Gospel of Mark Chapter 1 Vs. 22

 Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Spirit

Mark 1:22 “And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.”

for he taught... He taught (ἦν διδάσκων)

The finite verb with the participle denoting something continuous: was teaching.

that had authority... Greek: exousia, authority. Delegated authority and liberty to exercise the full power of attorney in all God’s interests; complete authority to act in God’s stead as if God Himself were here doing the work; power to act as freely of his own will as one has power to eat and drink (1Cor. 9:4-6). Christ’s power was unlimited in doing the will and works of God on earth (Mat. 9:6; 4:23-24; 8:17; 10:1-8; Mark 1:27; Luke 4:36; 10:19; John 5:27; 17:2). He now has all power in heaven and in earth (Mat. 28:18; Eph. 1:20-23; Col. 2:9-17; Heb. 1:3; 7:25; 1Pet. 3:22). He now promises to share His earthly power with believers.

Jesus’ authoritative teaching, as the spoken Word of God, was in sharp contrast to that of the scribes' experts in the Old Testament Scriptures, who based their authority largely on that of other rabbis. Jesus’ direct, personal, and forceful teaching was so foreign to their experience that those who heard Him were amazed. (Tit. 2:15).

Jesus astounds His listeners, for He teaches as one that had authority. The surprise is not uniformly pleasant. Some were doubtless offended by His seeming effrontery.

as the scribes... Referred to 120 times in the Bible. Formerly secretaries to kings (2Sam. 8:17; 20:25; 2Kgs. 12:10; 22:3-12). Later, they were copyists and interpreters of the Scriptures and laws of Israel, keepers of all records, and were the lawyers and schoolmasters in Israel. Had limited head knowledge of the Scriptures. Jesus is the Word. His message is a message of firsthand knowledge. Jesus did not need to bring a faltering message. The scribes were uncertain, and their message was a message of interpretation, not of actual fact.

This strong, straightforward, non-wavering message of Jesus astonished them, because Jesus is positive that His message is true. He is the Truth. (John chapter 1:1), tells us that Jesus is, in fact, the Word. His authority is unquestionable for He is God the Word.

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

St. Mark is by no means the evangelist of the discourses. And this adds to the interest with which we find him indicate, with precise exactitude, the first great difference that would strike the hearers of Christ between His teaching and that of others. He taught with authority, and not as the scribes. Their doctrine was built with dreary and irrational ingenuity, upon perverted views of the old law. The shape of a Hebrew letter, words whereof the initials would spell some important name, wire-drawn inferences, astounding allusions, ingenuity such as men waste now upon the number of the beast and the measurement of a pyramid, these were the doctrine of the scribes.

And an acute observer would remark that the authority of Christ’s teaching was peculiar in a farther-reaching sense. If, as seems clear, Jesus said, Ye have heard that it hath been said (not by, but) to them of old time, but I say unto you, He then claimed the place, not of Moses who heard the Divine Voice, but Him Who spoke. Even if this could be doubted, the same spirit is elsewhere unmistakable. The tables which Moses brought were inscribed by the finger of Another: none could make him the Supreme arbitrator while overhead the trumpet waxed louder and louder, while the fiery pillar marshaled their journeying, while the mysterious Presence consecrated the mysterious shrine. Prophet after prophet opened and closed his message with the words, thus saith the Lord. . . . For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Jesus was content with the attestation, Verily, I say unto you. Blessed as a wise builder was the hearer and doer of these words of Mine. Everywhere in His teaching the center of authority is personal. He distinctly recognizes the fact that He is adding to the range of the ancient law of respect for human life, and for purity, veracity and kindness. But He assigns no authority for these additions, beyond His own. Persecution by all men is a blessed thing to endure, if it be for His sake and the gospel’s. Now this is unique. Moses or Isaiah never dreamed that devotion to himself took rank with devotion to his message. Nor did St. Paul. But Christ opens His ministry with the same pretensions as at the close, when others may not be called Rabbi, nor Master, because these titles belong to Him.

And the lapse of ages renders this authority of Christ more wonderful than at first. The world bows down before something other than His clearness of logic or subtlety of inference. He still announces where others argue, He reveals, imposes on us His supremacy, bids us take His yoke and learn. And we still discover in His teaching a freshness and profundity, a universal reach of application and yet an unearthliness of aspect, which suit so unparalleled a claim. Others have constructed cisterns in which to store truth, or aqueducts to convey it from higher levels. Christ is Himself a fountain; and not only so, but the water which He gives, when received aright, becomes in the faithful heart a well of water springing up in new, inexhaustible developments.

Book of Hosea Chapter 13 Vs.3

 The Lord's Relentless Judgment on Israel

Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney. Hos. 13:3

Therefore they shall... The 19th prophecy in Hosea (Hos. 13:3-4, fulfilled). Next, Hos. 13:7.

Two Predictions—Fulfilled:

1. Ephraim will soon pass away like a morning cloud, the early dew when the sun comes up, chaff driven with a whirlwind, and smoke disappearing after coming from the chimney (Hos. 13:3).

2. Ephraim will know no god but Me (Hos. 13:4).

be as the... All the comparisons in this verse are intended to express a quick destruction, or that they should soon come to nothing. Signifying that the idolatrous Israelites, king, priests, and people, should be no more. Their kingdom would cease, all their riches and wealth would depart from them, and they and their children be carried captive into a strange land.

and as the... Bright and glistening with light is the early dew; in an hour it is gone, as if it had never been. Glowing and gilded by the sun is the morning cloud; while you admire its beauty, its hues have vanished. Yet in a little time their land would become desolate, and they are stripped of all that was dear and valuable to them these metaphors are used (in Hos. 6:4).

as the chaff... Signifying that these idolatrous people were like chaff, struggling and empty, useless and unprofitable, fit for nothing but burning; and that they would be driven out of their own land through the Assyrian, that should come like a whirlwind with great power, as easily and as quickly as chaff is driven out of a threshing floor of corn with a strong blast of wind (see Psm. 1:5).

as the smoke... Which rises up in a pillar, and is so on dissipated by the wind, or dissolved into air; and is no sooner seen but it disappears (see Psm. 68:2). All these similes show how easily, suddenly, and quickly, the destruction of this idolatrous nation would be brought about.

All of these things are experienced for a moment and fade away. The chaff many times, symbolizes the lost of the world. Their terrible sin they had committed, was bringing them to swift destruction.

In such unreason have they sunk. They cannot endure. Therefore shall they be like the morning cloud and like the dew that early vanisheth, like chaff which whirleth up from the floor and like smoke from the window.

The judgment of God would make these idolaters quickly vanish (Hos. 13:3). Each of the four similes (mist… dew; cf. Hos. 6:4, chaff...  smoke) emphasizes the extremely transitory condition of the idolaters.

Gospel of Mark Chapter 1 Vs. 21

 

Verses 1:21 – 3:12: Mark presents a series of incidents showing Jesus’ power and the people’s amazed responses.

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Spirit

Mark 1:21 “And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.”

went into Capernaum... A city on the north end of Galilee where Jesus made His headquarters. A prosperous fishing village on the Northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum was a more important city than Nazareth. It contained a Roman garrison and was located on a major road. Jesus made the city His headquarters (2:1), after His rejection at Nazareth (Mat. 4:13; Luke 4:16-31).

into the Synagogue... The place where Jewish people gathered for worship, synagogue is a transliteration of a Greek word meaning to gather together. Synagogues originated in the
Babylonian captivity after the 586 B.C. destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar.

They served as places of worship and instruction. Jesus frequently taught in the synagogues (verse 39; 3:1; 6:2), as did Paul (Acts 13:5; 14:1; 17:1).

Greek: sunagoge, from sun, together, and ago, I bring; a public assembly of persons, or the place where they assembled (Jas. 2:2). Synagogues were numerous among Jews from the Babylonian captivity on. They were erected in all cities and towns and in the country on rivers, that there might be plenty of water for the many washings. Ten Jews could start one, as it took this many to run and support such a place. There were many in all lands for each Jew was required to attend services every sabbath. Jerusalem alone had 480 of them. They were places of instruction and worship. They were also places for courts of justice (Luke 12:11; Acts 9:2). Officers and a council of 3 to 13 men were chosen by the congregation to teach school and hold court concerning religious and civil cases (Mat. 10:17; 23:34; Acts 22:19; 26:11; John 9:22, 9:34; 12:42; 16:2). Priests were honored but had no official standing unless they were members of the council or served as teachers. The leader or president could ask anyone to speak, read Scripture, or expound the law. Christ often spoke in the synagogues (Mat. 4:23; 13:54; Mark 6:2; Luke 4:15-22; John 18:20) as did the apostles (Acts 13:5, 13:15; 14:1; 17:10-17; 18:19). Services were held in them 3 times on the sabbath. The scribes and lawyers in every community in Israel were the schoolteachers and interpreters of the law and used such places for almost daily instruction. They were built on the highest ground and were often without roofs, being situated so the worshiper entering could pray toward Jerusalem (cp. Dan. 6:10).

Chief Things in Every Synagogue:

1. An ark or chest containing the law

2. Raised platform and a desk from which to read and expound the law

3. Seats for the men below and galleries for women above, or in others a low partition separating men and women

4. Seats for officers in front of the platform facing the congregation

5. Lamps to give light in the evening services and at feasts

6. Apartments for the many utensils, alm-chests and other needful things

and Taught... Mark frequently mentions Jesus’ teaching ministry (2:13; 4:1-2; 6:2, 6, 34; 10:1; 11:17; 12:35; 14:49).

Capernaum was the home of Peter, Andrew, James and John.

Peter’s home was on the outskirts of Capernaum on the banks of the Sea of Galilee. This they included Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Jesus. The He was Jesus. Jesus taught in the synagogue. Remember that this Sabbath is Saturday.

And they go into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day He entered into the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at His teaching: for He taught them as having authority, and not as the scribes. Mark 1:21-22 (R.V.)

THE worship of the synagogues, not having been instituted by Moses, but gradually developed by the public need, was comparatively free and unconventional. Sometimes it happened that remarkable and serious-looking strangers were invited, if they had any word of exhortation, to say on (Acts 13:15). Sometimes one presented himself, as the custom of our Lord was (Luke 4:16). Amid the dull mechanical tendencies which were then turning the heart of Judaism to stone, the synagogue may have been often a center of life and rallying-place of freedom. In Galilee, where such worship predominated over that of the remote Temple and its hierarchy, Jesus found His trusted followers and the nucleus of the Church. In foreign lands, St. Paul bore first to his brethren in their synagogues the strange tiding that their Messiah had expired upon a cross. And before His rupture with the chiefs of Judaism, the synagogues were fitting places for our Lord’s early teaching. He made use of the existing system, and applied it, just as we have seen Him use the teaching of the Baptist as a starting point for His own. And this ought to be observed, that Jesus revolutionized the world by methods the furthest from being revolutionary. The institutions of His age and land were corrupt well-nigh to the core, but He did not therefore make a clean sweep, and begin again. He did not turn His back on the Temple and synagogues, nor outrage sabbaths, nor come to destroy the law and the prophets. He bade His followers reverence the seat where the scribes and Pharisees sat and drew the line at their false lives and perilous examples. Amid that evil generation He found soil wherein His seed might germinate and was content to hide His leaven in the lump where it should gradually work out its destiny. In so doing He was at one with Providence, which had slowly evolved the convictions of the Old Testament, spending centuries upon the process. Now the power which belongs to such moderation has scarcely been recognized until these latter days. The political sagacity of Somers and Burke, and the ecclesiastical wisdom of our own reformers, had their occult and unsuspected fountains in the method by which Jesus planted the kingdom which came not with observation. But who taught the Carpenter? It is therefore significant that all the Gospels of the Galilean ministry connect our Lord’s early teaching with the synagogue.

The Cure Of A Demoniac

The four disciples accompanied Jesus into nearby Capernaum (cf. Mark 2:1; 9:33), on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was their hometown and became the hub of Jesus’ Galilean ministry (cf. Luke 4:16-31). In due course euthys; cf. Mark 1:10), on the Sabbath Saturday Jesus attended the regular worship service in the synagogue, a Jewish place of assembly and worship (cf. Mark 1:23, 1:29, 1:39; 3:1; 6:2; 12:39; 13:9). No doubt by invitation from the ruler of the synagogue, He began to teach (cf. Acts 13:13-16). Mark often referred to Jesus’ teaching ministry (Mark 2:13; 4:1-2; 6:2, 6:6, 6:34; 8:31; 10:1; 11:17; 12:35; 14:49) but recorded little of what Jesus taught.

Book of Hosea Chapter 13 Vs. 2

 The Lord's Relentless Judgment on Israel

And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. Hos. 13:2

have made them... They used the precious metals of silver and gold, that God had blessed them with, to make these abominable idols. Anything that you can see is not God. If it is made by human hands, it is not God. Even this calf was made by human hands and was not to be worshipped. God is a Spirit.

kiss the calves... An act of devotion to their idols (1Kgs. 19:18). Kissing the calves just shows the degradation of their worship.

The making of idols was just another sign of how far they had fallen from God.

They debased themselves even further by kissing the calf-idols (cf. 1Kgs. 19:18; also cf. calf-idol in Hos. 8:4-5; 10:5) in conjunction with their many sacrificial rites.

They offer human sacrifice literally reads, sacrificers of men kiss calves. The Bible speaks of child sacrifice in conjunction with worship of the god Molech (cf. Lev. 18:21; 20:2-5; 2Kgs. 23:10), which was apparently sometimes combined with Baal worship (cf. Jer. 32:35). However, the word used here, men ’āḏām, does not suggest child sacrifice. A more likely interpretation is that sacrificers of men is idiomatic, meaning sacrificers among men or men who sacrifice (cf. KJV, NASB). One should compare this with the following expressions, wild donkey of a man Gen. 16:12; i.e., a man who is like a wild donkey in character, the poor of men (Isa. 29:19 1, KJV; i.e., men who are poor, and leaders lit., princes of men Mic. 5:5; perhaps meaning men who are princes. In this case the prophet (Hos. 13:2) was emphasizing the absurdity of men kissing images of calves.

Even now they continue to sin and make them a smelting of their silver, idols after their own model smith's work all of it. To them to such things they speak! Sacrificing men kiss calves! In such unreasoning have they sunk. They cannot endure.

Again, as the Ephraimites and the other Israelites they represent here multiplied their idols and images, they added to their guilt.

Gospel of Mark Chapter 1 Vs. 20

 Jesus Calls the First Disciples

Mark 1:20 “And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.”

with hired servants... How many hired servants or how big the fishing business was that they had is unknown. The important thing is that they obeyed Christ, and for doing so they became the greatest religion on earth (Eph. 2:20-23). This indicates that Zebedee’s fishing business was a prosperous one and that he was a man of importance (John 18:15).

With the hired servants

Peculiar to Mark. It may imply that Zebedee carried on his business on a larger scale than ordinary fishermen.

Fishing was an honorable way of making a living. These were men who knew how to work hard to get the job done. They, without hesitation answered the call Jesus had placed on their lives. We see here that James and John had given up family, job, their home, and security to follow Jesus.

In Mark 10:29-30, we see what happens to those who give up things of this world to follow Jesus.

Mark 10:29-30 “And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,” “But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.”

Very charming, very powerful still is the spell by which Christ drew His first apostles to His side. Not yet are they told anything of thrones on which they are to sit and judge the tribes of Israel, or that their names shall be engraven on the foundations of the heavenly city besides being great on earth while the world stands. For them, the capture of men was less lucrative than that of fish, and less honorable, for they suffered the loss of all things and were made as the filth of the earth. To learn Christ’s art, to be made helpful in drawing souls to Him, following Jesus and catching men, this was enough to attract His first ministers; God grant that a time may never come when ministers for whom this is enough, shall fail. Where the spirit of self devotion is absent how can the Spirit of Christ exist?

On the same occasion Jesus saw James and John, the sons of Zebedee (cf. Mar. 10:35), in their boat, preparing from katartizō put in order, make ready their nets for another night’s fishing. They were partners to Simon (cf. Luke 5:10). Without delay euthys Jesus called them to follow Him. They left behind their old way of life fishing boat and nets and prior claims their father Zebedee and the hired helpers and followed lit., went away after Him as disciples.

Mark did not mention any previous contact with Jesus by these fishermen (cf. John 1:35-42). Later Jesus gathered the Twelve around Himself in a Teacher-pupil relationship (Mark 3:14-19). Mark abbreviated historical events (Mark 1:14-20) to emphasize Jesus’ authority over people and the obedience of His followers.

Book of Hosea Chapter 13 Vs. 1

 

The Lord's Relentless Judgment on Israel

When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died. Hos. 13:1

When Ephraim spake... The idea here is that at one time, when Ephraim spoke, he carried weight and was greatly respected; but when he exalted himself and served Baal, he lost this respect and was cut off (Jos. 24:14). The people now sinned more and more by making and worshiping golden calves and gold and silver images of many kinds (Hos. 12:2).

trembling, he exalted... When Ephraim, the most powerful tribe, spoke early in Israel’s history, it was with authority and produced fear.

he died... Because of his sins and in spite of being feared, Ephraim died, spiritually and now nationally.

As long as Ephraim kept great fear and reverence for God, He did just fine. It was when he got too proud, and started worshipping Baal, that God was offended. It does not mean to imply that all the other worship of false gods was unimportant. It just means it grew to its worst stage, when they worshipped Baal.

The worship of the golden calf in the wilderness had been terrible, and many died in punishment for it, but this is speaking of the whole land being involved in the worship of Baal. Jeroboam instituted the worship of the calf as God. The death of the nation was sounded, when this last offence against God came.

Ephraim’s prominent (exalted) place among the tribes of Israel was well known (cf. Gen. 48:13-20). Jeroboam I, who had led the Northern Kingdom’s secession, was an Ephraimite (1Kgs. 11:26; 12:25). However, this prominent tribe had also taken the lead in Baal worship and was as good as dead. As the Ephraimites (and the other Israelites they represent here) multiplied their idols and images, they added to their guilt.

THE FINAL ARGUMENT

The impassioned call with which the last chapter closed was by no means an assurance of salvation: How am I to give thee, up, Ephraim? how am I to let thee go, Israel? On the contrary, it was the anguish of Love, when it hovers over its own on the brink of the destruction to which their willfulness has led them, and before relinquishing them would seek, if possible, some last way to redeem. Surely that fatal morrow and the people’s mad leap into it are not inevitable! At least, before they take the leap, let the prophet go back once more upon the moral situation of today, go back once more upon the past of the people, and see if he can find anything else to explain that bias to apostasy (Hos. 11:7) which has brought them to this fatal brink-anything else which may move them to repentance even there. So, in chapters 12 and 13 Hosea turns upon the now familiar trail of his argument, full of the Divine jealousy, determined to give the people one other chance to turn; but if they will not, he at least will justify God’s relinquishment of them. The chapters throw even a brighter light upon the temper and habits of that generation. They again explore Israel’s ancient history for causes of the present decline; and, in especial, they cite the spiritual experience of the Father of the Nation, as if to show that what of repentance was possible for him is possible for his posterity also. But once more all hope is seen to be in vain; and Hosea’s last travail with his obstinate people closes in a doom even more awful than its predecessors.

The division into chapters is probably correct; but while chapter 13 is well ordered and clear, the arrangement, and, in parts, the meaning of chapter 12 is very obscure.

Whenever Ephraim spake there was trembling. Prince was he in Israel; but he fell into guilt through the Ba’al, and so died.

Impending doom

Ephraim’s prominent exalted place among the tribes of Israel was well known (cf. Gen. 48:13-20). Jeroboam I, who had led the Northern Kingdom’s secession, was an Ephraimite (1Kgs. 11:26; 12:25). However, this prominent tribe had also taken the lead in Baal worship and was as good as dead.

Gospel of Mark Chapter 1 Vs. 19

 Jesus Calls the First Disciples

Mark 1:19 “And when he had gone a little farther thence, he saw James the [son] of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets.

he saw James… The second set of fishermen brothers called by Jesus (Ref. verse 16). Their mother and Jesus’ mother may have been sisters (15:20; Mat. 27:55-56 with John 19:25).

This is not a discrepancy from the account we studied in the last lesson. This is just the difference in several people relating the same scripture. We see here that all the important details are the same as in the other accounts.

Now in addition to Peter and Andrew, the Lord had discovered James and John. These were fishermen whom the Lord would make fishers of men. We see that James and John were the sons of Zebedee, the sons of thunder.

A little farther

Added by Mark.

mending their nets...

Mending (καταρτίζοντας)

Not necessarily repairing; the word means to adjust, to put to rights. It may mean here preparing the nets for the next fishing. Mat. 4:21.

He does not, as unthinking readers fancy, come upon two utter strangers, fascinate and arrest them in a moment, and sweep their lives into the vortex of His own. Andrew had already heard the Baptist proclaim the Lamb of God, had followed Jesus home, and had introduced his brother, to whom Jesus then gave the new name Cephas. Their faith had since been confirmed by miracles. The demands of our Lord may be trying, but they are never unreasonable, and the faith He claims is not a blind credulity.

A little further on, He finds the two sons of Zebedee, and calls them also. John had almost certainly been the companion of Andrew when he followed Jesus home, and his brother had become the sharer of his hopes. And if there were any hesitation, the example of their comrades helped them to decide-- so soon, so inevitably does each disciple begin to be a fisher of other men-- and leaving their father, as we are gracefully told, not desolate, but with servants, they also follow Jesus.

Thus He asks, from each group, the sacrifice involved in following Him at an inconvenient time. The first are casting their nets and eager in their quest. The others are mending their nets, perhaps after some large draught had broken them. So Levi was sitting at the receipt of toll. Not one of the Twelve is recorded to have been called when idle.

On the same occasion Jesus saw James and John, the sons of Zebedee (cf. Mark10:35), in their boat, preparing from katartizō put in order, make ready their nets for another night’s fishing. They were partners to Simon (cf. Luke 5:10).

Discipleship is prominent in Mark’s Gospel. Jesus’ call would pose two questions in the minds of Mark’s readers: Who is this One who calls? and What does it mean to follow Him? Mark gave them an answer in his Gospel. He assumed similarities between the Twelve cf. Ref. 3:13; 13:37) and his readers. Discipleship is the expected norm for all who believe the gospel (cf. Mark 1:15).