The ministry of John the Baptist: Part 1 (Mark 1:2-4)

If verse one is a title to the ministry of John the Baptist, it follows that subsequent verses will be about John the Baptist.

Verse 2

Mark reaches back into the Hebrew Scriptures to show that John the Baptist is the fulfillment of certain prophecies. He starts with a standard introduction formula (i.e. "as it is written") that was used when writers wanted to refer back to the Hebrew Scriptures. The word "written" is from the verb meaning to "write." It is a 3rd person singular in the perfect passive indicative. Wallace tells us that the verb is used 67 times in the New Testament (p576). It is often used to highlight the continuance of the written word (ibid). The perfect tense can carry the added dimensions of 

1. still being in effect for today, 
2. commands that are still being commanded, or
3. a fulfillment of prophecy (ibid). 

Mark is seemingly using it as a fulfillment of prophecy. He even tries to quote his source or authority. If you have ever had to learn a modern citing system you realize how incredibly difficult this is. I am still trying to figure out how to cite my sources on what I write online (e.g. this blog). Nonetheless, Mark may not actually have been looking at the scroll from which he was quoting and was simply quoting from memory. There are two passages that he references. The first is actually from Malachi 3:1, and the second portion is from Isaiah 40:3. Because of the textual variants, it seems that early scribes tried to gloss over the glaring "misquote." But the best manuscripts do favor the reading, "in Isaiah the prophet". Nonetheless, are we really going to throw out the entire book of Mark because he was probably quoting from memory and not directly from the scroll? That seems a little harsh. I do not see any evidence to suggest that the book of Mark is unreliable. 

I do not have any evidence of this, but maybe the scroll that had the Isaiah passage also contained the Malachi passage. Mark maybe only quoting the major source, the one the people would know best. Isaiah may have been serving as his authority especially if people may not have known Malachi (see Plumptre p1-2). If the audience was Gentile, they may not be as familiar with the so-called Minor Prophets. Whatever his reason (lapse of memory, no direct access to the scrolls, felt he only needed Isaiah as the authority, audience's unfamiliarity with lesser known prophets), Mark's style is to keep the narrative moving. He is simply stating the authority, Isaiah, from which John the Baptist fulfills prophecy. Plumptre (The Commentary for Schools, St. Mark) states that Mark does not often quote the prophets like some of the other gospel writers (p1).

The other interesting aspect of Mark's "quote" is that it is not quoted verbatim from the Septuagint (LXX). Plumptre suggest that Mark is actually using a free translation of the Hebrew and interprets the passage in light of John the Baptist. In Malachi God is the one sending His messenger, who will clear the way for His own coming. 

Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me - Mal 3:1 (NASB)

Mark applies the "I" and "My" to God and the "messenger" to John the Baptist. The "You" and "Your" would then refer to the Christ (p1-2). 

Behold I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way; - Mark 1:2 (NASB)

It has been established that kings would often send someone into an area to announce their coming. This would give the the people time to prepare.

Verse 3

Mark continues quoting from the prophets. His quote makes clear that he indeed equates Jesus with God from verse one (the Son of God). In speaking of the ministry of John the Baptist, where John is the messenger, Mark tells us plainly that John is clearing the way for "the Lord." Of course, in the Hebrew Scripture, "the Lord" refers to God. Here, "the Lord" is referring back to Jesus Christ. So, if God is the Lord and the Lord is Jesus, then God is equated to Jesus.

Verse 4

Josephus tells us about John "that was called the Baptist..." (or the Baptizer). His message to the Jews was for them "to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness towards one another, and piety towards God." (Antiquities, Book 18, Chapter 5, Verse 2) John urged the people "to come to baptism; for the washing [with water] would be acceptable to him, if they made use of it, not in order to the putting away , [or the remission] of some sins [only,] but for the purification of the body: supposing still that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness." (ibid)

John was preparing the way of the Lord by "preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins."

Wallace views βάπτισμα μετανοίας (baptism of repentance) as a descriptive genitive with 3 possible understandings. He does not take an exclusive view but rather sees baptism in a general sense related to repentance.

1. causal - the baptism is then based on repentance
2. purpose or production - the baptism produces repentance
3. the baptism symbolizes repentance (p225)

Cranfield tells us that "repentance" is a changing of one's mind accompanied by a sense of regret and remorse for the sin of which he is repenting. It is linked to two Hebrew terms where there is a complete return to God with the person's entire being. There is turning from foreign alliances and turning towards God alone (p46).

APPLICATION FOR LIFE:

• Believe prophesy. If God said it will happen, then it will.
• Turn from God-substitutes. This is the giving up of sin.
• Turn to God alone. This is putting God first more and more. It's the process of giving up God-substitutes for God himself. We may already pray, but we pray more often, putting God ahead of this thing, then ahead of that one. We may already read our Bible. Now, we start reading it ahead of other books. We meditate on its words more today than yesterday. We may love our neighbor, but now we push ourselves to love our neighbor more. There are always things in our life upon which we can improve, even good things, even spiritual disciplines.
• Walk in the way. The way has already been prepared. "Come to Jesus for the cleansing power and be washed in the blood of the Lamb"

The beginning of the gospel

When we read a biography, we expect the starting point to be at a point near the birth of the person. Often, the person's parents are introduced, and soon after we get the birth event. Even though the gospels are not true biographies, in the modern sense, we are interested in reading about the birth of Jesus. However, only two gospels give us a birth account. The other two gospels, John and Mark, actually have their own versions of a "beginning." But the "beginnings" could not be more different than in these two gospel accounts.

In contrast to John, who literally starts with an allusion to the creation of the universe, Mark starts with the "beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ." There is no definite article (the) in Mark's Greek and apparently no textual variant for the definite article. It simple starts with Ἀρχὴ (beginning), but in English the definite article must be supplied to make sense. Wallace, (in Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics p50) indicates that this type of construction is a nominative absolute which indicates a title. Cranfield (The Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary: The Gospel of According to St. Mark) also views verse one as a potential title that introduces the beginning of the gospel of Jesus that will be continued by the Acts of the Apostles (see Acts 1:1). Even though verse one is a title, Cranfield quickly adds that the view that the title is introducing the reader to just the beginning of the gospel of Christ is probably wrong (p34). He also does think the the title is a "summary" account of the gospel of Jesus. His view is that the title is for the section on John the Baptist (Mk 1:2-13) only (p34-35). Hunter (The Gospel According to Saint Mark: A Commentary) also sees verse one as a title to the ministry of John the Baptist found in verses 2-13.

This title states that it is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Wallace again helps us with this construction by telling us that it is a plenary genitive construction meaning we have both a subjective and objective meaning (p119-121). The subjective genitive means that Jesus Christ is the subject. Therefore, this is the gospel from Jesus Christ. It is the good news that he preached. Jesus is the origin of the teaching, and he is the context of the teaching too. The objective genitive means that Jesus Christ is the object of the gospel. In other words the good news is about Jesus.

 The last section of the verse is shocking. Mark clearly identifies Jesus Christ as the Son of God. While there are some textual variants that need to be worked out, on the surface this identification seems original. It is shocking because Jesus usually identifies himself as the Son of Man. Jesus, it seems, often went out of his way, especially in the early part of his ministry, to not make himself known. But Mark is happy to identify Jesus as God from the very first verse of his gospel.

In Mark 1:1 we get the beginning of good news that comes from Jesus and is also about Jesus. This title introduces us to the work of the person who will kick start the ministry of Jesus, John the Baptist. For Mark there is no need to start by proving that Jesus is the Son of God. It is assumed. Mark is already convinced, and there is a sense that after one encounters the stories and teachings of Jesus, the reader too will be convinced that Jesus is God. In true, in medias rea style of telling a story, the reader is thrown into the story, and it is hoped that it will be made clear who Jesus is.