◄ Mark 1 Devotional Commentary ►

Mark 1:1

Like all the Gospel writers, Mark introduces us to Jesus Christ, the eternally begotten Son of God and prophesied Saviour of the world. Mark's specific focus is upon the humanity of Jesus as servant of all, and the divinely appointed name of Jesus which is specifically linked with His humanity and which means God is Salvation.

The personal name 'Jesus' was given to Him at the time of His birth, read more...

Mark 1:8

For thirty years, the Lord Jesus was being prepared for His sacrificial act in God's redemptive plan. Finally, John the Baptist strode onto the biblical scene as a prophetic voice calling for God's people to repent of their sin and preparing the way of the Lord. John announced Jesus' arrival and pointed people to Him. He identified Him as the Chosen of God Who would save His people from their sin. And John saw the heavens open and watched as the Spirit, in the form read more...

Mark 1:9

The other Gospels give considerably more detail of Christ's actual baptism in the Jordan, than Mark.

Matthew lets us know that John the Baptist was reluctant to baptise the Lord Jesus - because John's baptism was a baptism unto repentance, while Christ was without sin. He was the perfect, sinless, Lamb of God Who would take away the sin of the world. Matthew explains that Christ's baptism was in fulfilment of a Levitical read more...

Mark 1:14

John the Baptist was God's appointed forerunner to the Messiah. Isaiah had prophesied of him and identified John as being, "a voice, crying in the wilderness, 'prepare ye the way of the Lord.'" And John came preaching a baptism of repentance to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, for the remission of sins.

Before Christ's ministry started, we discover John calling the nation of Israel read more...

Mark 1:15

Along with many holy men of God, Isaiah prophesied of Christ; the Servant of God, Jesus Christ the righteous Who was sent to save His people Israel from their sins. He also prophesied of John the Baptist, God's final Old Testament messenger who was set aside from his mother's womb to prepare the way of the Lord.

After laying this prophetic foundation and a brief reference to Christ's baptism in the Jordan, His temptation in the read more...

Mark 1:24

The first twenty verses of Mark's Gospel catapult us through the tumultuous ministry of John the Baptist, Christ's baptism, His temptation in the wilderness, and the beginning of His public ministry, with the calling of His first disciples on the shore of the Galilee.

We are immediately plunged into a confrontation with the scribes on a Sabbath day. Jesus entered the synagogue at Capernaum and astounded the people with His read more...