. But people came from all the towns to wherever He was.

The man was not supposed to tell anyone else because some of the things that God does with you are just for Him and you to know about. This man was so excited about his healing that he did not remember to do what Jesus said. Let us not become so excited about miracles that we see them as more important than the words Jesus has spoken to us!