The Opening (1:1-15)

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
"See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.'"

John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."

THE OBSERVANT READER AND ATTENTIVE LISTENER

Contrary to the kinds of expectations generated by academic institutions, one does not need to know anything to appreciate Mark's Gospel. Much of what is necessary to appreciate the story is available to observant readers and careful listeners.

For example, the story begins with an assessment: what follows is "the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." The story is good news; in what way, we are not told. What is meant by the "beginning" is likewise left unexplained. Already readers may begin to form an agenda of questions to ask as the story unfolds.

What follows is a reference to something "written in the prophet Isaiah ..." Even without knowledge of the Old Testament, readers have a sense that the "beginning" is somehow related to some ancient promises.

The speaker of the words is not identified, as in Luke. When read silently, the reader may imagine a narrator (and behind the narrator an unidentified author) whose character and personality emerge as the story is told. When read aloud, the lack of a specified author forces the reader to make a decision whether to serve as advocate or, conscious of the possibility, to make the audience aware that he or she is at least ambivalent about what is being said and thus has a critical relationship with the "inscribed narrator." Those who listen are from the outset placed in the position of insiders who learn what characters in the story cannot know.

The first character we meet is John the baptizer. We learn that he is enormously popular, that he is a fire and brimstone preacher, and that his diet and clothing are unusual. None of these things is explained further. His diet and clothing apparently mark him as peculiar. Some knowledge of the geographical setting (especially the proximity to Jerusalem) and the peculiar clothing adds depth to the story but is not necessary to appreciate what is happening.

While John proclaims "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" (1:4), his only recorded words have to do with a successor:

He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." (1:7-8)

His words, the first to be spoken by a character in the story, serve as a prophecy—interestingly, a prophecy that is not immediately fulfilled: "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit" (1:8). Those who read carefully will come to the end of Mark's story without having learned about Jesus' having baptized anyone with the Spirit. When asked about this, students generally point to Acts as the place where the promise is fulfilled. Mark writes no sequel to his Gospel, however, and particularly if Mark is the earliest of the Gospel stories, the absence of a narrative like Acts 2 is all the more interesting. This is the first in a series of promises that are not fulfilled by the time the story ends. What to make of them will be important for interpreters.

Jesus is introduced virtually without preparation. We have been offered an assessment: he is Christ, Son of God (1:1). But the particulars of his background—his birth, education, credentials—are completely omitted. We learn only that he comes to be baptized by John. Even for those who know virtually nothing about the terms "Christ" and "Son of God," that Jesus—presumably the protagonist in the story—comes to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins will seem peculiar. There is no effort to explain the tension, in contrast to Matthew's account in which the dialogue between John and Jesus at least acknowledges the problem (Matt 3:14-15).

The account of Jesus' baptism is as interesting for what it does not say as for what it does. Peculiar is the failure to mention anything about John's view of things. We have no idea if the Baptizer recognizes who has come to be baptized, no sense that he appreciates what has occurred. The reactions of others present are likewise not mentioned, perhaps because they are unimportant. Most striking is the failure to say anything about Jesus' reaction. We learn nothing about his own feelings. While people in our society are interested in little else, the story is not played out at the level of the psychological. How Jesus feels, what motivates him, what has influenced him to decide as he does—these are apparently unimportant compared with the public consequences of his arrival. Readers are expected to be more aware of the political and social dimensions of life than the psychological.

The spectacle of the heavens being torn open, the Spirit descending on Jesus, and a voice from heaven making a declaration about "my Son" contrast with the public reaction: there is none. The narrator says only that "he (Jesus) saw"; the voice addresses him: "You are my Son." Is this perhaps a vision? There are no clues that it is. It is described in the same matter-of-fact style as the rest of the narrative. It is difficult to imagine what a "tear in the heavens" might look like and even more difficult to imagine that no one but Jesus noticed. We can only wonder that the narrator and reader hear what...