Mark 1:1-8 The Ministry of John the Baptist
1The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
The Gospel of Mark is likely the oldest gospel of the
New Testament. While probably not the oldest book in the New
Testament, it will help to give us something to compare the other
books to.
Mark was probably written between the years 60 and 70 AD
[Wikipedia:
Dating the Bible].
the Son of God.
Interestingly, not all scriptures give the title "the
Son of God" to Jesus in this verse. During ancient times, many
rulers were referred to as a son of god. [Wikipedia:
Son of God]. While it is difficult to determine exactly when the
majority of Christianity decided that Jesus was the Son of God, it
seems likely that the vast majority of church leaders agreed by the
time that the Nicene Creed was written in 325 AD. [Wikipedia:
Son of God, Theological Development]
2As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,
Some manuscripts say "in the prophets" instead
of "Isaiah the prophet". It seems like "in the
prophets" would be a closer use regardless of translation since
the quoted scripture only has one sentence fragment from the book of
Isaiah. It is possible that the author of his passage was working
from a different version of Isaiah than is present today, but more
than likely, this is an amalgamated quote.
3 “Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way,
The Preceding sentence fragment comes from Malachi and
relates to Jewish eschatology. It seems to directly refer to the
coming of God, not the Son of God. At the time it was written, there
was no concept of Yahweh's son.
Even if someone argues that the scripture refers to the
coming Messiah, the messiah it would be referring to would be a
normal human being that was designated by Yahweh to reclaim the
throne of Solomon and grant the Jewish people political independence,
not a Messiah as Christians currently think of the concept.
From Malachi 3:1-5.
1 “I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the
way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to
his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is
certainly coming,” says the Lord who rules over all.
2 Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep
standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire,
like a launderer’s soap. 3 He will act like a refiner and purifier
of silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and
silver. Then they will offer the Lord a proper offering. 4 The
offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in
former times and years past.
5 “I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to
testify against those who practice divination, those who commit
adultery, those who break promises, and those who exploit workers,
widows, and orphans, who refuse to help the immigrant and in this way
show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.
As you can see from the above quotation, the scripture
is referring to the coming of the Lord, not the coming of Jesus.
These are direct quotes from the Lord in what he is going to do. The
best we could fit Jesus into this verse would be if Jesus was the
messenger of the covenant coming to clear the way.
I suspect that it was passages like this, along with
many others, that caused people to believe that Jesus would be coming
like a conqueror to put down the enemies of the Lord. And if this is
the case, it is a small wonder that the Jewish people wouldn't accept
Jesus as their messiah (king, or ruler designated by Yahweh).
Now, back to Mark:
the voice of one shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make his paths straight.’”
This sentence fragment seems to fit most closely to
Isaiah. Specifically, it seems to fit with Isaiah 40:3.
Isaiah 40:1-5:
1 “Comfort, comfort my people,”
says your God.
2 “Speak kindly to Jerusalem, and tell her
that her time of warfare is over,
that her punishment is completed.
For the Lord has made her pay double for all her sins.”
3 A voice cries out,
“In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord;
construct in the desert a road for our God.
4 Every valley must be elevated,
and every mountain and hill leveled.
The rough terrain will become a level plain,
the rugged landscape a wide valley.
5 The splendor of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it at the same time.
For the Lord has decreed it.”
So, not the best match, but probably as close as we're
going to get. You can also see that this passage was referring to
Jewish eschatology and the coming of the Lord.
Back to Mark:
4In the wilderness John the baptizer began preaching a
baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
So Mark has John the Baptist as the messenger of the
covenant, preaching (shouting) in the wilderness, and by implication
Jesus is God coming to fulfill the end of days prophesies [Wikipedia:
Jewish eschatology]. But it's interesting that John is baptizing
for repentance and for the forgiveness of sins.
There is no precedence for this in the Jewish religion
for the forgiveness of sins outside the Laws of Moses. At this point,
Jesus hasn't come yet. He hasn't been introduced to John the Baptist:
Jesus hasn't been baptized: the Lord hasn't proclaimed Jesus as his
son. There is no Christianity. The people of Israel are still be
under the original covenant of Moses. Forgiving sins by baptism would
be against the Laws of Moses and would be viewed as blasphemous.
There are many interesting ideas about where a concept
like baptism for the forgiveness of sins might have come from, but
they didn't come from Jewish teachings. [Wikipedia:
Baptism]
5People from the whole Judean countryside and all of
Jerusalem were going out to him, and he was baptizing them in the
Jordan River as they confessed their sins.
Since it wasn't uncommon to follow multiple gods, you
could be an adherent to various different religions. This could
explain why there were so many people willing to seek baptism in
addition to Jewish teachings of Moses. They would simply be becoming
a member of a mystery religion -- not to be confused with an unknown
religion -- in addition to Judaism. [Wikipedia:
mystery religions]
6John wore a garment made of camel’s hair with a
leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
Mark 1:6 is implying, without coming right out and
saying, that John the Baptist was actually Elijah. II Kings 1:8 gives
the description of Elijah:
2 Kings 1:8 English Standard Version (ESV):
They answered him, “He wore a garment of hair, with a
belt of leather about his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the
Tishbite.”
Now why would it be important to insinuate that John the
Baptist was Elijah? The answer is simple. The Jewish teachings
prophesied that Elijah would have to return prior to the coming of
the messiah.
Malachi 4:4-6
4 Remember the law of my servant Moses, to whom at Horeb
I gave rules and regulations for all Israel to obey. 5Look, I will
send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the
Lord arrives. 6He will encourage fathers and their children to return
to me, so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment.”
If Jesus was supposed to be the messiah, then Elijah had
to come first. Someone must have thought that John the Baptist fit
the bill, so they dressed him in camel's hair clothes and put a
leather belt around his waist.
7He proclaimed, “One more powerful than I am is coming
after me; I am not worthy to bend down and untie the strap of his
sandals. 8I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the
Holy Spirit.”
John the Baptist is claiming that someone is coming
after him that will baptize people in the Holy Spirit. At the time in
history that this was written, the only one that was even thought to
be able to baptize in the Holy Spirit would have been Yahweh. The
Holy Spirit was believed to only flow from Yahweh. There simply was
no independent Son or Holy Ghost.
This passage seems to be setting the scene for the
arrival of God, which is keeping in line with the Jewish tradition of
the time. One thing to keep in mind throughout the entire New
Testament is how the Holy Spirit evolves from the Jewish concept of
God's presence, or God's will made manifest, or God's works in
action, to a completely independent being in the trinity.
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