Commencement of the Good News
In the ministry of Jesus, the kingdom of God has arrived, and it begins with his baptism of John the Baptist – Mark 1:1-3.
The gospel
of Mark begins with a
declaration based on the Hebrew Bible that provides the scriptural link to the
ministry of John the Baptist, and it sets the stage for the messianic
mission. In this way, Mark opens
on a note of fulfillment. Jesus is the promised Messiah of Israel.
Implicit is
that the long-awaited “season of fulfillment” has commenced, first with
John, and especially so in the ministry of Jesus – (Hebrews 1:1, Revelation
1:1-3).
The term “beginning”
is the first word in the passage, and its position in the Greek sentence makes it
emphatic. The sudden appearance of John
marks the start of the “good
news” about the kingdom of God.
THE BEGINNING
- (Mark 1:1-3) - “Beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. According as it is written in Isaiah the prophet, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way. A voice of one crying aloud, in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, straight be making his paths.”
Other New Testament passages also link the
“beginning” of the gospel to John, the one who “prepares” the way
for the arrival of the messianic king. And the term “beginning” is a deliberate
echo of the creation story in Genesis:
- (Genesis 1:1) - “In BEGINNING, God created the heavens and the earth.”
- (John 1:1-3) – “In BEGINNING was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.”
- (Acts 1:21-22) – “It is needful then that of the men who accompanied us during all the time in which the Lord Jesus came in and went out over us, beginning from the baptism by John until the day when he was taken up from us” (Also, Acts 10:36).
Thus, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus inaugurated the promised New Creation and the redemption of humanity.
And his arrival on the banks of the Jordan carries
universal implications far beyond the hopes of the Jewish nation. And so, for
all humanity, it truly is “good
news” – (Romans
8:20-23, Revelation 3:14).
GOSPEL
The Greek term rendered “gospel”
or euangelion means “good news, glad
tidings.” It is a compound of the prefix eu (“good”)
and the noun angelion (“message”). English words derived
from it include “angel” and “evangelist.”
In the New
Testament, usages of euangelion are often based on key prophecies in the book
of Isaiah. For example:
- (Isaiah 52:7) – “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that brings good tidings, that publishes peace, that brings good tidings of blessing, that publishes salvation, that says to Zion, your God has become king.”
- (Isaiah 61:1-3) – “The spirit of My Lord Yahweh is upon me, because Yahweh anointed me to tell good tidings to the oppressed; he has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, to them who are bound the opening of the prison; to proclaim the year of acceptance of Yahweh.”
And the “good news of Jesus” concerns the arrival
of the long-promised salvation and reign of God in the person of His Son. The
genitive construction can mean either that Jesus is the content or the herald
of the good news, or both.
The term “Christ”
is not his last name but the designation of what he is, the “anointed one,”
the Messiah of Israel. But to his neighbors, he is “Jesus, the son
of Joseph,” or simply “Jesus of Nazareth.”
MESSIAH
In the
Hebrew Bible, two categories of men are “anointed,” priests and kings.
The anointing is performed by pouring olive oil on the head of the designated man,
thus setting him apart for a specific office or task - (Leviticus 21:10-12, Psalm
89:20).
“Jesus” is the
anglicized spelling of the Hebrew name Yeshua or Yehoshua,
the latter better known to English readers as “Joshua.” Moses prefixed the
syllable Yah from the divine name, Yahweh, to the original name of Hoshea
(“salvation”) to form the compound name Ye-hoshua, meaning, “Yahweh
saves,” or perhaps “salvation of Yahweh” - (Numbers 13:16,
Deuteronomy 32:44).
Among first-century
Jews, the term “Son of God” had messianic and royal connotations. It was
part of the promise of kingship made to David who became God’s “son” when he
was installed as the king of Israel, a royal legacy the Messiah is expected to
inherit - (2
Samuel 7:14, Psalm 2:6-9, Hebrews
1:5-14).
“As
written in Isaiah.” The prophecy cited is a composite of verses from the
books of Exodus, Isaiah, and Malachi, although the bulk is
found in Isaiah:
- (Exodus 23:20) – “Behold, I send a messenger before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you to the place which I have prepared.”
- (Isaiah 40:3) – “The voice of one that cries, prepare in the wilderness the way of Yahweh; make level in the desert a highway for our God.”
- (Malachi 3:1) “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes, says Yahweh of hosts.”
The first quotation from Exodus
is appropriate. It was a promise to keep Israel safe in the “wilderness”
and lead her to the Promised Land. Hence, Jesus is the true Israel who is
poised to traverse the “wilderness” and lead God’s people to the kingdom.
THE GRAND STORY
Mark has threaded other themes from
the history of Israel into his account. But the ministry of the Messiah is far
more than a replay of that ancient story, or simply an attempt by Jesus to
succeed where Israel failed, though he certainly does do the latter.
In his life, the plan of Yahweh
to redeem humanity and the creation itself from bondage to sin and death began to
unfold. His messianic mission is far larger than the nation of Israel and
encompasses land that extends far beyond the borders of Canaan.
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