Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• The first banquet 5:1-8
  Here we have another remarkable example of how God controls the hearts of kings (v. 2; Prov. 21:1; cf. Gen. 39-41; Ezra 1:1-4; Neh. 2; Dan. 2; 3; 4; 5; Acts 2:23). "To half of the kingdom"(v. 3) is hyperbole and means, "I wil...
• The opposition of Herod and his friends 14:1-12 (cf. Mark 6:14-29; Luke 9:7-9)
  14:1-2 "At that time"is again a loose connective not intended to communicate chronological sequence necessarily. Herod Antipas lived primarily at Tiberias on the west shore of Lake Galilee.579Word about Jesus' ministry reache...
• Outline
  I. Introduction 1:1-13A. The title of the book 1:1B. Jesus' preparation for ministry 1:2-131. The ministry of John the Baptist 1:2-82. The baptism of Jesus 1:9-113. The temptation of Jesus 1:12-13II. The Servant's early Galil...
• II. The Servant's early Galilean ministry 1:14--3:6
  Mark omitted Jesus' year of early Judean ministry (John 1:15-4:42), as did the other Synoptic evangelists. He began his account of Jesus' ministry of service in Galilee, northern Israel (1:14-6:6a). Because of increasing oppo...
• 1. Jesus' ministry to the multitudes 3:7-12 (cf. Matt. 12:15-21)
  This pericope introduces Jesus' continuing ministry in Galilee following the religious leaders' decision to kill Him (cf. 1:14-15; 2:13). It provides much more detail than the parallel account in Matthew.3:7-8 The sea to whic...
• 1. The increasing rejection of Jesus 3:20-35
  Mark again returned to the opposition theme (cf. 2:1-3:6). He directed his readers back and forth between Jesus' acceptance on a superficial level by the multitudes, His disciples' growing commitment to Him, and the increasin...
• The plan of Jesus' family 3:20-21
  The picture the writer painted was of Jesus and his disciples in a house in Capernaum. Jews wanting healing or some other favor from Jesus barged right in the door. There were so many of them that Jesus could not even eat a m...
• The raising of Jairus' daughter and the healing of a woman with a hemorrhage 5:21-43 (cf. Matt. 9:18-26; Luke 8:40-56)
  This is one of the sections of Mark's Gospel that has a chiastic structure (cf. 3:22-30; 6:14-29; 11:15-19).A The appeal of Jairus for his daughter 5:21-24B The healing of the woman with the hemorrhage 5:25-34A' The raising o...
• 2. Jesus' rejection by the Nazarenes 6:1-6a (cf. Matt. 13:54-58)
  Even though Jesus gave ample evidence that He was more than a mere man (4:35-5:43) those who knew Him best on the physical plane still refused to believe in Him (6:1-6a). This refusal led Jesus to turn increasingly from the m...
• IV. The Servant's self-revelation to the disciples 6:6b--8:30
  The increasing hostility of Israel's religious leaders and the rejection of the multitudes (3:7-6:6a) led Jesus to concentrate on training His disciples increasingly. This section of Mark's Gospel shows how Jesus did that. Wh...
• The varying opinions about Jesus' identity 6:14-16 (cf. Matt. 14:1-3; Luke 9:7-9)
  6:14 Herod Antipas was not really a king. He was the tetrarch who ruled over Galilee and Perea. Mark probably called him a king because that is how the people in his territory spoke of him popularly.150It was natural for Mark...
• The death of Jesus' forerunner 6:17-29 (cf. Matt. 14:4-12)
  Verses 17-29 are a flashback in which Mark explained how John had died. This is the only story in Mark's Gospel that does not concern Jesus directly.153Why did Mark include it? Perhaps he did so because John's death prefigure...
• 1. The feeding of the 5,000 6:31-44 (cf. Matt. 14:13-21; Luke 9:11-17; John 6:1-13)
  Mark's account of this miracle plays an important role in his Gospel. The unusually long introduction provides the setting for this miracle. It stresses Jesus' humanity, and the miracle itself demonstrates His deity. Mark lat...
• 4. Jesus' teaching about the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod 8:14-21 (cf. Matt. 16:5-12)
  This pericope parallels and recalls Jesus' teaching about bread when He cast the demon out of the Phoenician girl (7:24-30). In both cases leavened bread metaphorically represented teaching. The Gentile woman wanted Jesus' te...
• Jesus' instruction about marriage 10:2-12 (cf. Matt. 19:3-12)
  10:2 This teaching grew out of the Pharisees' attempt to trap Jesus. The incident occurred in Perea, Herod Antipas' territory. Perhaps the Pharisees wanted to get Jesus to explain His view of divorce because they suspected it...
• 2. Jesus' condemnation of unbelieving Israel 11:12-26
  This incident is the first part of another of Mark's interrupted stories (cf. 3:20-35; 5:21-43; 6:7-31). Its structure provides the key to its interpretation. First, Jesus cursed the fig tree. Then He cleansed the temple. Fin...
• 1. Jesus' sufferings because of betrayal 14:1-11
  This is another section of the Gospel that has a chiastic or "sandwich"structure (cf. 3:20-35; 5:21-43; 6:7-31; 11:12-26; 14:27-52). Mark's account of the conspiracy to kill Jesus (vv. 1-2, 10-11) surrounds Jesus' anointing i...
• Jesus' sufferings in Gethsemane 14:32-42 (cf. Matt. 26:36-46; Luke 22:40-46)
  This incident contrasts Jesus' humility and dependence on the Father with Peter's self-confidence (vv. 27-31). It is a remarkable revelation of the humanity of Jesus."So far from sailing serenely through his trials like some ...
• Bibliography
  Adams, J. McKee. Biblical Backgrounds. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1965.Alexander, Joseph Addison. The Gospel According to Mark. 1881. Reprint ed. London: Banner of Truth, 1960.Alexander, William M. Demonic Possession in the N...
• 3. The end of John's ministry 3:19-20
  Luke concluded his account of John's ministry before he began to narrate Jesus' ministry. This arrangement of material allowed Luke to continue comparing and contrasting the ministries of the two men.130"John's prophetic call...
• 2. Herod's question about Jesus' identity 9:7-9 (cf. Matt. 14:1-3; Mark 6:14-16)
  The crucial issue in the preaching of Jesus and the Twelve during their mission in Galilee was the identity of Jesus. Luke showed the centrality of this issue by placing the present pericope in the center of his account of th...
• B. The witness of John the Baptist 1:6-8
  John the Apostle introduced John the Baptist because John the Baptist bore witness to the light, namely Jesus. John the Baptist was both a model evangelist pointing those in darkness to the light and a model witness providing...
• 2. The second sign: healing the official's son 4:46-54
  This incident completes a cycle in John's Gospel. Jesus performed His first sign in Cana (2:1), and now He returned and did another miracle there (v. 46). There is even a second reference to Capernaum (2:12; 4:46). John's acc...
• 1. The divine appointment of Barnabas and Saul 12:25-13:3
  Luke recorded these verses to set the stage for the account of Barnabas and Saul's first missionary journey that follows."The world ministry which thus began was destined to change the history of Europe and the world."51512:2...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• St. Mark 1-9
  Mark 1-9
• Herod, A Startled Conscience
  But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead.'--Mark 6:16.THE character of this Herod, surnamed Antipas, is a sufficiently common and a sufficiently despicable one. He was the ...
• The Martyrdom Of John
  For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife: for he had married her. 18. For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy ...
• I. This Story Gives An Example Of The Waking Of Conscience.
  When Christ's name reached even the court, where such tidings would have no ready entrance, what was only an occasion of more or less languid gossip and curiosity to others stirred the sleeping accuser in Herod's breast. He h...