Mark 1

(1) John the Baptist Prepares the Way

Jesus is both the Chosen One and God’s son, and this how the Good News about Him begins. 

As God said through the prophet Isaiah,

“I’m sending My messenger ahead of You, and he’ll get Your path ready for You. He’ll shout in the outskirts of town,

‘Prepare the way for the Master! Make sure His pathway is all lined up!’”

Then John the Baptizer shows up in the outskirts of town talking about a baptism that’s connected to a mindset shift and the forgiveness of shortcomings. The entire country of Judea was going out to see him, including people from Jerusalem. They were getting baptized by him in the Jordan River and confessing the ways they had messed up. 

John wore clothes made out of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his diet consisted of grasshoppers and wild honey. He would say, 

“There’s someone coming after me who is much more powerful than I am. It wouldn’t even be appropriate for me to stoop down and untie his shoe laces. I’m baptizing you with water, but He will baptize you with a Different Spirit!”

(9) Jesus is Baptized

Around that time, Jesus came from the town Nazareth (which is in the region of Galilee) and was baptized by John in the river. As soon as He came up out of the water, He saw the sky opening up and the Spirit coming down on Him like a dove. And there was a voice from the sky that said,

“You are My Son, and I love You so much. I’m so proud of You.”

Then the Spirit immediately compelled Him to go into the outskirts, where He stayed for 40 days as the Enemy tested him. He stayed out there with the wild animals while God’s messengers tended to His needs. 

(14) Jesus Announces God’s Coming Empire

John eventually got arrested, but Jesus went to Galilee where He told everyone about God’s good news, saying,

“The time has come: God’s empire is at hand! Change your mindset and believe in the good news!”

(16) Jesus Finds 4 Apprentices

As Jesus was making His rounds, He saw two brothers named Simon and Andrew by the Sea of Galilee. They were both fishermen who were throwing a net into the water. Jesus told them,

“Follow Me, and I’ll turn you into people who go fishing for other people.”

The instantly dropped their nets and started following Him.

As they went on a little further, Jesus saw two more brothers, James and John (Zebedee’s sons). They were in a boat fixing their nets, but Jesus invited them to join Him, so they left their dad and his employees there in the boat and started following Jesus.

(21) Jesus Expells Demon

They went to Capernaum and the first thing they did on the Sabbath was go into the church, where Jesus started teaching. Everyone was amazed at His message, because he taught like someone who had real authority, unlike the other Bible scholars.

Then in the middle of church, a man with an impure spirit shouted out, 

“What business do we have with each other, Jesus from Nazareth? Did You come here to destroy us?? I know who You are—You’re the One who’s set apart by God!”

Jesus scolded him and said,

“Stop talking and come out of him!”

The spirit threw the man into convulsions, gave a loud shriek, then came out of him. Everyone was completely astonished. They debated amongst themselves, saying, 

“What is this new teaching that has so much authority?? He even told an impure spirit what to do, and it obeyed Him!”

The news about Jesus quickly spread all over, even to the surrounding district of Galilee.

(29) More Healings

Right after they left the church, they went over to Simon and Andrew’s house. Simon’s mother-in-law was lying down with a fever, so they told Jesus about her. He went over to her, pulled her up, and grabbed her hand. Then her fever went away, and she started hosting them. 

After the sun set that night, everyone started bringing Him all kinds of people who were sick or demon-possessed. It seemed like the entire city came their door! Jesus healed lots of them who were sick with all kinds of diseases and evicted lots of demons, telling them not to say anything, since they knew who He was. 

(35) Jesus Travels and Heals Many

Early the next morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up and left the house to go find a secluded place and talk with God. Simon and his friends didn’t know where He was, so they started looking for Him. When they found Him they said, 

“We were all looking for You!”

Jesus said,

“Let’s go to one of the other nearby towns so I can tell them the good news too. That’s what I came here to do in the first place."

So He went to different churches all over Galilee where He spoke and evicted demons. 

(40) Jesus Grows Famous

At one point, a man with leprosy came up to Jesus, fell on his knees, and started begging Him,

“If You’re willing, You can make me clean!”

Moved by compassion, Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man, saying,

“I am willing. Be clean!”

The leprosy left him right away, and he became clean. Then Jesus gave him a serious warning and sent him on his way, saying,

“Make sure you don’t tell anyone about this. Just go show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifice Moses prescribed for this type of cleansing. That way, they won’t have any doubts about your status.”

But the man went and talked about it openly, spreading the news around so much that Jesus couldn’t even step foot into a city. He had to stay on the outskirts, but people still came to Him from all over.