Immediately after His baptism, the Lord Jesus was thrust into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit (1:12-13). From that time onward, He fulfilled His ministry by living, moving, and working in the Holy Spirit.
As the One living and moving by the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus preached the gospel (1:14-20). In His preaching He sowed the incarnated God as the seed for the kingdom of God. He sowed into men’s hearts a seed that would grow and develop into the kingdom of God.
In the Holy Spirit the Lord Jesus taught the truth (1:21-22). For Him to teach the truth was to enlighten darkened mankind and to disperse man’s darkness.
The Lord Jesus also cast out demons (1:23-28). This casting out of demons was for the purpose of spreading the kingdom of God.
In His ministry the Lord Jesus healed the sick (1:29-39). To heal the sick is to enliven the dead, to make the dead alive.
According to the Gospel of Mark, the Lord cleansed the leper (1:40-45). To cleanse the leper is to sanctify the enlivened one. The Lord did this by forgiving sins, feasting with sinners, being their joy in righteousness and life, satisfying them, and liberating them.
While the Lord Jesus was carrying out such a gospel service, He was also binding Satan and plundering his kingdom. Satan had no ground in Him. In 3:22-30 we see that the Lord bound Satan and plundered his house by the Holy Spirit.
In 3:31-35 we see that the Lord Jesus denied the natural relationship. Instead of remaining in the relationship of the natural life, He chose to be in the relationship of the spiritual life. This was the reason He could say, “Whoever does the will of God, this is My brother and sister and mother” (3:35). The natural relationship was not given any ground in His living.
As the One who lived fully according to and for God’s New Testament economy, The Lord Jesus suffered the world’s rejection and hatred. In 6:1-6 He was despised by the Nazarenes. Elsewhere in this chapter we see that He suffered the world’s rejection.
In 7:1-23 the Lord Jesus exposed man’s inward condition, the evil condition of man’s heart. He said, “That which goes out of a man, that defiles a man” (v. 20). Then He spoke concerning wicked things that proceed from within and defile a man (vv. 21-23).
After exposing the condition of man’s heart, the Lord Jesus presented Himself as the life supply to a seeking one (7:24-30). In 7:27 He referred to Himself as the children’s bread, that is, as our life supply. Hence, He presented Himself as the bread of life.
In 7:31-37 the Lord Jesus healed a deaf and dumb man, and in 8:22-26 He healed a blind man. In these instances the Lord healed specific organs of those who had been enlivened by Him.