I want to introduce you to someone today. Or to put it more accurately, the Holy Spirit, who inspired Mark to write his Gospel, wants to introduce someone to you. Perhaps you are thinking, well, I met that person a long time ago. I know Jesus. He’s my Savior. The same could be said of many of those who first heard Mark’s Gospel. But Mark 1:1–3 is good news, not only for those who have never met Jesus, but also for those of us who have known him for a longer or shorter time.
Listen to the beginning of the Gospel. Hear what Mark tells you. The name of Mark (or John Mark) has been associated with this Gospel from its earliest days. His mother was well to do enough to host a late night prayer meeting for large group of Christians praying for Peter’s release (Acts 12:12). That home might have been the location of the last supper. Mark accompanied Paul and Barnabas as they started their missionary journey (Acts 12:25; 13:13; 15:36–41). He is mentioned in Colossians 4:10,\; 2 Timothy 4:11 and 1 Peter 5:13. Papias (c. 140) quotes “the elder” as saying that “Mark became Peter’s interpreter, and wrote accurately, though not in order, all that he remembered of the things said or done by the Lord…. His one concern was to leave out nothing of what he had heard and to make no false statements in reporting them.” Understanding that likely origin does not undermine the inspiration or the authority of the Gospel. Mark wrote his Gospel, but he wrote it to be listened to by his audience. We have an advantage in being able to read (much more widely than in the first century), but we still need to listen—and to keep in mind that Mark wrote it to be heard. You can divide the Gospel into three scenes (not that Mark though of himself a writing a three-act play) identified by geography. After the introduction, Mark 1:14–8:21 takes place in Galilee, Mark 8:22–Mark 10 is a journey to Jerusalem, and Mark 11–16 takes place in Jerusalem. In any case, Mark structures his material differently than the other Gospels–but for his own inspired purpose.
“Who is Jesus of Nazareth? What is the good news (gospel) about him?
“We all have our own answer to that question. This book presents us with Mark’s answer. It is full of important information which will help us to understand what Jesus said and did, what his life was really like, and who he claimed to be. It is the earliest reliable record we have about him. For that reason, understanding Mark’s Gospel is a major step in coming to know, understand and believe in Jesus himself.”
Sinclair B. Ferguson, Let’s Study Mark, p. xiii
As you listen, understand the beginning of the good news. Gospel, as we all know, means “good news.” The term did not originate in Scripture or in Christian circles, but referred to news of a victory or some such success. Mark picks up the term to describe the story he is writing about Jesus Christ. He did not set out to write a literary entity called a gospel. “Beginning” is a good place to start—even though it may sound a bit strange to us. It forms a title, introducing what follows. An Old Testament parallel is Hosea 1:2. Mark probably does not intentionally include the sweeping theological claims of Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1 (though Mark would certainly agree with those passages).
The beginning starts with a messenger appearing in the wilderness. We will look more closely at him next week, but notice that Mark ties the coming of the Messiah to prophecies from the Old Testament Scriptures. While the major passage quoted is from Isaiah 40, it is introduced by a reference to Exodus 23:20 and Malachi 3:1. In Exodus, Israel has just experienced God’s great deliverance from Egypt. He now promises to send the Angel to lead them to the promised land. At the other end of the Old Testament, God promises that his messenger will come to the temple, preparing the way for the appearance of the Lord. Those passages bracket and give identifying context to the messenger whom Isaiah prophecies will appear in the wilderness. The salvation that was promised in the Old Testament is now happening. The beginning includes the announcement of the coming messianic king. But it also makes the point that this King is coming to sinners, sinners who need to repent, sinners who need the work of the Messiah. Because of who Jesus is, Mark’s work is indeed good news.
Meet Jesus Christ! This is the good news of the Christ. This is the good news about Jesus Christ, as the NIV translates verse 1. And that does catch the force of what Mark says. The news is good because of who Jesus is, because he is not only Savior, but the Anointed, because he is the Son of God. The news is good because, as Mark brings you from Galilee, where common people and even Gentiles recognize him, then describes a trip towards Jerusalem, where the emphasis on the cross keeps being repeated, and then to Jerusalem, the location of the Temple and its leaders. There the opposition to Jesus comes to a peak, and the crucifixion finally takes place. The story ends, though, not with his death, but his resurrection. But this Jesus is not only the great King, he is also the Savior, who gives his life in the place of sinners. Jesus Christ is good news for sinners, and that includes us. Your coming to the Lord’s Table is a visible confession of what Mark’s Gospel proclaims. This is also the gospel of Jesus Christ, in the sense that he is the source, the author of the good news. It is the gospel that Jesus proclaimed (Mark 1:14), but it is also the gospel which Jesus is.
“The … character of the gospel as a whole, occupied as it is with the story of the historical appearance of Jesus Christ, and concerned far less than the other gospels with the teaching of Jesus, demands the understanding that Christ is viewed in Mark 1:1 as the content of the proclamation — the one who constitutes in his very person and action the gospel itself.” (
Ned B. Stonehouse, The Witness of Matthew and Mark to Christ, p. 11
Recognize and trust in the Son of God. Throughout his Gospel Mark presents you with people (and even things that are not people!) recognizing Jesus. He wants you to know that the Jesus of whom he writes is not just an itinerant rabbi, not just a great teacher, not even just a great king. He wants you to know that he is none less than the Son of God. But bare recognition is not enough. Mark writes so that you will understand who he is and what he came to do. Mark writes so that you will trust him with your very life. The concept of the kingdom runs through the Gospel. Mark summons you to the radical obedience which that kingdom involves. As you come to the Table this morning, you come confessing your trust in Christ and rejoicing in his work in your place.
Mark writes his good news for you to hear, to read, but above all, to believe. Have you met Jesus? Do you know him? Is your trust in the Son of God?