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Mark 1:14
New Catholic Bible
Mark 1:14
New Catholic Bible
Is Jesus the Messiah?[a]
First Testimonies of the Messiah’s Mission
14 Jesus Inaugurates His Mission. After John had been arrested,[b] Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying,
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- Mark 1:14 People had a simple idea of the Messiah as a glorious figure: they were expecting a national hero, a political liberator, a restorer of their independence and their public worship, a leader who would bring Israel to world domination. But the reason why Jesus comes before the nation is quite different. This first part of Mark’s Gospel describes three periods. Three times the author gives a general summary of the activity of Jesus and describes a mission of the disciples; each period ends with a scene of hostility and lack of understanding. At the end of this first half of the book, the confession of Peter at Caesarea recognizes the Messiah without any misunderstanding. From that point on, the road will lead to the Passion; that development occupies the second half of the Gospel.
- Mark 1:14 After John had been arrested: the ministry of Jesus begins under the sign of his precursor’s martyrdom. This simple chronological marker is a veiled prefiguration of the suffering and death that await the Messiah. See note on Lk 3:20.
