Mark, Day One

Mark, Chapter 1:

• First, I know that Mark is the short, quickly-paced Gospel, and I kind of like that - not just the shortness, but the sense of dynamic movement and energy.  But the chapters themselves are not short!  There's a lot crammed into them, so I think I may just focus on half a chapter at a time.  We'll see.
• Chapter 1 begins with John the Baptist and Jesus' baptism, and I love Mark's dramatic depiction of that - "he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending on him like a dove" (v. 10, NASB).  A dove seems like a sweet, gentle bird, but this doesn't seem like a sweet, gentle baptism.  This is a different kind of peace - tearing into the world.  Also, do you notice that it says "he" saw the heavens torn apart?  Not the crowd, necessarily.  Or John.  Just Jesus.  Maybe that's being too picky.  Maybe the crowd saw it, too, but wouldn't there have been some crazy reaction if they had?  Maybe this was a special encouragement and vision for Jesus alone.
• Next is the temptation, which Mark describes in one sentence: "He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him." (v. 13).  No mention of fasting, as in Luke and Matthew.  And the angels waited on him!  I'm pretty sure I never saw that in those Sunday School lesson pictures.  I think I grew up with the idea that Jesus was cast into the wilderness to prove his mettle against the devil.  That this was some huge test Jesus had to do alone.  But he wasn't alone.  He had companions - animals and angels.  Even in the wilderness, Jesus had community.

And that's enough for today.  I'll finish chapter one tomorrow (hopefully!).