Mark 1

Mark begins with a quote from Isaiah 40:3 and Mal. 3:1:

"Behold, I send my messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way; The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight." This verse reminds me of the song from Godspell, "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord. " Remember that? LOL

Enter, John the Baptist. Jesus is baptized. "Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; and a voice came out of the heavens: 'You are My beloved son, in You I am well-pleased.'" v.10-11 John did not see it necessary to baptize Jesus, but Jesus was insistent. Baptism does not save us from our sins but it is an outward sign of a declaration that we are followers of Christ. If Jesus was baptized then obviously we should be too. Most of the chapter is telling of many healings by Christ and casting out of demons. But we do meet Simon (Peter) and Andrew fishing, also James and John. Note: James and John may have been Jesus' cousins in that their mother and Jesus' mother may have been sisters.

Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law. This is important because this verse tells us that Peter was married. I wonder how I would feel if my husband took off for three years to follow somebody. I imagine his wife, after seeing this miracle, was all for Peter to take off with Jesus.

Jesus meets a leper and was "moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him" v. 41 and the leper was healed. This was huge! Jesus asked him not to tell anyone because doing so would make it difficult for Jesus to enter a city without being mobbed. But the leper did, of course, I would have told everyone, pushing Jesus to do his ministry out in unpopulated areas. But the people found Him anyway.