My wife and I have started a nightly bible study of The Gospel of Mark. While reading through it with her I have noticed some things in the scripture, even in a few well known Bible stories that I have never noticed before, and that to me add a depth and richness to the text and to the personality of Jesus and who he was that I had not seen in the past. I may do an in-depth verse by verse analysis of the book chapter by chapter at some later point, but for now, here are a few of the things that have stuck out to me. I will be giving most of the passages here in NIV( New International Version), because that is what we are reading from.
Mark 1: 6, NIV
6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
Most likely the locusts referred to here were not bugs ( though you could eat certain bugs in the Levitical dietary laws), but rather seed pods from a local plant, similar to edible pine cones.
Mark 1: 9-11, NIV
9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Here we have our first picture of the Trinity, with God (the voice),The Son (Jesus), and The Holy Spirit ( the dove) being clearly represented as distinct individuals.
Mark 1: 32-34, NIV
32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
The first thing that sticks out to me is in this passage how much demonic activity was going on in the area. Some times Jesus dealing with the demonic is presented by Biblical teachers and those commenting on the scriptures as Him dealing with those who have mental illness. I don't think that this is the case based on the statement in verse 34, that the demons knew who he was. This seems to be a concerted attempt to destroy his ministry before it even gets fully started. You see in several places both in the Gospel of Mark and in the other Gospels attempts by Jesus in the early Parts of His ministry to keep his activities Quiet, he often tells people not to talk about what he has done when he does miracles in his early ministry. Once the Pharisees and religious leaders get a good grasp on who He is they immediately start plotting to kill him. The demons in this passage seem to be trying to draw the attention of those who would be opposed to Jesus in an attempt to sabotage His ministry in its early stages.
Here is a passage as well that I think really shows the character and nature of Jesus and how he relates to other people.
Mark 1: 40-45, NIV
40 A man with leprosy[h] came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” 41 Jesus was indignant.[i] He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. 43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44 “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” 45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
I looked at this passage in several translations, NIV (New International Version), KJV(King James Version), NKJV(New King James Version), ESV(English Standard Version), NASB(New American Standard Bible, HCSB( Holman Christan Standard Bible), And the NIV is the only one that uses the term "indignant" to characterize Jesus response to the leper. Most other translations used "moved with compassion" or "moved with pity". Being a leper was one of the lowest places you could possibly be in Jewish society, because of how terrible and contagious the disease was. Lepers were forced to live in leper colonies out in wilderness areas, and if they saw another person approaching them they were required by law to cover themselves and to shout "unclean, unclean" so others would know to avoid them. Anyone who came into physical contact with a leper was considered ceremonially unclean and had to undergo a waiting period and a cleansing ritual before they could be around others.
Notice what happens in verse 45. When the leper tells others what happened, Jesus is then unable to enter the city. Because he physically touched the man, he is now ceremonially unclean, which would be why he told the man not to tell anyone. Jesus did not have to touch this man to heal him. There are several other instances where Jesus healed others and even raised the dead who were miles from His physical location. It was because of His compassion for the mans suffering that He touched him. How long might it have been since this man had been touched or had kindness given to him by someone other than another leper. Jesus loved this man, and reached out, even though He new it could have negative consequences. This shows Christs love for other, regardless of their state,or what it personally costs Him to love them.
