In my ongoing, ten-year love affair with Mark’s Gospel, I’ve decided to post some of my observations here, verse-by-verse over the next few months. To God be the glory…Mark 1:1 – The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The eschatological nature of Mark’s Gospel is reinforced by the use of the word arche “beginning” in the opening verse.What Mark will set forth in these chapters is the most important thing that will ever happen.As Genesis 1:1 speaks of the beginning of creation, so Mark 1:1 reminds us that Jesus Christ will now usher in Isaiah’s promised new creation (already … but not yet).Mark is writing a gospel, which (as a term) for the Romans looked back on good tidings of the past. For the Jews, (as Isaiah 40,52 & 61 describe), gospel was a hopeful term looking ahead to the inbreaking of God’s Kingdom in the person of Messiah.As Mark 1:1 makes clear, the arrival of the Son of God is this long-awaited moment.We expect to see the blind seeing, the lame walking, and the captives freed.In Mark’s Gospel, our expectations are fulfilled in the amazing, marvelous and unprecedented work of Jesus.
