Mark 1:1-45
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Summary[edit]
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Discussion[edit]
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- Mark 1:1: Archē. The Greek word "archē" can mean "beginning" (as it does in John 1:1) or "basic principles" (as it does in the Greek version (the Septuagint) of Ps 110:10).
- Mark 1:1: Christ. Though we often think of "Jesus Christ" as Jesus's name, to Mark's audience Christ meant "messiah" or "anointed one."
- Mark 1:1: Beginning. The first verse of Mark is ambiguous. It could mean that he is going to start with the beginning of Jesus’s ministry: "This is how Jesus Christ’s preaching began." Or it could mean "Here are the basic principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ." The phrase can also mean, "the beginning of this book, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ." Part of this ambiguity is the result of the ambiguity of the the Greek word "archē" (see the lexical notes above).
- Mark is the only evangelist to speak of “the gospel” without a qualifying adjective or pronoun. On that basis, however, we have come to describe the first four books of the Bible as gospels. Clearly Mark isn’t merely telling the story of Christ’s life. However we understand verse 1, Mark is proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
- Mark 1:1-8. Mark places emphasis here on the need to prepare for the gospel. Mark's book is fairly short, and in terms of giving a history he very easily could have left out any information about John the Baptist. Instead, he devotes the first section of his book, the first eight verses, to someone who isn't a main character.
- What Marks seems to be saying, then, is that the beginning of the gospel is repentance, as inextricably symbolized through baptism. For us today, Mark's writing seems to reinforce the belief that baptism isn't something optional, but something vital. As Mark puts it, this act of baptism is something that is demanded by the prophets that came before, and something that Jesus himself saw as an essential first step. Indeed, throughout the New Testament, conversion was always accompanied by baptism.
- Mark 1:5. It is interesting that this verse notes that the gospel as taught by John the Baptist had appeal to all people, both the city dwellers and those living in the countryside. Mark may be telling us that the gospel isn't just for people of a certain class or certain background, but for everyone.
- Mark 1:6-8. The emphasis here is on John the Baptist's humility. This may be here to highlight the contrast between John and the religious leaders of the day,
- Mark 1:8. Here John the Baptist tells us that he has baptized with water, a cleansing agent, but “the greater one” will baptize with the Holy Ghost. He may be intending us to see a parallel here: I baptize you with water, which cleanses in one way; he will baptize with the Holy Ghost, which cleanses in another way. The use of fire as a metaphor for the Holy Ghost (as in Matt 3:11 and 2 Ne 31:13-14, further suggests this parallel.
- Mark 1:11. The final part of this verse can be understood to mean "in whom I take great delight." This may be an allusion to Isaiah 42:1.
- Mark 1:15: Repent. The Greek word translated here as “repent” is “metanoein.” Robert Guelich (Word Biblical Commentary 34a:44-45) argues that “metanoein” is the equivalent of the Hebrew word “sūb” in the Old Testament. “Sūb” is usually translated as “return.” On that reading, to repent is to return to God; it is to return to the covenant he made with Israel.
- Mark 1:17: Anthropos. The Greek word translated "men" in verse 17 is anthropos, so women are included.
- Mark 1:16-20. Notice that Mark interrupts his story of Jesus’ power and the illustrations of that power, his miracles, to tell of the call of the disciples (verses 16-20) and the teaching and ordination of the Twelve (3:13-19), and to tell us the parables of the kingdom of God (4:1-34). So, we could say that the primary theme of this section (indeed of Mark as a whole) is Jesus’ power, but the secondary theme is the church. Notice that these stories lead, eventually, to Jesus sending the Twelve out as missionaries (Mark 6:7-13.)
- Mark 1:22: Scribes. As the context suggests, the "scribes" of verse 22 doesn't refer to someone who merely writes things down. The Greek word translated as "scribes" here is grammateus, which is generally translated today as "teachers of the law," "experts on the law" or something similar.
- Mark 1:22. Apparently it was the custom in those days, as it is today, for those teaching to quote the "general authorities" of the day, or of scriptures, to lend their support to what they taught. But Jesus acted as, and was seen as, one who himself had the authority to teach doctrine.
- Mark 1:24. Perhaps in answer to the question of why the spirit speaks in first-person plural: It seems clear from the pronouns used in the surrounding verses that this is one spirit, not several. Note that though the verse begins using the first person plural it ends with a sentence using the first person singular: "I know thee who thou art...." This seems to signal that something different is going on in the first two sentences of the verse than the last. It may be that in the first two sentences (when the spirit uses the first person plural) the spirit was trying to setup a local dispute: "Let us alone! Why are you trying to come here and stir up trouble with new ideas? You're an outsider! Go away!" But then quickly the spirit escalates into accusing. At this point it speaks as itself, using the first person singular and revealing Christ's identity, something Christ didn't want known yet (see verse 34).
- Mark 1:26: Torn. The Greek word translated as "torn" in verse 26 (sparasso) is used in the New Testament only to refer to incidents where an evil spirit leaves someone's body.
- Mark 1:31-35. At this point in Jesus' ministry he apparently did not want people (or perhaps not all people) to know who he was. In verse 34, he told the demons not to speak because they knew him, and later (verse 44) he tells a person healed of leprosy not to tell everybody. The man exercised his free agency, however, spreading the news. The result was that so many people were coming to see Jesus that it made it difficult for him to go into towns. It isn't clear from verse 34, though, if that was the reason for Jesus' keeping the demons silent.
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Prompts for further study[edit]
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- Mark 1:1-8. Why does Mark begin with Jesus’ baptism rather than with his birth?
- Mark 1:3. What does it mean to prepare "the way of the Lord"?
- Mark 1:3. What is "the way of the Lord"?
- Mark 1:3. What does it mean to make the Lord's path "straight"?
- Mark 1:5. How are we to read the claim that "all the land" came out and were baptized by John? Did most people really repent and come to John for baptism?
- Mark 1:8. If the baptism of the Holy Ghost is also a cleansing, what kind of cleansing is it?
- Mark 1:10. These days we recognize the dove as a symbol of peace, love and other good things (and the Holy Spirit, of course). For the people this was first written for, what would the dove have symbolized?
- Mark 1:10. Traditionally, the Spirit mentioned here has been associated with the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost). But does that have to be the case? Could it be referring to the Spirit of Christ?
- Mark 1:11. Is it significant that Mark records the voice as saying "Thou art my beloved Son" while Matthew records the voice as saying that "This is my beloved Son"? Who is the voice testifying to?
- Mark 1:14. Why does Jesus not start his ministry until after John is imprisoned?
- Mark 1:15. "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand" means roughly "The appointed time has arrived, the Kingdom of God is near." What is Jesus speaking of when he refers to the appointed time? In what sense or senses is the Divine Kingdom near?
- Mark 1:17-20. Most of the time disciples choose their teachers/masters. Here, Jesus chooses his disciples. What significance does this reversal have?
- Mark 1:24. Why does the unclean spirit speak in the first-person plural?
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Notes[edit]
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