Mark Worksheet - Chapter 1

Mark, Chapter 1

1.  Mark begins with John the Baptist preparing the way for the ministry of Jesus, the Son of God.  He gives the Old Testament prophecies from Malachi and Isaiah about the messenger who would prepare the way for Him. 

• When John appeared in the wilderness, what was he preaching to prepare the people for the coming of the Lord? vs. 4 - 

2.  All the country of Judea was going out to John in the wilderness as well as the people from Jerusalem. 

• As they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, what were they doing? vs. 5 -

3.  Who was John's baptism for?

• Acts 13:24 -

4.  When John the Baptist was dedicated at the temple by his parents, a prophecy was spoken over by his father Zacharias as he was filled with the Holy Spirit to prophesy.  Read the prophetic word in regard to John:

• Luke 1:67-79
• What would John be called? vs. 76 - 
• What was John's purpose? vs. 77 -

5.  Later when Peter preached to the multitudes after the resurrection of Jesus, what was his similiar message to all mankind ?

• Acts 2:38-39 -

Preparing the way for Salvation The nation of Israel had not had a prophet among them for 400 years giving them words from the Lord.  This is the period of time between the Old and the New Testament called the dark years of silence.  The last prophet that spoke was Malachi and in his words are the prophecy of the coming prophet that will announce the coming of the Messiah to His people....Malachi 3:1,2 ..."I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me, and the Lord whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming", says the Lord of Hosts.  But who can stand when He appears?  For He is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap." ... So, John's baptism was to prepare them for salvation that could only come from the Lord Himself.

Ponder: 

• Why do you think repentance and confessing sins is important to prepare the way for salvation?

6. What must we realize before we can be saved?

• Romans 3:23-24 -
• Romans 6:23 -
• Galatians 3:23-24 -

Note:  We must see that we have broken God's holy law, that we are sinners, unworthy and unable to obtain salvation and righteousness within ourselves. John's baptism helped the nation of Israel realize that they could not trust in their heritage as Abraham's descendants or in the law of Moses or in any other thing.  Each of them had to realize that they personally had sin that separated them from God the Father.  Only then, could they be prepared to receive the Messiah, the Promised One, that would take away their sins and give them eternal life.  The law leads us to the knowledge of our sin.  The knowledge of our sin leads us to the acknowledgement of needing our Savior.  Therefore, it is the same for us today.  Peter said "Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins ... and then you can receive the Holy Spirit of Promise."

What is repentance? 

7.  Look this up in a dictionary and use a concordance  to help you fully understand the meaning of the word repentance and Scriptures showing that repentance leads to salvation.

8. Why did John refuse to baptise some of that day when they came out to him? 

• What were they trusting in and what were they refusing to acknowledge?
• Luke 3:7-14 -
• (you will notice he continues to give them the law to see that they do not keep the law and therefore need to repent of their sins rather than trust in their own efforts or religious status)

9.  Based on the things we have looked at so far, are we neglecting to allow people to see themselves fully in their sin before bringing them the message of salvation? 

• What should we remember when we share the Gospel with others?

Back to Mark Chapter 1:

10. John was dressed in camel's hair and his diet was locusts and wild honey.  He literally lived in the wilderness and preached out there as the people came out to him to hear his message. 

• What did he preach to them?  vs. 7,8 -

11. The One coming after John was the Messiah.  John simply baptized the people in water, symoblizing the cleansing of sin as they confessed their sins and recognized falling short of God's glory, to prepare their hearts for the need of salvation...

• What would Jesus baptize them in? vs. 8 -

12. When would any believers in Jesus finally be able to be bapized in His Spirit?

• John 7:37-39 -

 

Note: Jesus had to conquer death and hell and become the sacrifice for all sins of all time.  When He raised from the dead, He then took the power away from the evil one who had held people captive in his will.

13. Answer the following questions from John 3:34-36

• When we believe in Jesus, what does He gives us without measure?
• What abides on the person who does not obey the Son of God?
• What do all believers in the Son of God possess?
• What can the believer be sure in? John 5:24 -

14. When we are baptized by Jesus with the Holy Spirit, what do we become a part of?

• 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 -

15.  What is the role of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life?  Read the following Scriptures and list words that describe the Spirit's role in our lives. 

• John 14:16 -
• John 14:17 -
• John 14:26 -
• John 14:27 -
• John 15:26,27 -
• John 16:6-12
• John 16:13 -
• John 16:14,15 -
• Romans 8:6-11 -
• Romans 8:12-17 -
• Romans 8:26,27 -
• Ephesians 1:13-14 - 

Praise the Lord that we have repented and come into faith in the Lord Jesus Christ so that we have the Holy Spirit of God to help us, to pray for us, to lead us, to guide us, to be with us forever! Amen.

Back to Mark Chapter 1:

Note: Jesus Himself was baptized by John in the Jordan river.  Of course, Jesus did not have sins to confess or repent of for He was God's sinless lamb of God, but He set the example for each one of us and this consecrated His calling unto God the Father as He began His ministry at about 30 years of age (see Luke 3:23).

16. What 3 things happened to show that Jesus was God's Son, the Promised Messiah,  at His baptism? vs. 9-11 -

• 1)
• 2)
• 3)

17. Where did the Holy Spirit immediately send Jesus? vs. 12 -

18.  What did Jesus go through His first 40 days before He ministered to others? vs. 13 -

19.  Who was sent to minister to Jesus at this time? vs. 13 -  

Note:   **There are more details in Matthew about how Jesus dealt with these temptations.  You can see the studies on Matthew we have onsite to study these things more thoroughly.**

20.  Where did Jesus go after John the Baptist was in custody? vs. 14 -

21.  Why was John the Baptist in prison?  Read the account and comment:

• Matthew 14:3-4

22.  What mission did Jesus continue to fulfill?

• Mark 1:14-15

23.  Jesus called His first 4 disciples as He went by the Sea of Galilee for they were all fishermen.  What were the names of these first four disciples that followed Him? vs. 16-20 -

• 1)
• 2)
• 3)
• 4)

24.  What was Jesus going to show these fishermen how to do from this point on? vs. 17 -

25. Jesus and these first four disciples went into Capernaum.  Jesus went into the Jewish synagogue and taught on the Sabbath day. 

• Why were the people amazed at His teaching? vs. 21-22 -

26. As Jesus was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum, a man cried out saying "What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have You come to destroy us?  I know who You are - the Holy One of God!" (vs. 23,24)

• What did this person have inside of him? vs. 23-26
• What did this spirit do to this person before coming out at the command of Jesus? vs. 26 -

27.  The demons know who Jesus is.

• James 2:19 - 

How Do Demons Know Jesus? When we study the creation of all the angelic beings in the beginning of creation, we see that Jesus was there with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  As God, Jesus is eternal and has always been part of the Trinity, the three persons of God.  When Satan rebelled against God with an act of freewill, we are told in Revelation 12 that one-third of the angels followed him and became fallen angels or demons.  God has declared to them what their fate will be.  They know full well that Jesus is God and has all authority over them and that they will eventually be destroyed in the lake of fire created for the devil and his angels. (References found in: Ezekiel 28, Isaiah 14, Revelation 12)

28. What did Jesus say in regard to demons and the authority He and His believers have over them?

• Luke 10:17-20 -

Back to Mark:

29.  When Jesus cast demons out of people during His earthly ministry, what did he not allow the demons to do and why?  vs. 34 -

30.  When Jesus healed people, He wanted them to follow the laws of Moses and not tell others what had been done for them. 

• What did He tell the leper that He cleansed? vs. 44 -

31. Because the leper did not obey Jesus, but spread the news of what He had done for him everywhere, what was the result of the ministry of Jesus from that time on? vs. 45 -

 

Note:   Jesus was on the Father's timetable and He knew that He only had a certain amount of time to do what He came for.  He needed to go to all the towns of the regions He was sent to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God.  When demons said who He was before He could show who He was, it was a distraction and the religious leaders caused distractions.  It was not time to be known through others.  That would come later after His resurrection when His followers were baptized in the Holy Spirit and power to go into all the nations and preach in His Name.

32. Jesus went to the home of Simon (Peter) & Andrew.  Peter's mother-in-law was sick with a fever.  Jesus touched her and the fever left.  She was able to get up and wait on them after that.  When evening came, after the sun had set, the people began to bring to their house all who were sick and demon-possessed so that He could heal and deliver them.  (vs.29-34) 

• After a late night of ministry, what did Jesus rise early in order to do? vs. 35 -

33. What should His example teach us to do? 

• Where did He get His strength to work and minister constantly? 

It was through His time in prayer, prayer to the Father, communion with the Father, strength from the Holy Spirit.  Although Jesus was God, He laid aside all those privileges to live as a man in the flesh to show us how to live and commune with the Father.  He was made like us to identify with us in our weaknesses. 

Comment on the following verses:

• Hebrews 2:14-18
• Hebrews 4:14-16

How Jesus Handled Pressure Jesus handled His stress and pressures of people by always doing only the things His Father showed Him to do through the Word and Prayer.  He was not on man's agenda, but on God's agenda.  When the disciples found Him alone by Himself in prayer, their statement to Him was ... "Everyone is looking for You".... (vs.37) ....Instead of Jesus going back to all the people who wanted more from Him at that time, He followed the Father's agenda instead.

34. What did He tell His disciples in response to the fact that everyone was looking for Him? vs. 38 -

35. Leaving there, Jesus went throughout Galilee to preach in their synagogues and cast out demons.  A leper came to Him saying "If You are willing, You can make me clean."  Jesus was moved with compassion. 

• What did He tell him? vs. 41 -

Application:  No matter how busy we are, we need to have compassion for the needs of others and yet no matter how needy others may be, we need to always follow the agenda given to us by the Father and not by the pressing needs of people.  How do we balance all of that?  We need to follow the example of Jesus.  Minister to the needs, but always take time, even before daylight time, to seek the Father and His agenda for us.  We want to hear what the Father says from the heavens to His Son as well ... "I am well pleased".

Review & Reflect:

• How do we prepare for salvation? 
• What does it mean to repent and then believe?
• What purpose does the law serve in our salvation if any?
• As Jesus healed the sick and cast out demons, why did He not want the people or the demons telling others Who He was and what He had done? 
• How does Jesus view Satan and his demons? 
• How do Satan and his demons view Jesus? 
• When we are stressed by time pressures and people's demands, what can we learn by the pattern of life Jesus lived? 
• What role does the Holy Spirit play in our lives as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ? 
• Are we taking the time to be continually filled with His Spirit or do we neglect that time and walk in the weakness of our flesh instead? 
• How can we change the habits of our life to be more like Jesus taught us to be?

Your summary and prayer today:

 

 

 

Written by Brenda LeMoine for Heart & Home Bible Fellowship짤 with permission to use on RTB websites only. For personal or ministry related use, please email Brenda for permission and conditions.