King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 14 notes
1The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
2As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
3The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
4John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
5And there went out unto him all the land of Judæa, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.
John must have been a very powerful preacher.
To bring people to that point of repentance.
6And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;
7And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.
8I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.
9And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.
10And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:
11And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
12And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.
13And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.
Satan himself tempted him. He knew him.
Well, even men like Simon, Anna and Co knew him... How much more Satan and the dark world 🗺 saw the signs that he had come.
Now what could they do about it, within the limits of the laws of God and of the spirit and material world 🗺 that God had set up?
14Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
15And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
The time is fulfilled indeed... He, Jesus, was now here.
The kingdom is at hand 🖐️. He
This kingdom of God was the long-awaited kingdom that the prophets had spoken of.
The kingdom of God by his Christ, where God would dwell with men.
JESUS tells them it is near.
Preceding Jesus's Gospel was that of John, who preached repentance.
For through repentance and a contrite heart one enters the coming kingdom.
John was indeed a forerunner to the Christ, and his message was apt to prepare men for the good news.
16Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
17And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.
Hmm 🤔 I don't get it... There's something missing. No one just gets up and starts following a man who randomly walks up to them and tells them to follow him...
In John's account we see why Philip, Nathaniel and Peter followed him. They were disciples of John, so obviously knew he was the Christ, and they informed their brethren, who then joined them in the course.
Could it be that they had already heard of this miracle-working rabbi who was possibly the Saviour?
Thus providing a premise for them to choose to follow him? That sounds more like it.
18And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.
19And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets.
20And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.
In Luke's account these helped Peter with the large catch... That account is not stated in Mark.
However, I believe all these contributed to their saying yes to the call. Which Mark just only makes mention of.
You see, sometimes in this life God touches and meets us at our point of need, then we realise how much more there is in God to receive and how little our need is... We break down and surrender to his course.
We realise how irrelevant our own course 🏇 is, and we choose to align ourselves with a greater good 👋, indeed the best course 🏇.
21And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.
Straightaway... He had focus and a sense of mission and purpose.
No time to waste 🗑
22And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.
23And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,
24Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.
25And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.
There were and have been many mysteries hidden from men of all ages, and now they were being revealed by Christ.
Where in the world did this come from? They seem to know each other.
In other scenarios the spirits asked if he had come out to destroy them before the time.
Such conversations are never revealed in the Old Testament, and now we are seeing Jesus with knowledge of spirits and ancient agreements and times.
He indeed was before he was born.
26And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.
27And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.
28And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee.
Immediate fame and popularity... But he was long prepared for this season.
29And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.
30But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.
31And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.
32And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.
Word had traveled, word had gone round very quickly about this miracle worker 👷.
People want results, that's all. Results, nothing else... You provide it and they come to you... Not for you, but for the results.
33And all the city was gathered together at the door.
34And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.
But these devils 👿, why were they interested in exposing him... Was it to buy time, or they spoke because they had been caught?
Also, how did these devils know him, and yet the very people he came to did not?
That means the dark kingdom and spirit realm is well organized.
Word had gone round even amongst them, and they knew him.
The agenda at this time was not to reign as king, but to die as a lamb.
That would have been compromised if the crowds knew who he was.
They obviously would have fought the Romans, knowing very well that their time had come.
So Jesus hid himself, but at his second coming there will be no more hiding; all eyes will see him.
35And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
36And Simon and they that were with him followed after him.
37And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee.
38And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth.
39And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.
40And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
41And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.
42And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.
43And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away;
44And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
45But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter.
The crowds were great indeed. He tried to contain it, but it did not work.
He was indeed a city set on a hill.
Now the new protocol to control the crowds was to be in desert places.
So I guess unless your situation is really that dire and your hunger pure, you will not follow him to the wilderness.