Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way.

1:1 Chapter 1 orientation: Mark announces that we are at the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, but his Gospel starts near the end of Jesus life: the events recounted in the Gospel of Mark could fit within the span of a year. Rather than describing Jesus earlier life, Mark introduces us to John the Baptist. The Beginning 1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ [the Son of God]. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet : Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. 3 A voice of one crying out in the desert : Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. 4 John [the] Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. 6 John was clothed in camel s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey. 7 And this is what he proclaimed: One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit. Gospel parallels: Matt 3:1 12; 11:10; Luke 3:1 18; 7:27; John 1:23 28 OT: Exod 23:20; Isaiah 40:3 5; Ezek 36:25 27; Joel 3:1 5; Mal 3:1 2, 23 NT: Acts 1:5; 11:16; 13:24 25 1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ [the Son of God]. Mark tells us that what he has written is the gospel, using a Greek word that means good news. God was doing something very new and very good for us through Jesus Christ. Good news is such a fitting description of

1:1 Mark s message that his book will come to be called good news a Gospel. Mark s opening words are an invitation to us to read what he writes as the best possible news we will ever hear. Mark starts at the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If verse 1 is intended to be the title for the whole book, then Mark is telling us that he is presenting only the beginning of the good news of Jesus, good news that continues in the Church and in our lives. We are, as it were, unfinished pages of the gospel story. If verse 1 is connected just with the following verses, then it means that the good news about Jesus Christ begins with the ministry of John the Baptist. Each of the four Gospel writers picked a different point to begin his account of Jesus; Mark was part of a tradition that began the good news with Jesus encounter with John (see Acts 1:21 22; 10:36 38). Mark is writing the good news about Jesus Christ [the Son of God]. We will need to read Mark s entire Gospel in order to fully grasp his proclamation of Jesus as the Christ and Son of God. Jesus is an Aramaic form of the name Joshua, the name of Moses right-hand man. Jesus was a popular name among Jews in the first century. Mark calls Jesus Christ, which comes from the Greek word that means anointed; its Hebrew counterpart gives us the word messiah. To name Jesus as the Christ is to proclaim him the Messiah, the agent sent by God to establish God s reign. Aramaic: See What languages did Jesus speak? page 124 Messiah, Christ: See page 204 Background: Gospel The English word gospel comes from the Anglo-Saxon word godspel, which means good news. Good news is in turn a literal translation of the Greek word euangelion used by Mark; euangelion gives us such English words as evangelist. Mark did not invent the word euangelion: it is found in ancient Greek literature as a term for a message of victory or any other message that brings joy. The Greek translation of Isaiah uses forms of this word: Go up onto a high mountain, / Zion, herald of glad tidings; / Cry out at the top of your voice, / Jerusalem, herald of good news! (Isaiah 40:9). Paul, whose letters predate Mark s Gospel, was the first New Testament author to use the word euangelion as an expression for the message of Christ: Our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the holy Spirit (1 Thess 1:5; emphasis added). 4

1:1 2 Mark says that Jesus is also the Son of God (some ancient manuscripts of Mark omit these words in the first verse, which is why the New American Bible prints them in brackets). To call Jesus the Son of God goes beyond simply identifying him as the Messiah: as the Son, Jesus has a very special relationship with God. It took the Church several centuries of reflection to clarify what it means that Jesus is uniquely the Son of God. Son of God: See page 64 Mark s Gospel begins with a proclamation of who Jesus is. Part of the drama of Mark s Gospel lies in how Jesus is perceived by his contemporaries. Will they be able to recognize him as the Messiah sent by God; indeed, as God s Son? For reflection: Will I accept what Mark has to say about Jesus, even if it means modifying my image of Jesus? Will I welcome the Jesus proclaimed by Mark as good news for me? 2 As it is written: just as John the Baptist will provide the context for the beginning of Jesus ministry, so the Old Testament sets the stage for John. By beginning his Gospel with what is written in Scripture, Mark indicates that John the Baptist and Jesus were in continuity with, and a fulfillment of, what had gone before. Written in Isaiah the prophet : since the words that follow are not limited to Isaiah, Mark may be using Isaiah as a representative of all Old Testament prophets. Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; / he will prepare your way. Mark s Scripture quotation begins with a line from the prophet Malachi, which in turn is an echo of Exodus. In Exodus, God tells his people, after their escape from Egypt, that he is sending an angel (the Hebrew word for angel also means messenger) before them to guard them on the way. Centuries later, God spoke through Malachi to say that he was sending a messenger to prepare the way for God s coming to his people on a day of the Lord (Mal 3:1, 23). Mark presents John the Baptist as God s messenger, sent in preparation for what God is about to do. In Malachi the messenger is sent to prepare the way for God; in Mark the messenger prepares your way, referring to Jesus way. This indicates that Jesus has come as God s agent to carry out God s work. Angels: See page 321 5

1:2 3 See, I am sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared. Exod 23:20 Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me. Mal 3:1 3 A voice of one crying out in the desert : / Prepare the way of the Lord, / make straight his paths. These are Isaiah s words, but with adjustments. In Mark s citation of the prophecy, in the desert is the setting for the voice crying out, not (as in the Hebrew text of Isaiah) what the voice cries out. Mark thus applies Isaiah s prophecy to John the Baptist, who is crying out in the desert. A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; The rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all mankind shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 40:3 5 Prepare the way of the Lord, / make straight his paths. Isaiah announces that Israel s exile in Babylon is nearing its end and calls for a straight and level highway through the wilderness separating Babylon and Jerusalem so that God s people can travel home. God himself will lead their triumphal procession back to Jerusalem. In Isaiah, preparing the way of the Lord means preparing for the coming of God. In Mark s use of Isaiah s prophecy, the Lord refers to Jesus: God will be coming to his people in the person of Jesus. John the Baptist s role is to prepare people for Jesus. Lord: See page 332 6

1:4 4 John [the] Baptist appeared in the desert. Mark tells us nothing about John s background or life up to then; his significance for Mark lies solely in what he does once he comes on the scene. John comes proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. While Jews practiced ritual washings (Lev 15; 16:4, 24), John s baptism is distinctive. Unlike ritual washings, it is a onetime event, not repeated; it is administered by John, not done to oneself. It is so distinctive that it gives John his nickname: the Baptist. The word baptism did not previously have special religious significance. The word baptize was an ordinary Greek word that meant to dip, immerse, or wash. The essential feature of what John does is the washing away of dirt from the body as a symbol for the washing away of sins. It is not magic; it is a baptism of repentance, a ritual that expresses the repentance of those John washes. the Greek word for repentance that is used here means a changing of one s mind. It also means a feeling of remorse, an undergoing of conversion, or a changing of one s behavior. We often focus on the aspects of remorse and behavioral change when we think of repentance. Sometimes what is needed is a change of thinking and fundamental outlook if our remorse and changed behavior are to have lasting results. Repentance: See page 17 John s baptism is for the forgiveness of sins: the Greek could convey for the purpose of the forgiveness of sins. It is not clear at this point in Mark s Gospel whether the sins of those who repent are forgiven through John s baptism or whether his ritual prepares them for forgiveness yet to come. We can note that Jews sought forgiveness of sins through sacrificial offerings in the Temple, in accordance with the prescriptions of the Old Testament. John is doing something new in proclaiming an alternative manner of seeking forgiveness of sins. Background: Baptism The Greek word baptize means to dip, plunge, immerse, drench, soak, or wash. Mark uses a variant of this word to describe the washing of dishes (Mark 7:4). There is some indication that John s baptism involved fully immersing a person in water: John 3:23 suggests that John needed ample water, and Mark 1:10 speaks of Jesus coming up out of the water after being baptized. In Christian practice, baptism took on special meaning as a sign of God s accomplishing far more than bodily washing. 7

1:5 7 5 People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. John the Baptist attracted quite a following. Most who came to him apparently did not remain indefinitely with him but after being baptized returned to their homes and jobs. Some did stay with John as his disciples (see 2:18; 6:29). John baptized those who acknowledged their sins. Admitting one s sins is the first step toward receiving forgiveness, and it is often the most difficult step. Some of us would rather tell ourselves that something we do is not really a sin than face the fact that it is sinful and that we need to change our behavior and seek forgiveness. For reflection: What sins am I reluctant to acknowledge? 6 John was clothed in camel s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey. There is a similarity between the garb of John the Baptist and that of the prophet Elijah (2 Kings 1:8), and the question of John s relationship to Elijah will come up later (9:11 13). However, John s attire and diet may have simply reflected the dress and makeshift diet of those who lived in the wilderness. The region in which John preached was hot and desolate, and those who sojourned there had a harsh life. In centuries after John, men and women (the Desert Fathers ) would go into the wilderness and embrace its harsh solitude as an opportunity to live for God alone. 7 And this is what he proclaimed: One mightier than I is coming after me. Mark has portrayed John the Baptist as a messenger (verse 2) who proclaims a baptism of repentance (verse 4), but verse 7 is the first time we hear directly from John. His message concerns another person who will appear on the scene, a person who is mightier than he. Given Mark s introductory statement (1:1), we immediately identify this mightier one as Jesus. However, it is not clear that John is able to make this identification. John knows that one mightier is coming, and he knows what this mightier one will do (verse 8), but nothing in Mark s Gospel establishes that John recognizes Jesus as the mightier one. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. Even if John does not know who will come after him, he knows where 8

1:7 8 he stands in relation to the coming one. Removing another s sandals was humbling work, requiring one to kneel before another. Later Jewish writings speak of removing another s sandals as a service so demeaning that it cannot be required of Jewish slaves. For reflection: If a person as great as John had such reverence toward the one who came after him, what should my attitude be toward Jesus? 8 I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit. John s lowly status in relation to the coming one is reflected in what each of them is able to accomplish. John baptizes with water as a symbol for the washing away of sins. The one coming after John will baptize you with the holy Spirit. Just as John washes people in water, the one coming after John will wash them with the Holy Spirit. Many Jews lived in the hope that God would Comment: To read Mark We will be most sensitive to the message Mark wishes to proclaim in his Gospel if we read it as a Gospel in itself. We bring a great deal of knowledge to our reading of Mark, including what the Gospel of John tells us about John the Baptist. In the fourth Gospel, the Baptist recognizes and proclaims Jesus as the one who comes after him (John 1:26 34). In arriving at a final assessment of John the Baptist, we need to take into account all that is said about him in all four Gospels. But reading Mark s Gospel for the message it proclaims is a different matter. To do so we need to pay attention to what Mark says and doesn t say and not automatically import information into Mark s Gospel from the other Gospels. There is a second, related requirement. In reading Mark s Gospel we need to distinguish between what we know because Mark tells us and what the characters in Mark s Gospel know or do not know. Mark has told us that John the Baptist is the one sent to prepare the way for Jesus (1:1 3). But John the Baptist has not read Mark s Gospel and might not know what we know. Mark has told us from the very beginning that Jesus is the Christ (1:1), but those Jesus meets in the course of his ministry will be slow to recognize who Jesus is. If John did not recognize Jesus, what does that tell us about the Baptist s call? Perhaps it tells us that God asked John to play a particular role but did not inform him of the full implications of his role. Something similar may well be true for many of us. We have been given certain responsibilities by God, perhaps even a clearly defined mission in life. But we may be in the dark about the ultimate outcome of our actions. We know what to do but not what it will accomplish in God s perspective. 9

1:8 one day pour out his Spirit and wash his people of their sins (Isaiah 43:25; 44:3; Ezek 36:25 27; Joel 3:1 5). John announces that this will be accomplished by the one who is coming after him: he will baptize you with the holy Spirit. The Spirit: See page 12 I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. I will put my spirit within you. Ezek 36:25 27 We can now understand John s baptism as a preparatory rite, a symbolic washing away of sins after repentance in anticipation of the actual cleansing that would be done by the Holy Spirit. Only God can forgive sins: our repentance prepares us to receive God s forgiveness, but repentance in itself does not wipe the slate clean or purify our hearts. That God must do. The one coming after John would be the agent sent to release an outpouring of God s purifying and life-giving Spirit. Something radically new was about to happen. For reflection: What John s baptism foreshadowed is available to me. Am I willing to take the plunge and allow myself to be completely drenched in the Holy Spirit? The Baptism of Jesus 9 It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. 10 On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. 11 And a voice came from the heavens, You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased. Gospel parallels: Matt 3:13 17; Luke 3:21 22; John 1:32 34 OT: Psalm 2; Isaiah 42:1 9 NT: Mark 9:7 10

1:9 11 9 It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. Jesus first appearance in the Gospel of Mark is abrupt: Mark tells his readers nothing about Jesus earlier life, save that he came from Nazareth. Mark does not pin down the date or even the year when Jesus came to John, nor does he tell us Jesus age: Mark simply says it happened in those days, when John was baptizing. Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee to John. Nazareth was an insignificant farming village of several hundred people that is not mentioned in the Old Testament. Perhaps that is why Mark has to tell his readers that it lay in Galilee, a region in the northern part of Palestine. (Palestine was the Roman name of the area that included Galilee, Samaria, and Judea.) Nazareth: See page 127 Galilee: See page 30 Jesus came to John and was baptized in the Jordan by John. People accepted John s baptism as a symbolic washing away of their sins. Does this mean that Jesus considered himself a sinner and sought out John as a path to forgiveness? Mark offers no explanation. Perhaps the conclusion we should draw is that Jesus completely identified with our sinful humanity, even to the extent of submitting to a baptism of repentance. (Elsewhere the New Testament insists that Jesus was without sin: 2 Cor 5:21; Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:22.) 10 On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. It is Jesus who sees the heavens open and the Spirit descend; the implication is that no one else (not even John) sees what Jesus sees. We as readers of Mark are let in on something that those around Jesus apparently do not know. Jesus sees the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. Jesus will be able to baptize with the Spirit (1:8) because Jesus bears the Spirit. The Spirit appearing like a dove is unique to the baptism of Jesus; nowhere else in Scripture is the Holy Spirit represented as a dove. 11 And a voice came from the heavens, You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased. The heavenly voice tells Jesus, You are 11

1:11 my beloved Son, but Mark gives no indication that the voice is audible to others. Again, we as readers are being given information that those around Jesus will be slow to perceive. Mark began his Gospel by proclaiming Jesus to be the Messiah and Son of God (1:1); now God himself proclaims, You are my beloved Son. Jesus is God s beloved Son: the relationship between God as Father and Jesus as Son is one of love. The Greek word for beloved can convey the notion of only beloved: Jesus is God s only Son. There is a unique relation between Jesus and the God of Israel, for Jesus is able to call upon God as his Father (14:36). God tells Jesus, With you I am well pleased. God is pleased with Jesus and delights in him even before Jesus begins his public ministry: God s love for Jesus is not something that Jesus has to earn. Son of God: See page 64 those of Mark s first readers who were familiar with the Old Testament might have detected some echoes of it in his Gospel. You are my beloved Son is an echo of Psalm 2:7, in which God tells an Israelite king as he takes the throne, You are my son. In verse 8 of this psalm, Background: The Spirit The opening verses of the Old Testament speak of a mighty wind (Gen 1:2) that sweeps over the waters as God begins his work of creation. The phrase translated mighty wind might also be translated Spirit of God, for the Hebrew word ruah means wind, breath, or spirit; the Hebrew word taken here to mean mighty is also the word for God. It is the breath of God breathed into humans that gives life (Gen 2:7). When the Old Testament speaks of the Spirit of God, it generally refers to God s influence or power at work, as in, for example, the inspiration of prophets (Isaiah 61:1). The Spirit of God is not yet thought of as a person in the Old Testament. The New Testament bears witness to a deeper experience and understanding of the Spirit. Paul speaks of the Spirit many times in his letters but writes more about what the Spirit does than who the Spirit is. In the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks of the Spirit as the Paraclete, or Advocate, who will carry on his work (John 14:16 17, 26; 15:26; 16:7 11). The Gospel of Matthew ends with Jesus instruction that baptism be done in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit (Matt 28:19). The Council of Constantinople in AD 381 proclaimed the Spirit to be the holy, the lordly and life-giving one, proceeding forth from the Father, co-worshipped and co-glorified with Father and Son, the one who spoke through the prophets. 12

1:11 God tells him that authority to rule the earth is his for the asking, and verse 2 speaks of the king as God s anointed (messiah in Hebrew and Christ in Greek) who faces opposition. With you I am well pleased is a faint echo of a prophecy of Isaiah, in which God proclaims, Here is my servant whom I uphold, / my chosen one with whom I am pleased (Isaiah 42:1). I will proclaim the decree of the Lord, who said to me, You are my son; today I am your father. Only ask it of me, and I will make your inheritance the nations, your possession the ends of the earth. Psalm 2:7 8 Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, Upon whom I have put my spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations. Isaiah 42:1 Jesus is both one with sinful men and women (as signified by his accepting John s baptism) and the unique Son of God. How can this be? Jesus will ask his followers, Who do you say that I am? (8:29). Mark s Gospel confronts his readers with this question from its opening pages. For reflection: Who do I say that Jesus is? Jesus Confronts Satan 12 At once the Spirit drove him out into the desert, 13 and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him. Gospel parallels: Matt 4:1 11; Luke 4:1 13 OT: Lev 16:10; 1 Kings 19:3 8 NT: Matt 12:43; Mark 3:22 30; Luke 11:24 13