The gospel of Mark was written by John Mark and was thought to have Peter’s influence all over it. It is considered the earliest recorded gospel, written between AD 60-68. The letter was written to the Christians in Rome. They had already heard the gospel, but needed to hear it again to encourage them during a time of hostility. Mark speaks less to Jesus’ teaching and points out Jesus’ doing. The theme of the book is that Jesus is the Servant King (Mark 10:45).

Mark 1:1 – Mark is the only Gospel without some type of genealogy. Since Mark was speaking to Roman Christians about a Servant King, they didn’t care about the history of a servant.

Mark describes Jesus as the Christ. Christos was a Greek word meaning, “an anointed royal figure.” It was another way of referring to the Messiah, but Mark goes further and declares Jesus as the “Son of God”. It was a claim of outright divinity.

Mark calls this “The beginning of the gospel”. Well, the Good News has always been there, and The reign of sin and rebellion did not take God by surprise. Jesus wasn’t “plan B”. The Good News was not preached by Jesus Christ, but rather it is concerning Him.

The gospel is the good news of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ

and that through faith in Him we can be forgiven and reconciled to God.

Mark 1:2-3 – Aside from OT quotations by Jesus, this is the only place Mark referred to the OT in his Gospel. He blends together Exodus 23:20 and Malachi 3:1 and includes Isaiah 40:3. He does this to show that Jesus is the fulfillment of ancient prophesy and the Messiah that the Jews were looking for.

The phrase, “make His paths straight” was a known term. In ancient time, construction crews would arrive at a city long before the planned arrival of a king to level hills, fill ditches, clear debris, and remove obstructions in order to prepare a wide, unencumbered, straight road into the heart of town. Mark is calling the Christ-followers to prepare their hearts for His Gospel ministry.

Mark 1:4-5 – Mark uses hyperbole (“all the country and all Jerusalem were going out to him”). Mark is pointing out that the people are moving away from the temple and all the impossibilities that the Pharisees taught. They moved towards John the Baptist and the promise of Jesus. They are seeking out forgiveness, something they couldn’t earn through Judaism.

They are getting baptized in order to identify with Jesus. John’s baptism was no innovation since Jews required Gentiles wanting to be admitted into Judaism to be baptized by self-immersion. The startling new element was that John’s baptism was designed for God’s covenant people, the Jews, and it required their repentance in view of the coming Messiah.

Mark 1:7-8 – John the Baptist shows what a servant looks like. All of Jerusalem has come to his feet of teaching, but in his humility, John says, “I am not worthy to take His shoes off. I’m just a voice saying, ‘Look at Him’!”

Questions to Consider: