Mark 1:21-34

Jesus Expels an Unclean Spirit

21 Then Jesus and His companions went to Capernaum, and right away Jesus entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach. ¹

22 The people were astonished at His teaching, because He taught as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

23 Suddenly a man with an unclean spirit cried out in the synagogue:

24 “What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

25 But Jesus rebuked the spirit. “Be silent!” He said. “Come out of him!”

26 At this, the unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions and came out with a loud shriek.

27 All the people were amazed and began to ask one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him!”

28 And the news about Jesus spread quickly through the whole region of Galilee.

Jesus Heals at Peter’s House

29 As soon as Jesus and His companions had left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. ²

30 Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a fever, and they promptly told Jesus about her.

31 So He went to her, took her by the hand, and helped her up. The fever left her, and she began to serve them.

32 That evening, after sunset, people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed,

33 and the whole town gathered at the door.

34 And He healed many who were ill with various diseases and drove out many demons. But He would not allow the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.

Mark 1:21-34 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO MARK

This is the title of the book, the subject of which is the Gospel; a joyful account of the ministry, miracles, actions, and sufferings of Christ: the writer of it was not one of the twelve apostles, but an evangelist; the same with John Mark, or John, whose surname was Mark: John was his Hebrew name, and Mark his Gentile name, Ac 12:12,25, and was Barnabas's sister's son, Col 4:10, his mother's name was Mary, Ac 12:12. The Apostle Peter calls him his son, 1Pe 5:13, if he is the same; and he is thought to have wrote his Gospel from him {a}, and by his order, and which was afterwards examined and approved by him {b} it is said to have been wrote originally in Latin, or in the Roman tongue: so say the Arabic and Persic versions at the beginning of it, and the Syriac version says the same at the end: but of this there is no evidence, any more, nor so much, as of Matthew's writing his Gospel in Hebrew. The old Latin copy of this, is a version from the Greek; it is most likely that it was originally written in Greek, as the rest of the New Testament.

{a} Papias apud Euseb. Hist. l. 3. c. 39. Tertull. adv. Marcion. l. 4. c. 5. {b} Hieron. Catalog. Script. Eccles. p. 91. sect. 18.

Cross References

• 1. (Luke 4:31–37)
• 2. (Matthew 8:14–17; Luke 4:38–41)