Mark 1:7-17

7 His announcement was, "There is One coming after me mightier than I--One whose sandal-strap I am unworthy to stoop down and unfasten.

8 I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan;

10 and immediately on His coming up out of the water He saw an opening in the sky, and the Spirit like a dove coming down to Him;

11 and a voice came from the sky, saying, "Thou art My Son dearly loved: in Thee is My delight."

12 At once the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the Desert,

13 where He remained for forty days, tempted by Satan; and He was among the wild beasts, but the angels waited upon Him.

14 Then, after John had been thrown into prison, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming God's Good News.

15 "The time has fully come," He said, "and the Kingdom of God is close at hand: repent, and believe this Good News.

16 One day, passing along the shore of the Lake of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, Simon's brother, throwing their nets in the Lake; for they were fisherman.

17 "Come and follow me," said Jesus, "and I will make you fishers for men."

Mark 1:7-17 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.