Reading for January 22nd

Read Mark 1.1-20
In 1.1-8 John the Baptist
In verse 1 good news (Gk Euangellion) is the literal meaning of gospel; Mark is the only canonical Gospel to have this self-designation.
Son of God appears rarely; Son of man is Jesus' self-designation.
In verse 2 a see Mal 3.1.
In verse 3 Isa 40 advised the Babylonian exiles to build a road to Jerusalem; Mark adapts the statement to locate John in the wilderness.
In verse 4 the wilderness is a traditional place of renewal.
In 1.9-11 the baptism
In verse 9 Mark neither records Bethlehem birth or infancy account nor addresses the question of Jesus' sinlessness.
In verse 10 with the rendering of the Temple veil, the heavens symbolically open again at the cross (15.38).
In verse 11 the heavenly voice speaks directly to Jesus; in Matthew's account it makes public proclamation.
In verses 12-13 the temptation.
Immediately is a Marcan motif expressing urgency.
The wilderness setting, temptation, and forty days, echo the Exodus and Moses' experiences on Sinai.
In verse 13 unlike his Hebrew ancestors, Jesus does not succumb to temptation in the wilderness; unlike Adam and Eve, he lives peacefully with animals and angels.
In verse 14-15 the good news
Jesus begins his mission only after the baptist is arrested by Herod Antipas; the two are not depicted as rivals, rather , Jesus elaborates on John's message of repentance.
In verse 16-20 the first disciples.
Simon will be nicked named Peter or rock (3.16).
The four disciples are not peasants but boat owners from Capernaum, a mid-sized Galilean city.
The Gospels never mention the larger cities of Sepphoris and Tiberias, although Sepphoris is just a few miles from Nazareth.
The Sea of Galilee is also known as the Sea of Tiberas and Lake Gennesaret.
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