Mark 1:16-20: Fishing in the Nile
We see Jesus start the ministry he has announced (Mk 1:14-15) by gathering his first cohort of workers. The king needs his army. These four verses are as impressive as they are brief. To a simple invitation, four fishermen fall in line like soldiers to a general's command. Not to overlook the enigmatic metaphor: I will make you fishers of men. How are men fishes to be fished? What are the methods? Why do men need to be caught? No explicit explanation is offered in this passage or the book..Reading in its literary context, this text immediately follows Mark's prologue which introduces Israel's long-awaited Messiah (king-deliverer) as one who augurs an age of salvation

Ephesians - A Brief Introduction.
Paul authored the letter to the Ephesians while he was in prison, most likely in Rome around 60AD (Eph 3:1; 6:20).The letter to the Ephesians was probably a circular letter to the churches in Asia Minor, of which Ephesus was a major centre where Paul spent three years and established a center of evangelism (Acts 19:1,10,26). An im

Mark 1:9-15 Through the Wilderness
The Baptism of Christ, by Francesco Albani, 1630-1635 from Biblical Art on the WWWWhile the prophets bear witness in the first half of Mark's prologue, the second half has the Triune God - Father, Son and Spirit - bear witness to Himself.

Mark 1:1-6 As It Is Written
A Landscape with St. John the Baptist Preaching by BRUEGEL, Pieter the Younger, 1601