Welcome to episode 41 of Grasp the Bible.  In this episode, we continue our study in the Book of Mark, covering chapter 1:1-13 (the prologue).  The series is called “Get in, buckle up, and hold on!”  Today, we discuss: 

• Jesus is the unique servant of God (v. 1) 
• John the Baptist prepares the way for the sacrificial servant (vv. 2-8) 
• The Presentation and Preparation of the Sacrificial Servant (vv. 9–11) 
• Testing the Sacrificial Servant (vv. 12-13) 

Key takeaways: 

• The point of these opening scenes is, therefore, to let the reader know from the start who Jesus is and to stress that he comes to fulfill divine promises and his divine commission. 
• Mark makes it clear from the beginning that the “Gospel of Jesus Christ” is the Good News that God’s Son has come into the world and died for our sins. 
• Mark’s theme is “Jesus Christ, the suffering servant.” 
• John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus by calling the nation to repent. 
• Baptism was never practiced for Jews.  John’s practice and teachings completely upended how the Old Testament practices dealt with sin. 
• John’s actions readied the people to enter into a new covenant with Yahweh. 
• The voice from heaven at Jesus’ baptism speaks words from the three sections of the Hebrew Bible:  The law, the prophets, and the writings.  Mark is demonstrating that Jesus fulfills all of them. 
• After his baptism, Jesus (the servant) had a job to do and was driven by the Holy Spirit to a desolate place to be tempted by Satan. 

Quotable: 

If we want to have more effect, we must humbly ask God to make our lives demonstrations of the truth of our message. 

Application: 

• Words are one thing.  Action is another.  But when our words align with our actions, our Christian witness is magnified. 
• Baptism is an outward symbol of the washing away of sin that Christ performs on the inside of us. 
• All of the Old Testament points to and testifies about Jesus. 
• Jesus’ encounter with Satan in the wilderness was not a one-time temptation.  Mark (and the other gospel writers) will show that the adversary continually confronts Jesus during his time on earth.  As Jesus followers, we should expect the same.  Satan does not give up on tempting us while we live on this planet. 

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