Mark

So here I am starting book two of the New Testament!

My first impression:

Is the gospel according to Mark the "cliff notes" version or something?

In only the first 22 verses, Mark has covered
what was a week's worth of reading in Matthew!
(the first 4 chapters!)

brief.

but he skipped a lot....

I have heard that the four gospels are like
four different faces of Christ,
or four personalities.

Matthew presented Jesus as "The Messiah",
and several of the events he describes
show how the life of Jesus fulfilled old testament prophecies.

Mark presents Jesus as "The Servant",
so he skips all that prophecy stuff.

And since servants don't record their genealogies,
he skips that too.

and his whole childhood, too.

So what are we left with?
Just the briefest account of the crucial events.

Only one thing is in my thoughts after reading this chapter,
the part about the unclean spirit.

Mar 1:23
And in their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit.
And he cried out,
Mar 1:24 saying, What is to us and to You, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have You come to destroy us?
I know You, who You are, the Holy One of God.

I can't remember if I've mentioned this already or just thought it,
but how is it that spirits know who he is
without a doubt
before anyone else does?

It seems like every human he encounters wonders about him,
but every demon or spirit knows exactly who he is.
I'm going to have to study the biblical accounts of evil spirits in detail sometime.

And I wonder, are they still around right now?
Do I know people who have unclean spirits residing in them?
Do I have one residing in me?

I also thought it was interesting that after healing a leper....

Mar 1:44 and He said to him, See that you say nothing to anyone.
But go and show yourself to the priest,
and offer those things which Moses commanded for your cleansing,
for a testimony to them.
Mar 1:45 But going out, he began to proclaim it very much,
and to spread about the matter,
so that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city

If Jesus had just removed a curse from me,
and all He demanded in return was my cooperation,
and he "strictly charged" me to do something,
I think I would do it.
(I would probably be afraid the healing would reverse itself or something if I didn't.)

I wonder how Christ felt about that fellow.
I wonder if he has spoken to him since,
and if so, what he said to him.