The beginning of the gospel: the Son of God comes with authority

The Gospel of Mark is anonymous in its text, but the church from very early times attributed it to John Mark, the companion of Barnabas and Paul named in Acts 12:12 and 15:37-39 and in Colossians 4:10. Papias, bishop of Hierapolis in the early second century, is reported by Eusebius to have said that Mark was Peter's interpreter and wrote down accurately, though not in order, what Peter remembered. First Peter 5:13 places Mark with Peter in 'Babylon', usually taken as Rome. Most scholars accept a link to Mark and through him to Peter's preaching; some critical scholars regard the attribution as a later guess.

The date is debated. Many place Mark in the late 60s or around AD 70, near the Jewish war with Rome, because of the weight Mark gives to suffering and to Jesus' words about the temple in chapter 13. Some argue for the 50s. Most modern scholars think Mark was the first Gospel written and that Matthew and Luke used it; a minority, following Augustine, put Matthew first. The class does not depend on the question. Mark explains Jewish customs (7:3-4) and translates Aramaic (5:41; 15:34), which suggests readers who were not Jewish, and tradition names Rome as the place of writing.

The setting is Roman-ruled Palestine. Galilee, where most of this chapter takes place, was governed by Herod Antipas. Many Jews were looking for God to act: to end foreign rule, renew the covenant and send the promised Anointed One. John the Baptist appears in the Judean desert and the Jordan valley, the place of Israel's first entry into the land. The Jewish historian Josephus also writes about John, which gives independent evidence that he was a real and well-known figure.

Mark is an ancient Greek biography, comparable to the Greco-Roman 'life' (bios) but written to proclaim. It is brief and fast, made of short episodes joined by the word 'immediately' (euthys), used dozens of times. The first rule for a Gospel is to ask what the author is doing with the material. Mark does not give a full account of Jesus' ministry. He selects and arranges stories to answer one question: who is this? His answer is given in the first verse and confirmed by the voice from heaven, and then human characters and unclean spirits struggle toward it.

The second rule is that the Gospel is one story, so each chapter is read in light of the whole. Mark 1 introduces themes that run to the end: Jesus' authority, conflict with evil spirits, the failure of people to understand, commands to keep silent, and the title 'Son of God', which returns when a Roman centurion confesses it at the cross (15:39). The opening is the headline for the book.

A third rule is to read Mark's use of the Old Testament as the first hearers would. New Testament writers often cite one verse to call to mind its whole setting. Mark 1:2-3 does this with a combined citation, and the baptism voice does it with two passages at once. Mark reports miracles as acts that show the kingdom's arrival and does not argue for them; the text asks to be understood first as it presents itself.

Verse 1

'Gospel' translates euangelion, 'good news'. In Isaiah the related verb announces God's reign (Isaiah 40:9; 52:7; 61:1), and in the Roman world the word was used for news about an emperor. 'Christ' means Anointed One. Some early manuscripts omit 'the Son of God', but most scholars accept it as original, and the title is confirmed by 1:11 and 15:39.

Verses 2–8

Mark says 'Isaiah the prophet', but the first citation is from Malachi 3:1 (with an echo of Exodus 23:20) and the second from Isaiah 40:3. In Malachi a messenger prepares the way before God, who comes to his temple. In Isaiah a voice prepares the way of the LORD who leads his people home. Mark changes the pronoun so that the way is prepared before 'You', Jesus. John, dressed like Elijah (compare 2 Kings 1:8), preaches a 'baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins', and the people confess their sins and are immersed in the Jordan. He announces One 'more powerful' who will baptize with the Holy Spirit, whose sandals he is unworthy to untie, a slave's task.

Verses 9–11

Jesus comes from obscure Nazareth and is baptized. He needs no repentance, and the other Gospels show the early church asking why he went (Matthew 3:14-15). He identifies himself with the people he has come to save. He sees the heavens 'breaking open'. The verb is schizo, to tear, the same verb Mark uses when the temple curtain is torn at the cross (15:38). The Spirit descends like a dove and the Father speaks: 'You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.' The words join Psalm 2:7, addressed to the king of David's line, with Isaiah 42:1, the chosen servant in whom God delights. Many scholars also hear an echo of the beloved son of Genesis 22.

Verses 12–13

'At once the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness.' The verb is ekballo, 'to throw out', the one Mark uses for casting out demons. Mark's account is far shorter than Matthew's or Luke's: forty days, Satan, wild animals and angels. Forty days recalls Israel's forty years of testing (Deuteronomy 8:2) and the forty days of Moses and Elijah. The wild animals may suggest danger or the peace of the new creation (compare Isaiah 11:6-9); scholars differ.

Verses 14–15

After John's arrest Jesus proclaims 'the gospel of God'. 'The time is fulfilled' uses kairos, a set season: the waiting of the prophets is over. 'The kingdom of God is near' translates a perfect-tense verb, 'has come near'. 'Repent' (metanoeo) is a change of mind and direction, and 'believe in the gospel' calls for trust in the good news.

Verses 16–20

Jesus calls Simon and Andrew, then James and John. The call is a command and a promise: 'I will make you fishers of men.' The phrase may recall Jeremiah 16:16, though there the image is judgment. Disciples commonly sought out the teacher they wished to follow; here the call comes first, and the response is immediate.

Verses 21–28

On the Sabbath Jesus teaches at Capernaum, and the crowd is astonished because he taught with authority (exousia), not as the scribes, who leaned on earlier teachers. A man with an unclean spirit cries out, 'Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are, the Holy One of God.' The spirit sees that Jesus' coming means the end of its power. Jesus commands, 'Be silent! Come out of him!' The people call it 'a new teaching with authority': what he says is what he does.

Verses 29–39

In Simon's house Jesus takes his mother-in-law by the hand and the fever leaves her. After sunset, when the Sabbath was over, the town gathers and Jesus heals many and silences the demons 'because they knew who He was'. Before dawn he prays alone. When Simon says everyone is looking for him, Jesus answers, 'Let us go on to the neighboring towns so I can preach there as well, for that is why I have come.' Preaching is the center of his mission, and the healings accompany it.

Verses 40–45

A man with leprosy kneels: 'If You are willing, You can make me clean.' The skin diseases covered by this word made a person ritually unclean (Leviticus 13:45-46), and touching him made others unclean. Jesus touches him. Some early manuscripts read 'moved with anger' rather than 'compassion' in verse 41, and scholars discuss which is original. Jesus says, 'I am willing. Be clean!' and sends him to the priest as Leviticus 14 requires. The man disobeys the order to be silent, and Jesus must stay in remote places.

Mark 1 introduces the gospel as the announcement that the God of Israel is acting. The Old Testament promised a day when God would come to his people, defeat their enemies and renew creation. The prophets called this good news, and Mark reads it as fulfilled in Jesus. The chapter also gives one of the Bible's clearest pictures of the three persons together: the Son is baptized, the Spirit descends and the Father speaks. Christians have long used this scene in explaining the Trinity, although the passage does not itself state the doctrine.

The kingdom of God rests on the Old Testament conviction that the LORD is king (Psalm 47; 93; 97) and on Daniel's vision of God's rule given to the Son of Man (Daniel 7:13-14). Mark does not define the kingdom. He shows it by what happens when Jesus is present: spirits are cast out, the sick healed, the unclean made clean. Theologians speak of the kingdom as come near in Jesus and still to come in fullness. The chapter also teaches the reality of spiritual evil and its weakness before Christ, and it ties the Spirit to Jesus' own ministry. John's promise that Jesus would baptize with the Spirit is taken up in Acts 1:5 and 2.

Mark 1 gives a sustained answer to who Jesus is. The opening citation prepares the way of the LORD in Isaiah 40:3, using the divine name, and Mark applies it to Jesus. He does not say it in so many words; he lets the reader see that the One whose way is prepared is the God who comes to rescue his people. The baptism voice gives the second part. Jesus is the royal Son of Psalm 2 and the servant of Isaiah 42 at once, so the king who rules and the servant who will suffer are one person. Isaiah 53 is not quoted here, but the pairing prepares for Mark 10:45 and the cross.

The temptation presents Jesus as the one who stands where Israel fell. Israel, God's 'son' (Exodus 4:22; Hosea 11:1), was tested in the wilderness and failed. Jesus is tested forty days and is not overcome. Some interpreters also see a second Adam, among the animals and served by angels, though Mark does not spell it out. His authority then shows who he is by what he does. Power over disease and demons belongs to God in the Old Testament, and the leper's 'If You are willing' is answered by a king who is willing.

Mark also introduces what scholars, following William Wrede, call the messianic secret: Jesus tells demons and the healed to be silent. The reason is debated. Many suggest he did not want to be proclaimed a popular king before his road of suffering was seen. Mark supports this: the full meaning of 'Christ' and 'Son of God' comes clear only at the cross, where a Roman speaks the Gospel's first title.