Jesus is the stronger Strong Man, who came to bind up the strong man of Satan, in order to plunder his house and make Satan’s captives his family.

The leaders want to destroy Him, the unclean spirits want to expose Him, the crowds want to use Him but Jesus wants to call them. He wants to call them into what it truly means to be the people of God.

Following Jesus includes more than what we typically think of when we think of following Jesus.

Jesus, the Son of God, has the power to forgive sins.

Ultimately, we can’t make ourselves clean from sin. But Jesus is able and willing to make us—you—clean. And here we’ll see Jesus is the Cleanser who not only removes our infection, but becomes the Infection in our place.

The healing of Jesus and the purpose of Jesus are intertwined—and it’s here in the intertwining, that we understand more about his purpose for us.

Jesus doesn’t just speak with authority and act with authority, Jesus is authority. Is he your authority?

The stage has now been set by Mark for the ministry of Jesus. John as been the herald of his coming. His Father and his Spirit had also heralded his identity as the long-promised Messiah. He had faced his inaugural conflict with the kingdom of darkness. Now John the Baptist has been imprisoned. It was time for Jesus to begin his ministry in word and action. These verses record a summary of the message Jesus preached, and the impact he made upon people as he summoned them to respond to it.

Mark begins his gospel by telling us two simple things. First, the gospel is about Jesus Christ. It is not good advice about how to live, but good news about a person. Then secondly, Mark sets the scene for Jesus by telling us about John the Baptist and the significance of his life and ministry.