1 Commentary

1.1 Genesis 1:1-5

Genesis 1:1 God created – One of the key points, if not the most important part
of this lesson, is God’s responsibly in bringing existence into being.

Genesis 1:2 a wind from God swept over the face of the waters – God’s ruwach
moves over the great void of waters before anything is formed

Genesis 1:3 God said – In the lesson, this is the first time that God speaks.
Let there be light – It will be three days until the sun, moon, and stars are
created.

Genesis 1:4 God saw – The narrator now informs us that God has the ability to
see.

Genesis 1:5

1.2 Psalm 29
Psalm 29:1 Ascribe to the L ORD – According tot he psalmist, the Lord is respon-
sible for many different actions in creation. Some of these include “heav-
enly” creatures, the earth, power, and glory.

Psalm 29:2 worship the L ORD in holy splendour – This command from the au-
thor is often forgotten. No longer do we set aside the best that this world has
to offer during our worship but instead we make do with what we have.

Psalm 29:3 voice of the L ORD is over the waters The L ORD reigns over the chaos
that we cannot control.

Psalm 29:4 the voice of the L ORD is full of majesty – This attribute helps to show
creation that the L ORD is in charge because that is how the L ORD is. In
other words, the L ORD is a king because that is how the L ORD acts.

Psalm 29:5 The voice of the L ORD breaks the cedars – Nothing in creation can
stand up to the power of the L ORD’s voice.

Psalm 29:6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf – But the L ORD does not only
bring gloom and doom. The L ORD gives life.

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Psalm 29:7
Psalm 29:8
Psalm 29:9
Psalm 29:10
Psalm 29:11

1.3 Acts 19:1-7

Acts 19:1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the inland regions
and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. – The author of Acts
gives us some information on Paul’s journey. First, Apollos and Paul are in
different locations. It might even be that Paul is traveling alone at this point.
Next, we learn that Paul is in Ephesus (῎Εφεσος). This church is one of the
seven listed in Revelation. This city’s influence dwindled as its harbor filled
with silt.
Acts 19:2 He said to them – Either Paul is being very abrupt or the author left
out some background material on why this issue needed to be raised.
No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit. – The answer to
Paul’s question makes it seem as if the other teachers were inferior to Paul
because Paul knows of this teaching of the Church.
Acts 19:3 Into what then were you baptized? – It seems as if Paul knows that
different baptisms are taking place.
Into John’s – Paul’s intuition proves to be correct.
Acts 19:4 John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to
believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus. – This is an
explanation of what John’s baptism is inferior to what Jesus offers.
Acts 19:5 they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus – This is not a “re-
baptism” rather this is their first baptism into Christianity.
Acts 19:6 the Holy Spirit came upon them Sometime either during or after the
baptism, the Holy Spirit entered these individuals.
Acts 19:7

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1.4 Mark 1:4-11
The tradition holds that the author of Mark is Peter’s son (1 Peter 5:13) and further
this is the same person called “John Mark” in Acts 12:25.1
The following verses are not in today’s lectionary reading:
1
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2
As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead
of you, who will prepare your way; 3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight’ ”

Mark 1:1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ – The Greek ἀρχή can
mean start or rule.2
The narrator informs us about the purpose of this book. How much of Mark
is the “beginning?”3 Does it only include the first few verses or is the entire
book an opening into what God is doing in the world?
The narrator has a position of privilege since their are no limitations on what
the narrator knows.4
What is the good news?

Schweizer (The Good News According to Mark) states: ”The

Greek word euaggelion denotes ’good news,’ primarily of a vic-
tory in battle. This term figures prominently in stories of the lives
of the Roman emperors who were honored as gods” (p. 30).
James Edwards (The Gospel According to Mark) expands on
Schweizer’s comments:
In 9 B.C., within a decade of Jesus’ birth, the birthday of Cae-
sar Augustus (63 B.C. - A.D. 14) was hailed as euangelion (pl.).
Since he was hailed as a god, Augustins’s ”birthday signaled the
beginning of Good News for the world.” In the Greco-Roman
world the word always appears in the plural, meaning one good
1
Mark Allan Powell, Fortress Introduction To The Gospels, (Augsburg Fortress, 1998), p. 45.
2
John R. Donahue, S.J. and Daniel J. Harrington, S.J.; S.J. Daniel J. Harrington, editor, The
Gospel of Mark, Volume 2, Sacra Pagina Series, (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002),
p. 59.
3
Brian P. Stoffregen, Mark 1.1-8 2nd Sunday of Advent - Year B, http://www.
crossmarks.com/brian/mark1x1.htm.
4
Donald H. Juel and Patrick R. Keifert, ‘A Markan Epiphany: Lessons from Mark 1’, Word &
World, 8 (1988):1, p. 80.

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 tiding among others; but in the NT euangelion appears only in
the singular: the good news of God in Jesus Christ, beside which
there is no other. The concept of ”good news” was not limited
to military and political victories, however. In the prophet Isaiah
”good news” is transferred to the inbreaking of God’s final sav-
ing act when peace, good news, and release from oppression will
be showered on God’s people (Isa 52:7; 61:1-3). For Mark, the
advent of Jesus is the beginning of the fulfillment of the ”good
news” heralded by Isaiah.” [p. 24]5

A Greek use of “Good News” that exists to today is from Priene in Asia for
the birthday of Augustus. “the birthday of the god (eg emperor) was for the
world the beginning of joyful tidings which have been proclaimed on his
account.”6
the Son of God – This phrase is missing in some manuscripts. ! For the
Greeks, it might recall the story of Hercules who was the son of Zeus and
the human Alcmene.7
Donald Juel reminds us that Mark uses words like “good news” that nor-
mally means a military victory and then redefines it to be something else.8
The author does the same with “Christ” and “son of God,” which normally
mean the victorious crowned king and the “super hero.”9
The voice of God tells us this fact (Mark 1:11; 9:7) by calling Jesus “my
Son” and the demons recognize Him (Mark 3:11; 5:7) However, no humans
say this until the end of the book. At the trial, Jesus is asked if He is the
Son of God (Mark 14:61-64) and the Centurion says the same thing (Mark
15:39).10
Jesus Christ, the Son of God – !!! Taken together, this phrase might tell us
how we are to read Mark. Look twice, everything is not as it might first
appear.11
5
Stoffregen, ‘Mark 1.1-8 2nd Sunday of Advent - Year B’.
6
Donahue and Harrington, Mark, p. 60.
7
Stoffregen, ‘Mark 1.1-8 2nd Sunday of Advent - Year B’.
8
Ibid.
9
Ibid.
10
Powell, Fortress Introduction To The Gospels, p. 55.
11
Ibid., p. 42.

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Mark 1:2 As it is written – This both shows that the audience understood the how
Old Testament text is introduced along with the fact that a large number
could read.12
Prepare the way of the Lord – Does this refer to the Father, the Son, the
Holy Spirit, or the Trinity?

Mark 1:3

Mark 1:4 proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins – The
author of Mark is very clear on what John the Baptizer is doing.

Mark 1:5 all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him – It appears that this
verse is filled with irony. When has any large group decided spontaneously
to do the same thing? This is especially true when the purpose of the trip to
John is to confess your shortcomings.

Mark 1:6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his
waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. This information might have been
useful to the original audience of Mark in that it portrayed the “party” John
the Baptizer belonged to. It could also mean that having “everyone” go to
John for baptism was a miracle because John was such a “crazy guy.”

Mark 1:7 The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me – Are we
willing to point past the buildings, the programs, and everything else and
clearly show who Jesus is?

Mark 1:8 he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit – It does not appear that this
ever happens in the Gospel according to St. Mark. What then does it mean?
Could it be like the rest of the Mark and have a “double meaning?” Might it
refer to testing, persecution, and death?13

Mark 1:9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee – We do not hear in
this sentence that Jesus came from no where.
We also must remember in this day and age that Jesus is a specific individ-
ual.14
12
Donahue and Harrington, Mark, p. 60.
13
Stoffregen, ‘Mark 1.1-8 2nd Sunday of Advent - Year B’.
14
Juel and Keifert, ‘Word & World 8 [1988]’, p. 81.

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 Mark 1:10 he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove
on him – The narrator once again gives us a privileged position. Only Jesus
and us know what is happening.

Coming up from the waters of the Jordan, “immediately” Jesus

sees “the heavens being torn asunder and the Spirit descending
on him like a dove” (Mark 1:9-10). (This is the first of forty-two
occurrences of the adverb “immediately” [εὐθύς] in the Gospel
of Mark, a word which indicates both a temporal immediacy and
a theological urgency in the narrative.)15

The Greek here is σχίζω. Donald Juel in A Master of Surprise: Mark In-
terpreted notes in the chapter named, “Transgressing Boundaries: Jesus’
Baptism in Mark” that one might think they never will be repaired.

There are many who find the relativizing forces in our culture in-
tolerable and who long for a clear glimpse of God, some unam-
biguous sign: “O that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come
down” (Isa 64:1). In fact, the heavens are torn apart; God does
come – but hardly without ambiguity. His coming is not greeted
with cheers but with misgivings and finally with violent rejec-
tion. Jesus’ ministry holds promise, but that promise leads to the
cross.16

The scene is wrong; the career of the promised offspring of David

should begin with appropriate splendor; Jesus should be hailed
by crowds. As it is, his inauguration occurs in the desert, away
from centers of civilization. The attendants are the hordes who
come to be baptized by John. There are no cheers, no conver-
sions. The tearing of the heavens makes no obvious impact on
any audience but the narrator’s – just as the conclusion of Jesus’
ministry, the tearing of the temple curtain, makes no obvious im-
pact.17
15
Paul S. Berge, ‘The Epiphany Gospels in Mark and John’, Word & World, XVII (1997):1,
p. 95.
16
Juel and Keifert, ‘Word & World 8 [1988]’, p. 81.
17
Ibid.

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 Mark 1:11 And a voice came from heaven – It does not appear that anyone else
heard this voice. If this is true then the first “public” recognition that Jesus
is the Messiah does not happen until 8:29 during Peter’s confession. In this
Gospel, God makes a public statement about Jesus in 9:7.

References
Berge, Paul S., ‘The Epiphany Gospels in Mark and John’, Word & World, XVII
(1997):1, pp. 94 – 101.

Donahue, S.J., John R. and Harrington, S.J., Daniel J.; Daniel J. Harrington, S.J.,
editor, The Gospel of Mark, Volume 2, Sacra Pagina Series, (Collegeville,
MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002).

Juel, Donald H. and Keifert, Patrick R., ‘A Markan Epiphany: Lessons from Mark
1’, Word & World, 8 (1988):1, pp. 80 – 85.

Powell, Mark Allan, Fortress Introduction To The Gospels, (Augsburg Fortress,

1998).

Stoffregen, Brian P., Mark 1.1-8 2nd Sunday of Advent - Year B, http://www.
crossmarks.com/brian/mark1x1.htm.