Mark 1:1-15

The Gospel of Mark is probably the earliest Gospel of the four Gospels. In fact, it appears that Matthew and Luke had a copy of Mark in front of them when they were composing their Gospels, because they often quote Mark word-for-word, and they both follow Mark's basic outline. Clues in the text lead most scholars to believe that Mark was written around the year A.D. 70, just before or just after the Romans destroyed the temple in Jerusalem. This Gospel has many surprising features, which we will discover as we go through it. The surprises begin in the first 15 verses.

For those of us who are so familiar with the Christmas story, it is shocking to realize that Mark does not begin with Jesus' birth. For Mark, the story of Jesus begins at his baptism; Jesus' origins and birth are totally unimportant or unknown to Mark. As far as Mark is concerned, Jesus' identity and mission are first revealed, not in his birth, but in his baptism. Like others who are moved by John's preaching to come to the Jordan River to repent, Jesus comes to the Jordan River to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. But now this apparently ordinary human being is revealed to be quite special.

God reveals to Jesus (not to anyone else), "You are my Son ... with whom I am well pleased." This quotation appears to be a combination of part of Psalm 2:7 with part of Isaiah 42:1. To be God's "Son" (in Psalm 2) means to be the king of Israel, representing God on earth and carrying out God's work. (Being God's Son does not, in this passage, mean being related to God or being divine.) To be the one with whom "God is well pleased" (in Isaiah 42)means to be God's special Suffering Servant, who is going to bring healing through his suffering, and who will bring justice through gentleness.

Mark seems to be saying that Jesus, for the first time, now knows his special identity and purpose. He now knows he is the long-awaited messiah (king) who will restore Israel and defeat its enemies, and he will be the servant whose gentleness and suffering brings justice and healing to the earth. These two roles--king and suffering servant--had never been connected before. Jesus will be a radical, unexpected fulfillment of prophetic hopes. He will be the suffering messiah--a seeming contradiction, and an idea so radical that no one in the Gospel of Mark will figure it out till the end.

After a period of testing in the wilderness, Jesus is now ready to begin his mission. His message is that what everyone has been longing for is now beginning: God's kingdom on earth. Jesus is about to start it and be its king.