– Mark presents Jesus as a dynamic man of power. Everything in Mark happens quickly and dramatically. Mark has no time for things like family trees and stories about Jesus’ birth. His story about Jesus begins like this: The beginning of the good news about Jesus the messiah, the son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “I will send my messenger ahead of you, “who will prepare your way. “A voice of one calling in the wilderness. “Prepare the way for the Lord. “Make a straight pass for him.” The first thing Mark tells us is who the gospel is about. It’s the good news about Jesus.

After that, Mark starts with a quotation from the prophet Isaiah which refers to a messenger who had prepared the way for the Lord. Usually, royalty would send a servant ahead of them to announce thier coming and to prepare the road ahead. That’s what Mark is talking about. He also tells us right up front, the identity of the one who is coming. Mark quotes from Isaiah chapter 40 and people knew that passage. They knew that it was talking about the coming of the one who was the Lord, God himself. The gospel of Mark starts with a messenger. Without a messenger, there can be no good news. In the gospel of Mark, the first one to speak is the messenger who prepares the people to meet Jesus. This presents you and me with a challenge. Are we willing to be a messenger for Jesus? Think of someone you know who needs to know Jesus and then make a plan to introduce them to the Lord.