Mark

David E. Garland

• Publisher: Zondervan Academic
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9780310873150
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

The NIV Application Commentary helps you communicate and apply biblical text effectively in today's context.

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• Original Meaning. Concise exegesis to help readers understand the original meaning of the biblical text in its historical, literary, and cultural context.
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This unique, award-winning commentary is the ideal resource for today's preachers, teachers, and serious students of the Bible, giving them the tools, ideas, and insights they need to communicate God's Word with the same powerful impact it had when it was first written.

Text and Commentary on Mark

Mark 1:1–13

Mark 1:1–13

THE BEGINNING OF the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2It is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way”—

3“a voice of one calling in the desert,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for him.’”

4And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7And this was his message: “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

9At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

12At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, 13and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

Original Meaning

THE FIRST VERSE of Mark’s Gospel, as already argued in the introduction, functions as the title to the entire work. The next twelve verses function as a prologue to this work and divide into three parts: (1) the citation of Scripture and the introduction of John the Baptizer (1:2–8); (2) the baptism of Jesus of Nazareth (1:9–11); and (3) the temptation of Jesus in the desert (1:12–13).

The Structure of Prologue

SOME SCHOLARS EXTEND the prologue to include the preaching of Jesus in Galilee in 1:14–15. The following arguments, however, favor treating 1:14–15 as the beginning of a new unit. (1) Each incident in 1:2–13 takes place in the same locality, the desert and the Jordan River, while what is reported in 1:14–15 takes place in Galilee, and the Sea of Galilee is mentioned in 1:16. (2) Each incident in 1:2–13 contains a reference to the Spirit (1:8, 10, 12), which is mentioned only three other times in the Gospel (3:29; 12:36; 13:11). (3) Most important, each of the three scenes in 1:2–13 presents the reader with privileged information unavailable to the characters in the story other than Jesus.1 The first scene (1:1–8) emphasizes that John the Baptizer’s ministry in the desert was the fulfillment of divine prophecy. A transcendent voice from offstage recites the Scripture and sets what follows in the perspective of salvation history. The reader now knows who John is from the divine perspective. He is the one who comes to bear witness to the more powerful one who comes after him, and Jesus must be that more powerful one promised in Scripture. A transcendent voice from the heavens identifies Jesus as the beloved Son and the conveyor of the Spirit in the second scene (1:9–11). The third scene (1:12–13) gives the reader a transcendent ringside seat of Jesus’ confrontation and defeat of Satan, his living at peace with the wild beasts, and his being served by angels. By contrast, the announcement that Jesus preaches the gospel of God in Galilee (1:14–15) brings the readers back down to earth. His public proclamation is not something shrouded in mystery but goes out for all to hear.

The prologue briefly lets the readers in on what are otherwise secrets that will remain hidden in various degrees to all of the characters in the drama that follows. It contains what Mark knows and believes about Jesus 2 as he allows his readers a fleeting glimpse into Jesus’ identity and mission from a “heavenly vantage point.”3 Even those devoted to God are in the dark about who Jesus is. We also learn that God is the one who is directing things behind the scenes. Since the verb “he saw” (v. 10) is singular and can refer only to Jesus, not even John the Baptizer witnesses the heavens being torn open and the Spirit’s descent on Jesus like a dove when he came up from the water. Did John even know that he was fulfilling Isaiah 40:3? The crowds are certainly unable to distinguish Jesus from any other penitent coming to be baptized. And during the temptation in the desert, no bystanders are present to observe the battle with Satan. Only the reader has this information, which is vital for evaluating Jesus’ identity. The point of these opening scenes is, therefore, to let the reader know from the start who Jesus is and to stress that he comes to fulfill divine promises and his divine commission. Because we who read know who Jesus is, our failure to follow and obey makes us more culpable than the characters in the story.

The Promise of Scripture Fulfilled and the Ministry of John the Baptizer (1:2–8)

THE PROMISE OF Scripture fulfilled (1:2–3). The story begins with a voice offstage, reading from Scripture. While John and Jesus may seem to appear out of the blue, this citation of Scripture makes it clear that they appear out of the blueprint of God’s plan. This story is the beginning of the good news, but every beginning is a consequence. By cross-referencing Scripture Mark makes it clear that the gospel is bound fast to the promise of God in the Old Testament and is a continuation of the story of God’s saving activity. Long before the promise-filled preaching of John the Baptizer, there was the promise-filled preaching of Isaiah, which shows that God had planned things out long before John appeared on the scene and was the one who initiated the action.4 The prophets’ hope was not a pipe dream; their prophecy still rings forth, and it will be fulfilled by God.

This passage is the only place in Mark where the narrator tells us that Scripture is being fulfilled (the others are spoken only by Jesus). It comprises a mixture of texts from Exodus 23:20; Malachi 3:1; and Isaiah 40:3. Exodus 23:20 contains God’s promise to send his messenger before the Israelites on their exodus through the desert to Canaan. Isaiah 40:3 speaks of a second exodus through the desert to the final deliverance prepared for God’s people. Malachi 3:1 warns that God will send a messenger to prepare the way before him prior to the coming of the day of judgment. Using a familiar technique in postbiblical Judaism, Mark blends these texts that originally had nothing to do with each other.5 With modern printing conventions, which were unavailable to Mark, we would put the references to these texts in the margins or in footnotes for the reader to look up and to reflect upon. By quoting these verses, Mark certifies that the Torah (Exodus), the Major Prophets (Isaiah), and the Minor Prophets (Malachi) confirm what he is about to tell.6 Mark probably ascribes the entire quotation to Isaiah not to identify its source but because that prophet had special importance for him. It is a hint that “his whole story of ‘the beginning of the gospel’ is to be understood against the backdrop of Isaian themes.”7

Three individuals are mentioned in Mark 1:2: the one who will send the messenger, the messenger who will construct the way, and the one whose way is prepared (“your way”). Three individuals are also in view in 1:3: the one who is crying in the wilderness, the Lord whose way is made straight, and the one, or ones, who are addressed. The narrative that follows clarifies who the referents are. “I [God] will send my messenger [John/Elijah] ahead of you [Jesus], who will prepare your way.” What is novel is that the messenger no longer is paving the way for God as in Malachi, but for another powerful one, Jesus, who is now to be acknowledged as the Lord. This means that God’s coming in salvation and judgment, promised in Scripture, “takes place in Jesus.”8 But Mark is elusive, and the citation allows for another meaning. He does not make it explicit that the messenger in the cited Scripture is John the Baptizer; one can only infer it from what follows. The citation could also be interpreted to mean, “I [God] will send my messenger [Jesus] before you [disciples/audience], who will prepare your way.” As the story unfolds, Jesus leads the disciples on the way to Jerusalem and death (10:32), and he goes before them to Galilee (14:28; 16:7). It is only on the second and third reading that we begin to realize that Jesus has come to prepare the way for us to follow him.

Marcus argues that mention of the way carries with it apocalyptic expectations. He contends that in Isaiah “the way of the Lord” refers to God’s “victory march” and is a mighty demonstration of his power. In the whole story of Mark the way refers to the triumphal way Jesus will lead his people.

The ministry of John the Baptizer (1:4–8). Mark has no interest in John except as the forerunner of Jesus. We get no information about his origin, parents, marvelous birth, or the contents of his ethical teaching—all details that the reader can find in Luke. In Mark, he is simply John the Baptizer,9 who comes preaching and whose baptizing has to do with the forgiveness of sins.10 His preaching has to do with the promise of a more powerful one, who will soon immerse them in the Holy Spirit. John can only announce his coming and try to prepare the hearts of the people so that they will be responsive when he arrives. He knows that it will take more than the splash of the muddy Jordan on their bodies to create in them a new heart and spirit. He acknowledges that his water baptism is preparatory; the Spirit baptism will be definitive.

(1) The host of baptisands. John apparently demands that all come for his baptism. No one will get a bye in the judgment. It is a remarkable demand because Jews believed that only gentile proselytes and those who were defiled needed to be immersed to cleanse themselves of their impurity (see 2 Kings 5:13, where Elisha tells Naaman the leper to cleanse himself in the Jordan: “Wash and be cleansed!”). To call all Israel to baptism implies that in some way all Israel is defiled. Mark tells us that for whatever reason they come to John in droves—“the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem”—to get this cleansing in the desert. They are, in effect, backtracking to the place where Israel had so many beginnings.

(2) John’s clothing and diet. Mark fully describes John’s wardrobe (camel’s hair and leather belt) and his diet (locusts and wild honey). Why does he fill us in on these seemingly minor details while ignoring more important background information? Is it to tell us that John is not “mainstream”—hardly a welcomed guest at the Jerusalem Hilton? These descriptions suggest two things. (a) To go out to someone like this in the desert requires a break with the institutions and culture of Jerusalem.11 The way that is prepared will not be a comfortable path; it will require forgoing pleasures long taken for granted. (b) John is an Elijah-type prophet (2 Kings 1:8; see Zech. 13:4). The clothing imagery derives from Scripture. Note how Elijah intercepted the messengers of King Ahaziah, whom the king had sent to inquire of the god of Ekron whether he would recover from a bad fall, and the prophet told them to inform the king he would die. When the messengers dutifully notified the king of the dire prediction, the king wanted to know who this provocateur was. They could only describe him as a man wearing a hairy garment and with a leather girdle about his loins. The king wailed: “Oh, it’s Elijah the Tishbite.”

The original auditors of Mark’s Gospel were schooled to recognize symbolism. In our culture, we would pick up the allusions if a character were wearing Daniel Boone’s coonskin cap or Abraham Lincoln’s stovepipe hat and beard. This description of John is reminiscent of Elijah, which may explain his huge success. The crowds presumably believed that he was Elijah reappearing for his second career, to prepare for the imminent coming of God (Mal. 4:5–6; see Mark 9:11–13). A certified prophet had appeared as they used to do with regularity in the good old days, which could only mean that the beginning of the end was about to take shape. The people came out to him to get themselves ready. A rabbi from a later time is reported to have said: “If Israel repents for one day, forthwith the son of David will come” (y. Ta‘an. 1:1, 64a). The question in Mark is, Will they truly repent? and, When the Son of David comes, will they recognize him and receive him with open arms or with clenched fists?

(3) John’s message. John has only two small speaking parts in the Gospel (1:7–8; 6:13). The only thing that interests Mark in John’s preaching is his announcement that one who is more powerful than he is coming, who will baptize with the Spirit. What is remarkable about this statement is that John hardly seems to rank with those normally deemed to be powerful or mighty. He will end up a prisoner in Herod’s dungeon and will be summarily executed, his head handed to the besotted king on a platter (6:14–29). If he is to be regarded as powerful, then the conventional understanding of power must be completely recast. In John’s case, he is powerful by dint of his mighty proclamation of God’s will and of what God is about to do. Th...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• How to Use This Commentary
• Series Introduction
• General Editor’s Preface
• Author’s Preface
• Abbreviations
• Introduction to Mark
• Outline of Mark
• Bibliography on Mark
• Text and Commentary on Mark
• Scripture Index
• Subject Index
• Notes