Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Mark 1:35 - 1:39
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mar_1:35-39
35In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. 36Simon and his companions searched for Him; 37they found Him, and said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You." 38He said to them, "Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for." 39And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons.
Mar_1:35 "In the early morning, while it was still dark" This refers to last watch of the night, sometime between 3:00 and 6:00 a.m.
▣ "was praying there" This is imperfect tense which shows Jesus' regular prayer life. In Luke's Gospel this emphasis is often repeated. In Mark there are only three examples of Jesus praying: here, the feeding of the five thousand (cf. Mar_8:6), and in Gethsemane (cf. Mar_14:32-42).
Mar_1:37-39 The people were looking for Jesus because He healed them, not because of His teaching (cf. Luk_4:43). Jesus was continually on the move because (1) He wanted all to hear His message and (2) His mission was misunderstood.
Mar_1:38
NASB "for that is what I came for"
NKJV "because for this purpose I have come forth"
NRSV "for that is what I came out to do"
TEV, NJB "because that is why I came"
Jesus felt deeply that He had been sent (cf. Luk_4:43) to proclaim the gospel of God (cf. Mar_1:14-15). He sensed that He was not sent as a miracle worker or healer, but as the establisher of a new day, a new relationship with the Father, the inauguration of the kingdom of God! The centrality of His person, the content of His message, His redemptive acts, and His glorious resurrection and ascension were the focus of His message. Mark's Messianic Secret is a literary way of asserting that these things would not be fully understood or revealed until years in the future.
Mar_1:39 There is a textual variant in Mar_1:39. Some ancient Greek manuscripts have "he went" (cf. à , B, L, the Palestinian Syriac, and the Coptic translations, also NASB, NRSV, TEV, NJB), while the Greek uncial manuscripts A, C, D, W, the Vulgate, and Peshitta translations as well as the Greek text used by Augustine have "he was" (cf. NKJV). The Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament by Bruce Metzger, pp. 75-76, asserts that a copyist changed "he went" to match Luk_4:44. This is a good example of the fact that most Greek manuscript variations make no significant theological or historical difference as to the overall meaning of the account.