The content of Jesus’ teaching is only rarely stated, and then chiefly in parables ( Mk 4) about the kingdom. After the call of the first four disciples, all fishermen ( Mk 1:16– 20), we see Jesus engaged in teaching ( Mk 1:21, 22, 27), preaching ( Mk 1:38, 39), and healing ( Mk 1:29– 31, 34, 40– 45), and exorcising demons ( Mk 1:22– 27, 34– 39). The key verses at Mk 1:14– 15, which are programmatic, summarize what Jesus proclaims as gospel: fulfillment, the nearness of the kingdom, and therefore the need for repentance and for faith. Jesus as Son of God will be victorious, a point to be remembered as one reads of Jesus’ death and the enigmatic ending to Mark’s Gospel. The Spirit descends upon Jesus, who eventually, it is promised, will baptize “with the holy Spirit.” This presentation of who Jesus really is ( Mk 1:1– 13) is rounded out with a brief reference to the temptation of Jesus and how Satan’s attack fails. But John points to a mightier one, Jesus, at whose baptism God speaks from heaven, declaring Jesus his Son.
The action begins with the appearance of John the Baptist, a messenger of God attested by scripture. The opening verse about good news in Mark ( Mk 1:1) serves as a title for the entire book. Jesus is the Son whom God has sent to rescue humanity by serving and by sacrificing his life ( Mk 10:45). In this almost breathless narrative, Mark stresses Jesus’ message about the kingdom of God now breaking into human life as good news ( Mk 1:14– 15) and Jesus himself as the gospel of God ( Mk 1:1 8:35 10:29).
It recounts what Jesus did in a vivid style, where one incident follows directly upon another. This shortest of all New Testament gospels is likely the first to have been written, yet it often tells of Jesus’ ministry in more detail than either Matthew or Luke (for example, the miracle stories at Mk 5:1– 20 or Mk 9:14– 29).
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