Mark begins with His public ministry. Matthew and Luke begin with the birth of Jesus. John begins with Jesus' eternal existence and participation in creating all that is. The points these authors made are important, but Mark focuses on what Jesus Christ came to accomplish in his life, ministry, death and resurrection. Mark actually begins with the ministry of John the Baptist who was called of God to prepare the way for the Messiah. He introduced Jesus to the crowds and then baptized Him.

Let's begin our study by reflecting on the first 9 verses of Mark 1. To help us we will answer the Who? What? Why? Where? When? and How? questions.

Answering the Who? question, we find John the Baptist, the people following him, and Jesus.

In answering the What? question, it is clear that John's mission was to prepare people for responding to Jesus Christ. To do this he preached that they should confess their sins, repent and be baptized as an outward, symbolic expression of repentance as the basis for being forgiven of their sins. Many responded to his message.

One day, while this was happening, Jesus appeared and was baptized by John the Baptist. These baptisms were a significant part of the preparation for the launching of Jesus Christ's public ministry.

Let me encourage you to take some time to read these opening verses of the Gospel of Mark and try to answer the Why? Where? When? And How? Questions, and we will compare notes in our next visit.

This approach is one way to help us get God's message to help us live for Him.