Chapter One
The Opening Verse
Synopsis
In this learning unit we will study the opening verse of the gospel. In it, Mark introduces us to his main theme: Jesus’ identity. He wrote his gospel to show us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. However, to understand the full meaning of these and the other term Mark uses in this verse, we need to read and interpret them within their Old Testament and Greco-Roman cultural contexts. When we do so, we discover that Mark is clearly claiming that Jesus is God.
We should learn to read and interpret the gospels as Mark’s first-century Christian readers would have. This is important because we live in a very different cultural context and often miss the deeper meaning of the text. We will study the main words of this sentence and see what they meant to Mark’s target audience, pagan- and Jewish-Christians living in Rome.
Learning Objectives
You will have successfully completed this learning unit when you can explain how Mark’s pagan- and Jewish-Christian readers would have understood the following terms: “beginning”, “gospel”, “Jesus”, “Christ”, and “Son of God”.
The First Verse
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (Mk 1:1)
True to his style, Mark just starts his gospel without much of an introduction. He doesn’t introduce himself, explain his motives, or describe how Jesus was born. In this one sentence he tells us that his gospel is all about Jesus. He wants to show us that he is the Christ and the Son of God. Every word of this verse is important.
“Beginning”
This word should remind us of the first verse of the Bible.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Gn 1:1)
The same Greek word archê is used in both verses. By this repetition, Mark is telling us that Jesus is bringing about a new beginning, a new creation. The idea of the new creation in Jesus appears throughout the New Testament. For example, in the Book of Revelation, Jesus says:
Behold, I make all things new. (Rv 21:5)
This new creation starts with his coming.
“Gospel”
It is commonly known that the word “gospel” means “good news.” This word comes from the Old English translation of the Greek word euangélion.
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Eu means “good”
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Ángelos means “messenger”
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Ion is a diminutive suffix
In Old English, this was translated as gōdspel (good + news) which was eventually transformed into “gospel.” The word euangélion was common in both the Greco-Roman and Jewish worlds but had different meanings.
“Gospel” in the Greco-Roman World
For Greeks and Romans, a gospel was something political. For example, it could refer to the news about a military victory. In 490 BC, when the Greeks defeated the Persians at the battlefield of Marathon, they sent Pheidippides to run the 42 kilometers back to Athens to share the good news. When he arrived, he shouted out, “Rejoice, we have won!” and then died. He was known as an evangelist, because he had brought the good news of their victory.
We find another example of how the word was used in what is now modern-day Turkey. There, an inscription chiseled on the ruins of an ancient government building dated to around 6 BC states the following about Caesar Augustus:
The most divine Caesar . . . we should consider equal to the Beginning of all things . . . for when everything was falling (into disorder) and tending toward dissolution, he restored it once more and gave the whole world a new aura; Caesar . . . the common good Fortune of all . . . The beginning of life and vitality . . . All the cities unanimously adopt the birthday of the divine Caesar as the new beginning of the year . . . Whereas the Providence which has regulated our whole existence . . . has brought our life to the climax of perfection in giving to us (the emperor) Augustus . . .who being sent to us and our descendants as Savior, has put an end to war and has set all things in order; and (whereas,) having become (god) manifest, Caesar has fulfilled all the hopes of earlier times… The birthday of [Augustus] has been for the whole world the beginning of the gospel (euangélion) concerning him. (Priene 150.40–41)
The gospel this inscription is proclaiming is that the Pax Romana, the age of peace in the Roman world, has been brought about by the Caesar Augustus. The historical context is the following: As the Roman republic was falling, power struggles had arisen between rival factions which led to instability, insurrections, infighting, and civil wars. This came to an end in 27 BC when Octavian defeated the forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the battle of Actium and became Caesar Augustus.
Note how the inscription declares Caesar to be divine. He is called the savior, God manifest, and the cause of order and peace. Therefore, it announces that his birthday was the beginning of this good news for the whole world.
“Gospel” in the Jewish World
What would Mark’s Jewish-Christian readers have understood? What good news were they expecting? To find out, we need to look at the Old Testament, specifically the Book of Isaiah. Its first 39 chapters mostly contain prophecies of doom and gloom. But the tone changes dramatically in chapter 40. There, God begins to console his people. We read:
Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned (Is 40:1–2)
Then, if we skip down to verse 9, we read:
Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah... (Is 40:9)
God tells Isaiah to proclaim the good tidings, or gospel, from the mountain tops to the cities of Judah. What is this good news he is to proclaim? To find out, we must keep reading.
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him. (Is 40:9–10)
The good news or gospel for the Jewish-Christians referred to the coming of the Lord with might. Mark is telling us that this prophecy was fulfilled by Jesus. In him, God had truly come to us.
By reading Mark’s gospel this way, we can see how he needs just a few words to tell both his Roman and Jewish readers that Jesus is both God and savior.
“Jesus”
But Jesus was not only God and savior, he was also a normal man. Mark confirms this by giving us his name. “Jesus” was a common masculine name in Israel and therefore it testifies to his humanity. Jesus had a human name because he was human. Etymologically, it means “the Lord is salvation.” So, the gospel, or good news, that Mark is proclaiming is that in this man called Jesus, God has come to be with us to save us.
Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name “Joshua”, so we can think of Jesus as the new Joshua. What did Joshua do? In the Bible, we read how he led the Israelites into the Promised Land. Jesus will do likewise; he will lead us into the promised land of heaven.
“Christ”
“Christ” isn’t Jesus’ second name. It is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word mashiach, which means “messiah” or the anointed one. It is, therefore, a title. In the Old Testament, this title refers specifically to David and the kings of his line who came after him. The Jews believed that their kings were God’s vassals or lieutenants on earth. The pagans, on the contrary, often divinized their kings. Think of the Roman Caesar, who, as we saw above, was considered to be a god. The Jewish kings were called “messiahs” because they were anointed with oil. This was a sign that they had received their authority from God and meant that they weren’t divine. For example, in 1 Samuel 16 we read how David was anointed:
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward.
His son Solomon was also anointed when he became king, as was his grandson Rehoboam after him. This continued until the last king. By telling us that Jesus is the Christ, Mark is affirming that he is the anointed king. He is therefore not only the new Joshua, but also the new king David.
“Son of God”
Since the Romans considered Caesar to be divine, one of his many titles was “son of God.” By also calling Jesus this way, Mark was telling his pagan-Christian audience that he was divine. His Jewish-Christian readers would have understood something else. In the Old Testament, Israel’s kings were also called “sons of God.”
I will tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to me, “You are my son,
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession. (Ps 2:7–8)
But this didn’t mean that they were divine, but rather that they enjoyed a special relationship with God, since they had received the grace of divine adoption.
Jesus’ divine sonship will be confirmed at his baptism, when we will find out that he is the beloved Son of God.
Conclusion
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (Mk 1:1)
This first sentence already shows us Mark’s genius. On the one hand, his style is straightforward and easy to read. No one who reads this sentence would feel overwhelmed or unable to understand it. But when we go deeper, we see that Mark is telling us that Jesus is God with us, who, as the new Joshua and the new David, will bring us salvation through a new creation. This is Mark’s gospel message or good news for us. It is a message that contains the power to change the world. It is a lot of content for one simple sentence.
Assignments
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Memorize Mk 1:1.
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For each of the five main words in Mk 1:1, write down their relationship to the Old Testament and Greco-Roman culture. You can use the following table in Word or PDF format (click on icons to download).