The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’” John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

Mark 1:1-5

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’” John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Mark 1:1-5

I continue my study of The Character of Jesus.  For this morning, I focus on the chapter 3: Sources where I highlighted in my Kindle version the following excerpts:

• "This is the surprising thing that all the story of [Jesus'] life is contained in this one book. There were many Greek writers living in the days of Jesus, but not one of them wrote his life, so far as any scholar knows. Not a scrap of Jesus' biography at the hands of a Greek...[or] Roman [or] Jewish poet or historian has come down to us."
  
• "To be sure, there are apocryphal gospels and apocryphal acts and apocryphal epistles and apocalypses, but no one of these, nor do all of them together, throw any light on the character of Jesus which is not furnished by our New Testament. Everything that is positively known of Jesus of Nazareth is confined between the covers of the New Testament."
  
• "That the life of the greatest and most important man who ever lived upon the earth should be written on pages so small and few is one of the surprises."
  
• A study of the gospels reveals little about the completeness of Jesus' life. "They mention what he did or said only on from thirty to thirty-five days. That is, they confine their attention to one thirtieth of his public life, twenty-nine thirtieths being a total blank."
  
• "[The authors of the gospels] recorded many things which he said, but his recorded sayings can be spoken easily within five hours. They tell many things which he did, but nearly all of them might have been crowded into a day, so meager is their report of what Jesus said and did. It is evident then, that we do not have as much information as we want. The question is. Do we have as much as we need?"
• Jesus spoke in Aramaic, but "there are not a dozen Aramaic words left in the gospels." We are left with Greek and subsequently English translations. "We have no copies of the New Testament that run back beyond the fourth century — and this also is a surprise."
  
• From the gospels we know nothing of Jesus' personal appearance or his mannerisms - we are only left to study His character.
  
• Charles Jefferson - the author - encourages us to read Mark as it is "probably the oldest...shortest...most graphic" of the gospels and "seems to come nearest to Jesus as men saw him in the says of his humiliation."  Jefferson ends the chapter by sharing that "[i]t is a sad mistake for any man or any woman to leave religious matters entirely to the minister. The Roman Catholic who leaves everything to the priest does not grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. The Protestant who simply comes to church and listens to the preacher speak, and who makes no earnest effort to study for himself the great literature in which are enshrined the oracles of God — that Protestant fritters away his opportunities and does not build up within himself those deep convictions and that enduring knowledge which will make him a power and blessing in his day and generation. In other words, I cannot study the character of Jesus for you, you must study it for yourselves. All that I can hope to do is to drop suggestions which may possibly assist you in your study."
  

It is this recommendation from Charles Jefferson, where I anchor myself this morning - to the study of Mark as an accompaniment to Mr. Jefferson's book.

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, You are an incredible God worthy not just of study but also of worship.  You are the One True God who saves! Thank You for saving me and giving me both new life but also eternal life.  I am not deserving...not by a long shot.  My sin - harshness and being critical being just one of my sins - continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.