Mark 1:1-15
1The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.2As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, 3the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’” 4John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” 9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opening and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” 12The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. 14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
John’s emphasis in his gospel is to focus on the deity of Christ and the fact that Jesus is the Son of God, the savior of the world, and by believing in Him, one can have eternal life.
Mark’s focus is a bit different. He wants us to focus on the fact that although Jesus was the Son of God, He was also the suffering servant who will die for humanity’s sins.
Mark is the oldest of the four gospels and it is also the only one that refers to itself as a gospel. It is believed that Mark was writing to Christians in Rome, who were going through intense persecution. There was a great fire in Rome in 64 CE, and Emperor Nero decided to blame the Christians and to punish them. They were exposed to execution and public suffering, including deaths staged as public spectacles. These included being burned alive as human torches at night, crucifixion in public settings, being torn apart by animals, and killed as entertainment shows in arenas.
Many religions, including Judaism, were legally protected by Rome. However, Christianity was not yet recognized as a religion, so there was no legal protection for them.
The church lost two great leaders during Nero’s persecution. Peter by crucifixion and Paul by beheading, since Roman laws reserved crucifixion for non-citizens, and Paul possessed Roman citizenship.
It was a time when there was much risk in being a faithful Christian. Mark tries to encourage the believers to see that their own suffering as part of faithful discipleship rather than as evidence of God’s failure or abandonment. Mark repeatedly emphasizes suffering, endurance, and the willingness to lose one’s life for Jesus.
Mark starts out by combining Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3 to set the mood of expectancy that something that has been prophesied is about to come true, in the form of John the Baptist. John the Baptist is paving the way for the Messiah by proclaiming the need for repentance and telling them that the Messiah is coming.
Then Jesus appears, as if out of nowhere. A mysterious figure whose history we know nothing about. There is no Christmas story nor stories of Jesus’ childhood in Mark’s gospel. Jesus is baptized by John and God the Father identifies Jesus as the Messiah.
Jesus is then driven into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by Satan. Mark mentions how the angels ministered to Him and kept Him safe from the wild beasts. It is interesting that Mark is the only one who mentions the wild beasts at Jesus’ temptation. Mark was probably alluding to the fact that Rome used wild beasts to execute Christians but that Jesus could not be harmed by them.
After John the Baptist is arrested Jesus starts His ministry in Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God.
Today, when we think about the gospel, we think along the lines of Jesus Christ dying for our sins and that by accepting Him as our Lord and Savior, our sins will be forgiven, and we will have eternal life. This is not the gospel that Jesus was proclaiming – Obviously, because Jesus had not died on the cross yet. Instead, what Jesus is proclaiming is, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Jesus was proclaiming that God is going to act in a very visible way, as was prophesied. It would not be exactly like the Jews hoped and anticipated. They were hoping for the re-establishment of the kingdom of Israel with the Messiah seated on the throne for eternity. The Messiah was going to establish His kingdom, but it was not going to be based on heredity or nationality, but on faith. It would include not only Jews but all other peoples. The final form of the Kingdom of God would come, when Jesus returned as king and judge and the dead believers were resurrected.
Mark’s primary purpose is not to address the non-believers to believe, but he is writing to the believers in Rome. These people had two beloved leaders, Peter and Paul, executed by Rome. They are under persecution and any one of them could be arrested at the whim of Nero and be executed in painful and humiliating ways. Their very faith in Christ could lead to their deaths. They have lost many loved ones to the persecution. And soon, they will hear of Jerusalem being ransacked and the temple destroyed.
Mark is reminding them that God has not failed nor abandoned them. That at this time and place, the suffering is part of faithful discipleship.
It is hard to imagine how difficult it must have been to be a Christian in Mark’s time. It must have been very hard to keep the faith and to pass on the good news of Christ. Today, it is easy to present to non-believers just the good side of becoming a Christian – Forgiveness of sins, eternal life, etc. But back then, people would also be aware of the negatives – Being persecuted and the possibility of being executed. It must have been a hard sell.
The Japanese Christians during the Tokugawa persecution also suffered and the church was driven underground – Not too different from Mark’s intended audience.
None of us are free from disappointment. We have setbacks in our personal lives, especially as we get older. We lose friends and families, we weaken physically, we suffer from disease and sickness, we cannot do things we were able to do when we were younger. We may have to give up driving at some point in our lives.
It can seem like a difficult time to try to witness for Christ and spread the gospel. Non-believers may not see Christians in a very positive light these days. Many churches are not gaining people and concerns about the future abound.
But when we think of what Mark’s church was going through, we have it relatively easy. There are many around us that need to hear about Christ. We have been allowed to enter into the Kingdom of God through what Jesus did for us on the cross, so that we can spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We have been ensured of eternal life with the Lord and those who love Him. True joy and happiness await us, which should allow us to endure hardships and hang on to our faith.
Let us be encouraged by Mark to endure any suffering and keep being a faithful servant to our Lord.
(the above is a summary of the message shared by Pastor Shun Takano during our worship on April 26, 2026.)
Japanese Congregational Church 