Mark 1 (Jesus brings in the Gospel of the kingdom)

And immediately...Ethan began his Chapter Memory Study in the Gospel of Mark (a nod to one of the most used words in this action-packed adventure).

As I covered in my introductory entry, this is my systematic study through the book of Mark.  The goal is to (hopefully) create a system that helps me remember where stuff is.  This is not the whole of my walk with Jesus, but it is a way I train myself to love Him with all of my mind (one of the means of love that contributes to a whole-person love as described in the Greatest Commandments, Matt 22:37).

So, on we go with the training.

I have, for the moment, settled on the chapter acronym; JESUS IS THE RANSOM.

So, the 'J' falls on chapter one, and the outline points are built on the 'J'. These are the key events or passages found in the chapter.  This chapter has 4 (but could have more), others may have less.  My goal is 2-3. 

• Jesus baptized by John
  
• Jesus baited by Satan
• Jesus begins His ministry
• Jesus brings the Gospel

(I can't promise that all of the outlines will line up the same way, but my goal with each is create a 'hook' that makes it distinct and easy to remember...thus the second words all start with 'b')

The key verse for memory and meditation is

Mark 1:15 (ESV)
and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Comments and Reflections
Mark wastes no time diving into the story of Jesus.  He quotes two prophets (Malachi and Isaiah) briefly before jumping straight into the action.  John the baptist was the one who would come before, and he knew it.  His ministry was important, but he was preparing the way for Jesus who would bring salvation and Holy Spirit.  One observation about John;  he is about the same age as Jesus, right?  So I assume he didn't just get up one morning in his late-twenties and decide to be the pre-cursor to the long-awaited Messiah.  He was a prophet of God, and his ministry (and location) were ordained by God.  But I believe that it is safe to say that he was also trained by God.  He had a message, he knew Christ was coming, and he had the reckless confidence of one who had received his marching orders from God.  He had been 'raised up', then he 'appeared'.

Mark then briefly mentions the baptism of Jesus and the appearance of the Trinity; Jesus in the water, Holy Spirit descending like a dove, God the Father speaking from heaven.  Then, where Matthew and Luke spend considerably more time, Mark summarizes in 2 verses the temptation of Jesus by Satan in the wilderness.  All of this seemingly leading us to verse 14 where the action begins; Jesus starts His ministry.  I obviously don't know why Mark blows by these other important events (not to mention Jesus' birth and pre-ministry life), but one thing is certain; Mark hits the ground running and doesn't stop until he's done.  He writes us a quick-cutting action/adventure story of Jesus and His invasion of the world.

Jesus starts calling disciples (16-20), healing people (21-34,  40-45), and preaching the Gospel (14-15, 35-39). 

A few observations.  Verse 17 struck me with one little word; become.  That's not how I remember the song (with the actions, of course); 'I will make you fishers of men...'.  Mark quotes Jesus saying "I will make you become fishers of men."  For some reason that really helps me.  Jesus didn't tap them on the shoulder and 'boom' transform them into mighty missionaries for the Gospel.  He invited them to walk with Him for 3 years and become His mighty men of the kingdom.  This involves time, training, and teaching.  While I deeply yearn to be farther along than I am, I know that I must become who He is making me into. 

So, why didn't everyone who saw or heard about the miraculous things Jesus did believe every word He spoke and follow Him?  He's healing people and delivering people from demons and preaching the Gospel all over.  They acknowledge His authority and uniqueness.  His fame 'spread everywhere' (28).  But Jesus wasn't fooled by this instant fame, nor did He subject Himself to its lure.  There were some people who just liked the show (like today), and some who would chase after whatever is the latest thing (like today), and some who would still not believe what He said no matter what miraculous things He performed (like today).

In what has become one of my favorite passages of Scripture, Jesus makes sure His disciples see His priority.  In verses 35-39 Mark gives us a very helpful little story.  Jesus gets up early and goes out to be by Himself to pray.  His disciples (led by Peter) eventually wake up and don't see Jesus; so they go find Him.  "Hey, Jesus, this healing and deliverance ministry You do is really catching on!  People from everywhere are coming out to see you and be healed.  Everyone wants to get in on this, Jesus.  You're a hit!  Let's go back and give the people what they want."

Jesus, in all grace and patience, with the the verbal precision of a divine surgeon replies "pack it up boys, we're moving out.  I have a mission, and the mission is the message.  I need to preach the Gospel of the kingdom, not become a side show."  He didn't let fame, importance, urgency or other people's expectations deter Him from His mission. 

One more thought (though there are probably hundreds of nuggets here, my goal is not exhaustive commentary).  This story at the end of chapter 1 about the leper that Jesus heals is very interesting.  The guy comes to Jesus with great faith and says "if You will, You can make me clean".  Jesus is moved with pity, touches the man, and heals him.  Then Jesus tells the guy to go straight to the priest (to be officially declared clean) without telling anyone else along the way.  Well, the guy is obviously pumped about his new skin and ignores Jesus' 'stern' command.  And look what happens; because of this guy's disobedience Jesus can't go into the city anymore.  He has to stay outside of town and let the people come to Him.

One guy's disobedience affected an entire town.  People could still come to Jesus, but they had to come 'out in desolate places' to reach Him.  One person can make a difference for a whole town...

See you in chapter 2.

Mark (info, intro, and becoming a warrior-shepherd)

Greetings, and welcome to the first installment of the great experiment in Mark.  I have completed a CMS (Chapter Memory System) study in several other books (even ones as long as Mark), but this is the first attemt to capture a narrative-style book in a memorizable format.  Again, my goal is not to memorize the whole book, but to memorize what is in and where it is in the book. 

The first hurdle was the chapter acronym.  With other CMS studies I have had an acronym assigned to the book to serve as a memory tool.  Sometimes it was as simple as the title of the book (or a truncated version) while other times it was a single 'theme word' that had the same number of letters as the book had chapters.  Having 16 chapters, Mark provides some interesting challenges.  First of all, 'M.A.R.K.' doesn't get us very far.  And while there are plenty of 16 letter words (most end in -ology or -ism), finding one word (and then spelling that word :) has proven difficult (although, there is a great web-site for finding specific words by first letter, number of letters, and words with no duplicate letters; wordnavigator)

So I began searching for key words throughout Mark so I could piece together a description or phrase that would fit the book.  (email me if you want to hear more about the process...it's a little nerdy :)  I read several commentators who pointed to Mark 10:45 as the theme verse of the book;

Mark 10:45 (ESV)
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

By mixing and matching words (with the right number of letters, and without too many duplicate letters) I came up with (what I hope) is the Chapter Memory Acrostic for Mark:  JESUS IS THE RANSOM. 

That said, the problem I ran into with previous studies was having to cram theme and content into words that began with a specific letter.  So I'm going to work through the first several chapters before I more firmly establish the acrostic. 

Ok, if you're reading this and you don't know me personally, you may think I'm treating the Bible like a text book or a manual instead of the Living Word of God.  That is not my approach or intent.  This study is my simple way of trying to get a better handle (to 'rightly handle' 2 Tim 2:15) on God's amazing, transforming, living Word. 

I picture this process as if I am a warrior with a sword (the Sword, as it were).  If I just carry it, but don't know how to use it, I'm not doing me, others, or the Kingdom of God much good.  If I just pick it up and start swinging it around aggressively and wildly, I'm more likely to hurt myself or my allies than I am to help lost people or fight off enemies.  But if I train with it, get to know it, get to know the One who made it, and let Him teach me how to wield it...then I can become more and more of the warrior-shepherd that He has called me to be for my family, my flock, and His kingdom. 

So I study.  And I study the way that my personality and learning style lead me to.  This is not THE way, but it's my way....for now.  

Stay tuned.  If my training is of any help to you, may we learn to wield His Word in a way that honors Him and advances His kingdom. 

Ethan