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.