The Messiah’s Herald
1 The beginning a of the gospel b of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. ,c 2 As it is written in Isaiah d the prophet: ,e
See, I am sending my messenger f ahead of you;
he will prepare your way. ,,g
3 A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: h
Prepare the way for the Lord; i
make his paths straight! ,j
4 John came baptizing ,k in the wilderness l and proclaiming a baptism of repentance m for the forgiveness n of sins. o 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem p were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan q River, confessing r their sins. s 6 John wore a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts t and wild honey. u
7 He proclaimed, “One who is more powerful v than I am is coming after me. w I am not worthy x to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals. y 8 I baptize you with water, z but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” a
The Baptism of Jesus
9 In b those days Jesus came from Nazareth c in Galilee d and was baptized in the Jordan by John. 10 As soon as he came up out of the water, he saw the heavens e being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice f came from heaven: g “You are my beloved h Son; i with you I am well-pleased.” j
The Temptation of Jesus
12 Immediately k the Spirit l drove m him into the wilderness. n 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted o by Satan. p He was with the wild animals, q and the angels r were serving him.
Ministry in Galilee
14 After s John was arrested, t Jesus went to Galilee, u proclaiming v the good news ,,w of God: x 15 “The time y is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God z has come a near. b Repent c and believe d the good news! ”
The First Disciples
16 As e he passed alongside the Sea of Galilee, f he saw Simon g and Andrew, h Simon’s brother, casting a net into the sea i—for they were fishermen. 17 “Follow me,” j Jesus told them, “and I will make you fish for ,k people.” l 18 Immediately they left their nets and followed m him. n 19 Going on a little farther, he saw James o the son of Zebedee p and his brother John q in a boat putting their nets in order. 20 Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. r
Driving Out an Unclean Spirit
21 They s went into Capernaum, t and right away he entered the synagogue u on the Sabbath v and began to teach. w 22 They were astonished x at his teaching y because he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not like the scribes.
23 Just then a man with an unclean z spirit a was in their synagogue. b He cried out, 24 “What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? c Have you come to destroy d us? I know who you are—the Holy e One of God! ” f
25 Jesus rebuked g him saying, “Be silent, h and come out of him! ” 26 And the unclean spirit threw him into convulsions, i shouted with a loud voice, and came out of him.
27 They were all amazed, j and so they began to ask k each other: “What is this? A new teaching l with authority! ,m He commands even the unclean n spirits, o and they obey him.” 28 At once the news about him spread throughout the entire vicinity of Galilee. p
Healings at Capernaum
29 As q soon as they left the synagogue, r they went into Simon s and Andrew’s t house u with James v and John. w 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was lying in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31 So he went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. x The fever y left her, and she began to serve z them. a
32 When b evening came, after the sun had set, they brought to him all those who were sick c and demon-possessed. d 33 The whole town was assembled at the door, 34 and he healed e many who were sick with various diseases f and drove out g many demons. h And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. i
Preaching in Galilee
35 Very j early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up, went out, and made his way to a deserted place; k and there he was praying. l 36 Simon m and his companions searched for him, 37 and when they found him they said, “Everyone is looking for you.”
38 And he said to them, “Let’s go on to the neighboring villages so that I may preach n there too. This is why I have come.”
A Man Cleansed
39 He went into all of Galilee, o preaching in their synagogues p and driving out demons. 40 Then q a man with leprosy ,r came to him and, on his knees, ,s begged him: “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” t 41 Moved with compassion, ,u Jesus reached out his hand and touched v him. “I am willing,” he told him. “Be made clean.” 42 Immediately the leprosy w left him, and he was made clean. 43 Then he sternly warned x him and sent him away y at once, 44 telling him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; z but go and show a yourself to the priest, b and offer c what Moses commanded for your cleansing, d as a testimony e to them.” 45 Yet he went out and began to proclaim f it widely and to spread the news, g with the result that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly. But he was out in deserted places, and they came to him from everywhere.
A. Preparation for ministry (1:1–13). 1:1. The first verse of Mark summarizes the content of the Gospel. “The beginning” recalls the opening words of Genesis, implying that in the gospel of Jesus Christ a new creation is at hand. “Beginning” should probably be understood as the first in terms of “source” or “essence.” Mark’s Gospel thus intends to set forth the essence of God’s redemptive work in Jesus Christ. The word “gospel,” or “good news” (cf. 1 Sm 31:9; 2 Sm 1:20; 1 Ch 10:9), means the story of salvation in Jesus. For Mark, the advent of Jesus is “good news” because it fulfills God’s promise of release from sin and oppression and the proclamation of peace foretold by the prophet Isaiah (Is 52:7; 61:1–3).
1:2–3. Mark begins with a quotation from the OT, which is actually a collage of three texts: 1:2 comes from Ex 23:20 and Mal 3:1; and 1:3 comes from Is 40:3. The whole is attributed to Isaiah evidently because the verse 3 is the defining element. In Ex 23:20, 23, the “messenger” is a divine messenger of the Lord, but here it applies to John, thus indicating his divinely ordained purpose. The references to “you” and “the Lord” here refer to Jesus, whom Mark depicts as fulfilling the role of God. Thus, Mark indicates that John the Baptist is the divinely appointed messenger of the Lord who heralds the advent of God himself appearing in Jesus of Nazareth. Mark’s commencement of his Gospel with this OT quotation signals that the mission of Jesus is not understandable apart from the OT. The good news is not separate from God’s work in Israel but a completion of it.
1:4–6. John the Baptist is immediately introduced in 1:4, but John’s person and work are more restricted in Mark than in the other Gospels. Mark limits John’s appearance to the single purpose of prefiguring Jesus. (See the definition “Baptism” in Luke.) Repentance, which must result in “fruit” (Mt 3:8; Lk 3:8), is the single prerequisite necessary to prepare for the imminent in-breaking of God.
1:7–8. The in-breaking of God’s kingdom is signified in 1:7 by John’s reference to Jesus as the More Powerful One. In first-century Judaism, untying sandals and washing feet were duties of slaves; the assumption of this role by John signifies his humility and subordination in relation to Jesus. John’s baptism in water was intended to symbolize Jesus’s baptism in the Holy Spirit (1:8). In the OT, bestowal of the Spirit belonged exclusively to God. John’s attributing of this function to Jesus again signifies that Jesus comes in the power and prerogative of God.
1:9–11. According to the early church (Ac 1:21–22), the event that inaugurated Jesus’s ministry and endowed it with saving significance was his baptism. It is with this event that Mark commences the story of Jesus. Mark’s wording (1:9) portrays Jesus as the undisputed subject of the event, with John serving as mediator. Arising from the water, Jesus experiences three things that Jews associated with the advent of God’s eschatological kingdom (1:10–11): (1) the tearing apart of the sky (at the advent of the Messiah, the long-awaited Spirit would return [Is 64:1]; the Greek word for “tear” appears again in Mark only at the tearing of the temple curtain at the crucifixion); (2) the descent of the Spirit; and (3) the voice from heaven acknowledging Jesus to be God’s beloved Son. The three heavenly signs designate the baptism as the inaugural event of Jesus’s ministry, in which he is empowered by God’s Spirit to speak and act not simply for God but as God.
1:12–13. Immediately after the baptism, the Spirit literally “drove” Jesus out into the wilderness (1:12). The same Spirit who descended on Jesus at the baptism has an appointment for him with God’s adversary to determine whether Jesus will use his divine Sonship for his own advantage or in obedience to God’s saving purpose for the world. Jesus’s forty-day trial in the wilderness (1:13) may reflect God’s testing of Israel in the wilderness for forty years (Dt 8:2). The wilderness plays an important role in the OT, not only in the wilderness wandering after the exodus, but also in the prophets, as a place of Israel’s refreshment with God and refinement for obedience to his call.
B. Summary of Jesus’s message (1:14–15). The commencement of Jesus’s public ministry in Galilee is announced in connection with the arrest of John the Baptist (1:14). The same Greek word (paradidōmi, “hand over”) for John being “arrested” will later be used for the handing over of the Son of Man (9:31; 10:33) and of Christian disciples (13:9, 11–12). This signifies that Jesus will proclaim the gospel, as it was proclaimed by John, in the face of adversity and suffering. “Good news” is thus costly news.
C. Galilean ministry (1:16–7:23). 1:16–20. The call of the first four disciples—Peter, Andrew, James, and John—occurs on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee (1:16, 19). The sea is a picturesque lake seven miles wide and thirteen miles long; it is surrounded by hills and lies seven hundred feet below sea level.
1:21–28. The first act of Jesus’s public ministry is an exorcism, in which the More Powerful One (1:7) exercises the divine authority he received at baptism to prevail over the dominion of Satan (see 3:27). Although Jesus was raised in Nazareth, he chooses Capernaum (1:21), situated on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee on the Via Maris (the main trade route leading from the Mediterranean to Damascus), as his base of operations. The population of Capernaum at the time was largely (though not entirely) Jewish.
1:29–34. “As soon as” (1:29) contributes to the sense of urgency: the time is at hand (1:15) for the authority of God’s Son to bear witness to the gospel. Close to the synagogue is Peter’s house, where Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever (1:30–31). The Greek word for “serve” (1:31) is diakoneō, from which “deacon” is derived. Mark’s use of this word to describe Peter’s mother-in-law serving the company following her healing may have been included to remind the members of the church in Rome to which he is writing to use the gifts, health, and opportunities God gives each believer to serve the Christian community in tangible ways. What Jesus has done to one person in healing Peter’s mother-in-law he now does to the whole community (1:32–34a).
1:35–39. Mark next describes Jesus’s itinerant ministry among the small villages along the northwest quadrant of the Sea of Galilee. General summaries like this remind readers of the broad reach and expanse of Jesus’s ministry. Jesus was more than a private teacher and healer: he was a public figure in Galilee. This is the first of three times when Jesus seeks solitude in order to pray (1:35; see also 6:46; 14:32–39), each of which is set within a context of either implied or expressed opposition. Here Peter and other, unnamed disciples pursue Jesus and seek to control his movements (1:36–37). The effect, whether intended or not, would prevent Jesus from fulfilling his wider ministry. In 8:32–33 Peter will pose a greater hindrance to Jesus’s ministry. Jesus resists the intrusion of the disciples by reasserting his mission: to proclaim the gospel among the Jewish synagogues and to confront demonic oppression (1:38–39).
1:40–45. Jesus is then approached by a man with leprosy (1:40). In desperation, this leper breaks the fifty-pace buffer zone (Lk 17:12) to reach Jesus. Jesus responds not by reviling him but by declaring his desire to cleanse him (1:41). In touching the leper, Jesus demonstrates the power of “divine contagion” to heal disease contagion. Jesus sternly commands the cleansed leper to remain silent and to present himself to a priest, whose function it was to render a certificate of healing, thus allowing the leper to resume normal life (1:43–44). The leper, however, “spread[s] the news,” and as a consequence Jesus needs to remain “out in deserted places” (1:45). Jesus and the leper, in other words, have traded places!