Yesterday, I had the privilege of preaching from Mark 1:1-13. We learned how Jesus is the Son of God. In particular: the expected Son of God, the beloved Son of God, and the obedient Son of God. We saw that one way to think about what it means to be a Christian is to agree with God about His Son.

Anytime I prepare to preach, I run across some great quotes that I don’t have time to use in my sermon. Here are some choice quotes that didn’t make the cut:

“The point of these opening scenes is, therefore, to let the reader know from the start who Jesus is and to stress that he comes to fulfill divine promises and his divine commission.” David Garland, The Gospel of Mark, 43.

“‘More accurate than referring to our access to God would be to speak of God’s access to us. God comes whether we choose it or not.’ The barriers are torn down and torn open, and God is now in our midst and on the loose.” David Garland, The Gospel of Mark, 48.

“In Mark’s understanding, therefore, the gospel is more than a set of truths, or even a set of beliefs. It is a person, ‘the gospel of Jesus Christ.’ The kingdom that God inaugurates is bodily present in Jesus of Nazareth.” James Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, 25.

“Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of the original concept of sonship that was linked to Israel’s call in Exod 4:22-23: Jesus is Israel reduced to one.” James Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, 37.

“Mark is pointing us to a double thrust in his message. It is about who Jesus is. It is also about how people should respond to Jesus. These themes run right through the Gospel of Mark. They form the basic materials for the telling of the story of Jesus.” Donald English, The Message of Mark, 16.

“But Mark here reflects the tension which runs throughout the biblical presentation of Satan as at the same time both implacably hostile to God and yet operating, despite himself, within God’s overall sovereignty.” R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark, 85-86.

Categories: Monday Matters, five15 blog