Inspired & Holy (Reflection on Mark 1)
- circulargrace
- Jan 27
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 7
This post accompanies my reading of Mark 1 on the Circular Grace YouTube channel.
The Word of God!
As is becoming customary, here you'll find a few links to respected commentary on Mark's Gospel, Chapter One. The stand out for me after spending so many months reading and re-reading Matthew was how concisely it reads. It reminded me of reading through bullet points that had been rendered into chapter and verse. That is a really logical way for John Mark to have tackled the task of writing his Gospel in my opinion. We know he's heard the story, over and over again. As someone who spends a lot of time reading verses and then transcribing those words, I appreciate they become part of you. John Mark, according to church history was responsible for translating what the Apostle Peter said in his sermons. When it was time for him to formally write the Gospel, there must have been a great necessity to get all of the wording down correctly. He would have felt the responsibility to be accurate and word perfect. I can imagine him having a list. That's just my imagination but that's how it felt reading Mark compared to Matthew to me personally.
Here are the commentaries I've selected for you. If you have any questions or thoughts, please do share them so that we can learn together.
Enduring Word Commentary
I enjoyed the first segment of the Enduring Word commentary. Church tradition has attributed each of these faces to the four Gospels. I think this is a wonderful way of comparing the characters of each of the Gospels. Marks Gospel could be described more than the other Gospel's as portraying Jesus as the servant of God. In this sense, Marks Gospel could be characterised by the Ox, a beast of burden or service. Here's a snippet from the commentary:
"1. Revelation 4:7 describes the cherubim around God’s throne as beings with four faces: a lion, a calf, a man, and an eagle. By long tradition, the church has attributed one of these “faces” to each of the Gospels, according to the character and message of the particular Gospel"
After publishing this article, I spent a little more time pondering this commentary and thought this following snippet really important on how to interpret the word 'believe' when we encounter it in relation to Jesus.
What does it mean to believe?
i. The ancient Greek word Jesus used for believe (pisteuo) means much more than knowledge or agreement in the mind. It speaks of a relationship of trust and dependence.
ii. “There are many people who believe the Gospel, but they do not believe in it. It was an appeal not only to accept it as an intellectually accurate statement; but to rest in it, to repose in it. It was a call to let the heart find ease in it.” (Morgan)
What a profound truth and a reminder that belief comes with responsibility.
Use the link below to access the commentary.
Blue Letter Commentary
I always enjoy reading these commentaries because they often inspire thought that goes beyond the words and to the heart of the purpose of the words. I loved this explanation of why the Gospel is written:
"3. This Jesus is the Son of God. That truth is the foundation on which the gospel is built, and which it is written to demonstrate; for is Jesus be not the Son of God, our faith is vain."
I guarantee you'll find something to think about if you read this commentary?
Follow the link below
Bible Ref Commentary
Another 'go to' commentary for me personally. I like that you can re-read the chapter and then click the link to the commentary. It's a really simple and precise summary for a quick understanding. Here's a snippet that jumped out for me because I covered the point in my introductory video to Mark's Gospel. It's helpful to imagine who John Mark was writing to. In doing so, we have a clearer idea of why he focuses on certain aspects of Christ's ministry over others.
"Like us, Jesus' first audience focused on what He could do instead of Who He was and why He had come. Where Jesus wanted to use His authority to teach, people instead looked to the signs of His authority—His miracles."
Follow the link for the full commentary
Bible Hub Commentary
Another favourite to share, these commentaries always provide a wealth of context that not only help illuminate the current chapter but our reading of the New Testament generally. I found their walk through of the word, 'Gospel' really useful and I hope you will too. Here's a snippet:
"The various connections in which the word is employed are remarkable and instructive. We can but touch lightly on the more important lessons which they are fitted to teach."
Follow the link
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I hope you like the new location for hosting the commentaries on my readings. Let me know if you have any ideas 💡