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Preparation for the Mission of Jesus[a]

Chapter 1

Beginning of the Good News.[b] The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

It is written in the prophet Isaiah:[c]

“Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
    he will prepare your way.
The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’ ”

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 1:1 Around the year 30, after centuries of silence, a prophet named John appears and unsettles his contemporaries. They are captivated by the force of his personality and the vehemence of his message. Then Jesus comes on the scene. Mark uses this story as a kind of prologue for his book, a kind of key for understanding the pages that follow: the Gospel, the “good news,” is here bursting out in the midst of humanity; the action of Jesus inaugurates the kingdom of God, the time of salvation.
  2. Mark 1:1 The Gospel is not primarily a book but rather God’s action for the salvation of humankind. The entire Book of Mark depicts Jesus as the promised and awaited one (the Messiah) and as the Son of God (see Mk 8:35; 10:29).
  3. Mark 1:2 The prophet Isaiah: the quotation that follows is a combination of Malachi (3:1) and Isaiah (40:3). See note on Mt 27:9.