Summary The first chapter of Mark opens with a declaration of who Jesus Christ is: the Son of God, written about by Isaiah as one who has been prepared for by his messenger;  the messenger is to make straight the paths of the Lord.  John is introduced as the messenger, and there follows the account of people going out to John to be baptized, coming from Judea and Jerusalem and being baptized in the Jordan for the forgiveness of sins. He tells his followers that while he baptizes with water, the one who follows will baptize with the Holy Spirit.  Shortly, Jesus of Nazareth of Galilee is baptized, sees the heavens opening and the Spirit descending.   A voice from heaven acknowledges him.  Jesus then departs into the wilderness for forty days.   When the narrative picks up, the reader learns John has been arrested; Jesus goes into Galilee preaching, "The kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."  Passing by the Sea of Galilee,   (other names are Sea of Tiberias and Lake of Gennesaret. It is 12� miles long by 7� miles wide. Jesus calls Simon and Andrews, fishermen brothers, and then brothers James and John, sons of Zebedee, also fishermen in the work of mending their nets. These four accompany Jesus into Capernaum, where Jesus immediately begins teaching in the synagogue, astonishing those who listened with his authority.  He heals a man of unclean spirit, who acknowledges him as Jesus of Nazareth, the "Holy One of God." This further amazes those who observe that this man has authority over evil, and thus, his fame spreads.  At Simon's house, Jesus and His followers find Simon's mother-in-law with a fever; Jesus takes her by the hand, and she is healed.  By sundown, others have gathered: the sick and those possessed with demons--in fact, the whole city, it would seem.  The demons acknowledge Jesus as authority.  How long the day was is not revealed, but very early the next morning, Jesus departs to pray, pursued by Simon and others.  With little respite, Jesus says, ":Let us go on to the next towns...to preach...for that is why I came."   Throughout Galilee, Jesus continues to preach in synagogues and to cast out demons.   In the process, he heals a leper, who talked freely and spread the news of his healing with the result that Jesus was so beset by crowds that he could not freely enter into the cities but had to stay in the country. It should be noted that Jesus does not oppose current religious practice:  he says, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

    The beginning of Mark is simple and direct: 1: The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  Who is this Son of God?  The following verses are pertinent:

Mt.2:15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt have I called my son."

As "son of God," Jesus fulfills prophecy--in this case, the prophecy of Hosea:

15: Out of Egypt . . . , a quotation from Hosea 11.1, where the reference is to Israel (compare Exodus 4.22). 18: Quoted from Jeremiah 31.15. Rachel, wife of Jacob, died in childbirth and according to Genesis 35.16–20 was buried near Bethlehem. Ramah, north of Jerusalem, was the scene of national grief (Jeremiah 40.1) inflicted by an enemy. (all notes in this study are taken from the Oxford annotated Bible or the Oxford Companion).

Mt.3:17 and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

He is also the Son of God.

Mt.8:29 And behold, they cried out, "What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?"

He is acknowledged as having authority over evil, the evil spirits:

Ideas about demons in the Hebrew Bible are too diverse to be systematized. Animistic notions may be discerned in the recognition of spirits inhabiting trees, animals, mountains, rivers, and storms. Allusions are found to belief in fertility deities, or in divine beings, who, through sinning, lost their heavenly home (Genesis 6.1–4; See Sons of God). More often the narratives focus upon the role of evil spirits in producing erratic and unexpected behavior; they arouse explosive jealousies (Numbers 5.14), powerful desires for vengeance (Judges 9.23), or shocking mental confusions (1 Samuel 16.14). The words of a prophet could be attributed to lying spirits sent by God (1 Kings 22.22). The worship of idols could be explained by the influence of such spirits on the gullible (Hosea 4.12).

In the New Testament, though, the picture is different. References are much more numerous, reflecting developments in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Attitudes are more unified, reflecting the influence of stories about Jesus. Now demons are viewed as evil by nature, since they are obedient servants of Satan who is the ultimate adversary of God. Their power to deceive and torment is viewed as coterminous with "this evil age," so that any restriction on their movements is viewed as an intrusion of a new age.

It was the authority of Jesus over demons that posed this possibility. According to the Gospels, that authority was first demonstrated when Jesus overcame Satan’s most persuasive offers.

Lu.1:35 And the angel said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

The Hebrew ben and Aramaic bar, "son," designate not only a male descendant but also a relationship to a community, a country, a species (e.g., animals), etc. "Son of God" can thus mean both a mythological figure of divine origin, a being belonging to the divine sphere (such as an angel), or a human being having a special relationship to a god. In antiquity, son of god was used predictively of kings begotten by a god (in Egypt) or endowed with divine power (in Mesopotamia). In the Roman period, it also was used in the East as a title for the emperor.

In the synoptic Gospels we may observe how the title Son of God has penetrated into the traditions about the life of Jesus. In Mark, it is used only by God and the demons (cf. Mark 1.11; Mark 9.7; Mark 3.11; Mark 5.7); the one time it is used by a human (Mark 15.39), the past tense ("was") suggests a distinction between the confession of the centurion to the deceased Jesus, and later on, to the risen Lord. In Matthew we also find it in the confessions of the disciples (Matthew 14.33; Matthew 16.16; cf. also Matthew 26.63), in the story of the temptation (Matthew 4.3; Matthew 4.6), and the story of the mocking at the cross (Matthew 27.43; cf. also Matthew 11.27). In Luke, it is mostly found in traditional material; the idea of a virgin birth probably does not belong here. In John, the Son of God, together with the title the Son, plays a central role in depicting Jesus as being one with the Father (e.g., John 3.35–36 and John 1.18; John 10.30).

The relationship of Christ is, according to Mark, then that of being a human being/servant identified with God, or said in another way, God-presence lived out in the life of a human being. The two are so closely identified as to become one: that is, the Son is God.

It's interesting to note  that the recognition of the Jesus-Son of God relationship is made from the eternal domain, not the temporal, being announced by God and demons.  I suspect this is because language is itself incapable of doing more than simply hinting at a God outside the space/time box. Note in this initial chapter the early healing and confession of the man with the unclean spirit:

23: And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,
24: Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.
25: And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.
26: And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.

Jesus is here the "Holy One of God." This is clearly the message of Mark: Jesus is the Son of God or Jesus is the "Holy One of God."  What this should mean is that Mark is to be read as presenting a revelation of God in relationship to Jesus Christ. The Jews are expecting the Kingdom of God to be introduced in an earthly kingship; interestingly, while Jesus downplays this role, his works reveal exactly the beginning of this "invisible" Kingdom of God initiated into the life of human beings. Everywhere he goes, he must combat the eagerness with which people seek to see him in the role of earthly king.  This should be understood as the reason why his acts are accompanied by his own urging that they be kept secret. For the Jewish writer Mark, Jesus is placed solidly in the tradition of his ancestry which is to include Moses and Joshua; in Christianity, he is to be identified as God.

Other verses continue to testify to Jesus as the Son of God: John sees him as the only Son of God and rebukes those who would accuse Jesus of blasphemy by confessing his appropriate title.

Jn.1:34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.

Jn.3:18 He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned

already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Jn.9:35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, Do you

believe in the Son of man?

Jn.10:36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are

blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?

John further has Martha acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God proclaimed:

Jn.11:27 She said to him, Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of

God, he who is coming into the world.

The early church, also, acknowledge Jesus in the same way, as Son of God:

Ac.9:20 And in the synagogues immediately he proclaimed Jesus, saying,He is the Son

of God.

And once the early church as established itself, not to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Son of God is to "profane the covenant and to outrage the Spirit of grace, while to confess Him is to abide in God with Him:

Heb.10:29 How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the man who has

spurned the Son of God, and profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified,

and outraged the Spirit of grace?

1Jn.4:15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

One appropriately compares the title Son of God to the other gospel use, Son of Man:

While Jesus’ career evoked messianic hopes among his followers and fears among his enemies, stage I material shows him reluctant to assert any overt messianic claim. The self-designation he uses is son of man. This is so widely attested in the gospel tradition and occurs (with one or two negligible exceptions) only on the lips of Jesus himself, that it satisfies the major tests of authenticity. It occurs in all primary strata of the gospel tradition (Mark, Q, Special Matthew, Special Luke, and the pre-Gospel tradition in John). It is not attested as a messianic title in earlier Judaism and occurs only once outside the gospels (apart from citations of Psalm 8.5–7), in Acts 7.56. So there should be no reasonable doubt that it was a characteristic self-designation of the historical Jesus. It is not a title but means "human one," and it is best understood as a self-effacing self-reference. It is used in contexts where Jesus spoke of his mission, fate, and final vindication. (Oxford Companion).

Even more revealing of the role Jesus is to play is the scriptural tradition with which Mark begins:

2: As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
3: The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
4: John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

John clearly is the messenger who is to prepare "the way of the Lord."   The scriptural tie is to the books of Isaiah and Malachi. Malachi reads thus:

3.1: Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

4.4: Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
5: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:

It's clear that John is to be identified with Elijah as the messenger indicated by Malachi, not the name of a person but a name meaning "my messenger." Jesus is securely located within the tradition of Jewish predecessors. It should be recalled that Zechariah, preceding Malachi, proclaims that the Lord of Hosts will return to Jerusalem to initiate the Kingdom of God.  Mark is aware of this tradition and places Jesus Christ clearly as this Lord of Hosts. Baptized by John, he is immediately declared  as God's revelation: 1.11: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

In summary, the Son of God designation seems to have undergone some metamorphosis: used at first to designate divine being or a human being in special relationship to a divine figure; a king who has his kingdom from God; God as Father and His followers as sons of God; the pious or suffering righteous; connected to the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus; Jesus' unique addressing of God as Father and a connection with the kingship relationship:

The origin of the title seems, in the first place, to be Jesus’ unique addressing God as father (see especially Mark 14.36, where the Aramaic abba is preserved), and second, its connection with kingship ideology in view of the conviction that Jesus was the anticipated son of David. Yet characteristically in the New Testament it stands beside the usage of the phrase sons of God, referring to those whom Jesus has brought to salvation (Romans 8.14–21; Romans 9.8; Romans 9.26; Galatians 3.26; Matthew 5.9; Matthew 5.45; John 1.12; 1 John 3.1). (ON)

Mark continues to place Jesus clearly in relation to the Jewish understanding of their tradition by having Jesus immediately leave his baptism and move into the wilderness: 1.12: And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.
13: And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.

The full import of the wilderness can be gleaned from 280 references to it (see side link). What should immediately come to mind is Moses and the wilderness experience.   The new revelation of God in Jesus, like the old, was to be heralded by a wilderness experience which would precede entry into the Promised Land. Moses, as we will recall, is followed by Joshua in Hebrew tradition; here, too, an understanding of the name Jesus reveals how he is seen tied into existing history: Jesus is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Yeshua or Joshua.  The tradition of biblical heroes is Moses-Joshua-Jesus.   Furthermore, Mark tells us that Jesus is ministered to by angels. In the wilderness, the exodus family is dependent upon God's ministrations, being fed by manna; in Mark, twice, Jesus feeds the crowds with bread and fish of miraculous source. In the wilderness, also, Jesus is being urged to turn aside from his mission of serving and ultimately suffering.

From the wilderness Jesus emerges announcing the Kingdom of God: 1.14 Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
15: And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

It should be noted that the message is that "the kingdom of God is at hand."   How immediate "at hand" is can be seen by looking carefully at other verses in Mark (the reader may want to follow the Kingdom of God link in the side bar.):

Mk.1:15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel."

Mk.4:11 And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables; [the secret is known.]

Mk.4:26 And he said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed upon the ground,

Mk.4:30 And he said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?

Mk.9:1 And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power." [need not taste death to see that the kingdom of God has come.]

Mk.9:47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,

Mk.10:14 But when Jesus saw it he was indignant, and said to them, "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God.

Mk.10:15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it."

Mk.10:23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!"

Mk.10:24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!

Mk.10:25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Mk.12:34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that no one dared to ask him any question. [not far from kingdom of God]

Mk.14:25 Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

Mk.15:43 Joseph of Arimathe'a, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus.

Jesus clearly is to inaugurate this Kingdom of God. In other Gospels, the identification of Jesus and the Kingdom is Christianized, making it the: Radical Message: The Kingdom of God Is in the Midst of You (Lu.17:21 nor will they say, 'Lo, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.")

I have argued, and continue to argue, that the radical message of Jesus is the Kingdom of God is now; this should not overshadow the idea that the Kingdom of God is progressively being shaped.  I'm firmly convinced that Jesus, the egalitarian, walked among humankind proclaiming them to be children of God.  Because he understood the Kingdom of God to be spiritual, his message was misunderstood by the religious elite, who poured over the scriptures relative to their promise of a Messiah, or anointed one, who would, they believed,  restore an earthly Israel. Here, too, the message of Jesus was the radical one that Israel would be restored as one among many nations making up the Kingdom of God in its ultimately realized spiritual state. Jesus' conception of the kingdom is not one of outward cataclysmic outward triumph over evil but rather the announcement of the rule of God in people's hearts.

In Mark, the role of Jesus is to announce the Kingdom of God.  Following Jesus through the early activities recorded in Mark will reveal that everywhere Jesus is met by amazement relative to his authority and power; what is forgotten is that the one doing the amazing is, also, the one proclaiming the new message in the role of servant of God.

Mk:1:27: And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.

Mk:2:12: And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.

Mk:6:51: And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered.

Mk:9:15: And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him.

Mk:10:32: And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him,

Mk:14:33: And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy;

Mk:16:8: And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulcher; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.

The amazement is appropriately placed, for here is a "Servant of God" who downplays his role as God and assumes the more demanding task of administering to human need; he goes about healing people physically and mentally. Anyone reading Mark will have to be impressed with Jesus as a man walking among humankind, reaching out, touching, healing, ministering. Mark 10. 45 is quite clear about how Jesus sees his message: "For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransome for many." Here is a human being who is willing to give his life totally to serving others.

He is also one who knows scriptural traditions backwards and forwards, as is indicated in the eleventh chapter of Mark when he cleans the temple; the allusion is to both Jeremiah and Isaiah:

11.15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; 16 and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 He was teaching and saying, "Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nation But you have made it a den of robbers." 

Isaiah 56 I will give, in my house and within my walls,  a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. 6 And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant— 7 these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

Jeremiah 7. 11 Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your sight? You know, I too am watching, says the Lord.

Earlier in this same chapter, Jesus had entered the temple and looked around only to leave:

   11: And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the      eventide was      come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve."

What must have gone through the mind of Jesus as he took in fully the scene of temple and its busy commerce. Meant as the entry point of the Divine Presence, the temple evidenced compromises within the Levitical priesthood which Jesus must have found disappointingly obvious. One only need to remember that the ark, the Shekinah, the Holy Spirit, Urim and Thummin (used for divine consultation), and the sacred fire are already missing from the second temple. What Jesus observes is continued corruption within the house of God. It should be noted that in Mark the structure is the the early work of Jesus in Galilee (including the commissioning and recognition of his role as Son of God and the calling and instruction of his disciples), the journey to Jerusalem (and entry into the temple), and the last week.  His presence in the temple has already been suggested by his active work within the synagogues; the synagogues, it should be noted, result from the exile and the needs of a people distanced from their centralized sanctuary.  In the synagogues, Jesus is busy healing and overcoming evil presence with good.  He is also busy with cleaning.

John Shelby Spong in Liberating the Gospels (HarperCollins, 1996) has argued convincingly that Mark is structured relative to the Jewish observance of their festivals.  He sees Mark as beginning with the Jewish New Year and covering six and a half months of the liturgical calendar, through the celebration of Passover; the order then is New Year, Atonement, Tabernacles, Dedication, and Passover.  If Spong is right, and I suspect he is, then the implication would be that Jesus follows a traditional and expected path into Jerusalem; what is radically different is that, eventually, everything Jewish will be interpreted by Christians differently: Jesus will become the Paschal lamb, and the Passover will become the Christian passion.