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Daily Devotions

Mark

Mark 
Day 
Day 23

Day 23

Text: Mark 1

"Though now you do not see Him, yet believing..." 1 Peter 1:8b

CONCLUSION OF THE MINISTRY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

The ministry of John as the forerunner was effectively concluded after he had introduced and anointed Jesus for His public ministry. The time for Jesus to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom had come.

Mark hinted at the difficult times in which John ministered in, in the following text.

“Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee,
preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.”

MARK 1:14

1. The times of Herod Antipas the Tetrarch (Cf. Matthew 14:1-12)

John spoke up against his marriage to Herodias. She was in fact Antipas’ niece!

2. Times of great Political abuse

Salome, the daughter of Herodias, pleased Antipas with a dance and her reward was the head of John the Baptist.

3. Hard and sad times indeed

When a good and righteous man can lose his life in such circumstances, then the times may be described as hard and sad.

COMMENCEMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS

It is not without significance that Mark introduced Jesus the way he did.

1. Preaching

Many have not fully appreciated the significance of this ministry.

a) The tradition of the prophets of God

The great prophets of God were essentially preachers.

b) A message from God

All preachers are fully aware that they proclaim a special message from God. The messages of the prophets of old were often prefaced with these words, “Thus says the Lord…”

2. The Gospel of the Kingdom of God

a) Nothing could be more significant than this theme.
b) In hard and sad times, the message of the Kingdom of God must be even more vigorously proclaimed.
c) This was a “new” message that Jesus diligently and urgently proclaimed.