2. Beginning of the narration

"The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.” Thus begins the text of the evangelist Mark. It is a somewhat strange way to start a story. "Beginning of the good news" sounds like a trivial indication. This is how the text begins. We see it for ourselves. It means more than what the term ‘gospel’ seems to be, we use it as the title of the book, but in itself it means ‘good news’. And before indicating a book, it indicated preaching, the content of the apostolic preaching. Only in the second century did they begin to call the four books the Gospels. The gospel is the preaching of the apostles.

Saint Paul often speaks of his Gospel, not because he has written a book on the life of Jesus, but because he announced what is essential in the experience of Jesus. So Mark, thus, entitled his work not gospel but the beginning of the gospel Ἀρχὴ = ‘Arjé’of the Good News. It's like saying: I tell you how the apostolic preaching began about Jesus as its main character.

And Mark says basically two things about Jesus. First, Jesus is the Christ. Second, Jesus is the Son of God. These two fundamental statements are, for Mark, the basic apostolic kerygma, the content of the preaching. And, in fact, his work is structured in two parts. The title somehow told us, in some way, the organization of the whole text because the first part of Mark's story culminates in chapter 8 with the profession of faith of the apostle Peter, who says to Jesus: "You are the Christ."

Eight chapters narrate how the disciples have come to recognize that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, however, to say that Jesus is the Messiah does not mean to have truly understood who he is because ‘messiah’ is a functional title; he could just be a leader, a person who seizes power and becomes king, reorganizes a state. Somebody who is the legitimate successor of David in the ruling dynasty of Israel, and Jesus is not that.

The apostles have come to recognize in Jesus, the Christ. But there is a need for a second phase here. The second part of the Gospel in which the Master explains to his disciples that being a Messiah means dying, giving his life. The second part is the path of formation of the disciples for them to understand the drama of the cross; so they could accept the salvific meaning that the cross has.

The second part culminates right at the foot of the cross, where a Romans soldier, having seen Jesus die in that way said: “Truly, this man was the Son of God.” A Roman soldier makes the highest profession of faith that recognizes the divinity of Jesus.

At the beginning, the evangelist put the synthetic title: "Beginning of the Good News of Jesus, who is the Christ, the Son of God." In the composition, he tells how, in a first phase, he has come to recognize him as Christ and, especially in a second phase, we have come to profess our faith in the Son of God. If it is true that the Gospel of Mark was born for catechumens, it is thought of as a catechetical formation for Christians who aspire to become such and prepare for baptism and welcome this message for life, then we understand better the fact that he has titled it ‘arjé’ = beginning of the Gospel and the starting point of an evangelical life.

It is a journey of faith to truly adhere to Jesus. So, let’s follow the story of the evangelist Mark highlighting the main elements of the narrative. After this title, the narration begins with a link to the Old Testament: “As written by the prophet Isaiah,” and a verse is reported that brings together several texts from the Old Testament. A quote from Malachi: "I will send my messenger ahead of you," with a text from Second Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord.’”

All this reminds us of the character of John the Baptist. Mark begins the story with the Baptist, with the preaching of this strange character who appeared at the fords of the Jordan River to announce the imminent coming of the Messiah, inviting the people to prepare themselves to receive him worthily. John preached a baptism of penance, that is, he preached a rite of immersion in the waters.

In the area where the Baptist preached there was the passage of the river along the road that led to Jerusalem. Since it was not recommended to go through Samaria because it was a region considered impure and also because the Samaritans were often violent towards pilgrims who were going to or coming from Jerusalem. So the inhabitants of Galilee who went to Jerusalem or returned from Jerusalem, preferred to pass beyond the Jordan crossing the river more or less at the height of Jericho and then went up to the Holy City.

So, at that point in the Jordan river, people gathered to pass, probably with rafts or barges. There was always a crowd waiting to pass and in that environment John's strange character appears, dressed as the ancient prophet Elijah, right in the place where Elijah was taken into heaven, almost a reprise of the ancient story.

John is presented as the new Elijah who prepares the way of the Lord, he is the messenger sent by God to inaugurate the end times. People listen to him, follow him, are struck by this preaching, are fascinated by the imminent announcement of the coming of the Messiah. They immerse themselves in the water with a symbolic gesture with which they recognize that they have water up to their necks. ‘I'm about to drown. If the Lord does not intervene to save me I am finished.’ It is a penitential gesture of humiliation in recognition of one's own bad situation. “And behold, in those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John.”

The main character suddenly appears, not even a word about his childhood, where he was born, when, how ... Mark doesn't say anything. The first Christian catechesis, as witnessed by the Acts of the Apostles, in fact, began with the baptism preached by John in the desert. Everything starts there. It is the moment of the public manifestation in Israel.

The first preaching concerned the public ministry of Jesus, that is, from the moment the apostles knew him and followed him. What had happened before somehow did not interest him. It was not important. It was not part of the apostolic experience. Therefore, it will be only the subsequent works of Matthew and Luke that will present sketches on the Savior’s childhood with particular theological intention. Mark has none of this and presents Jesus simply as one who comes from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized; he was immersed in the Jordan by John: “Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’”

It is the theophany in the Jordan, the inauguration of the ministry of Jesus. ‘Theophany’ means manifestation of God. Something great happens that refers to Jesus. Mark's description is essential. Once he has gone down into the water, Jesus comes out and a particular phenomenon occurs during his rising from the water.

It all starts with a baptism scene like the one that will happen for the catechumens on that Easter night in which the Gospel of Mark is proclaimed. At the beginning, there is the immersion of Jesus in the waters and his emergence, the anticipation of the paschal mystery, of death and resurrection. It is in the moment in which Jesus comes out of the waters that the heavens open. It is an expression to indicate the revelation of God. The Spirit of God is shown in the form of a dove; the voice of the Father is heard speaking to Jesus: “You are my Son.” It is a word from the Father to his Son. It is a personal revelation.

Jesus saw the sky torn open. It was his mystical experience. We could say that it is the culminating moment in his formative itinerary, of his human growth. At that moment, Jesus comes to full self-awareness of his own nature and mission, and the revelation of his Father, the descent of the Spirit, confirm who he is and what he must do. From that moment Jesus begins the ministry; he no longer returns to Nazareth. and immediately the Spirit drove him into the desert.

We are used to the stories of Matthew and Luke that narrate the temptations in the desert, but those texts are a later re-elaboration. The oldest tradition preserved by Mark is extremely synthetic. There are the essential data: The Spirit that descended on Jesus guides him, pushes him into the desert and in the desert he remained 40 days tempted by Satan.

Forty days is an evocative number of the history of Israel in the desert, of the way of Elijah in the desert, it is a long period of time as a spiritual retreat, a moment of exercise in which Jesus must take his decision, must choose how to be the Messiah. By now, the conviction of being the Messiah and the Son of God is clear, but how to live this? He must think about it; must project, must choose.

Here comes the satanic temptation that Mark does not specify. In fact, the whole life of Jesus was a temptation. Throughout the years of his ministry, many people, including his friends, suggested alternative ways to him. We will find that at the center of Mark’s story; we have the character of Peter whom Jesus calls Satan: "Get behind me, Satan!" He is one of the tempters. He is a friend of Jesus who, however, suggests something wrong, shows him a road that is not that of God. Jesus, in those desert days, chose the way of the Messiah according to the plan of God. "He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.”

It is a strange remark. Indeed, in the desert there are wild beasts but Jesus being with wild animals has a symbolic value. Perhaps it recalls the condition of the initial Adam in an uncorrupted nature, or perhaps it is an apocalyptic type detail where the wild beasts are a figure of evil. Think of the psalm where it is said that ‘the righteous will walk among lions and dragons, he will crush snakes and scorpions.’ These are wild desert animals. Crushing these animals means dominating the world of evil.

Jesus in the desert stands with the wild beasts in this fight against evil and at the same time, he is served by angels, that is, he is not abandoned from the presence of God. There is the clash between good and evil, the way of God and the corruption of this world. Jesus is in the middle of this situation. “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’”

Thus begins the first part of Mark's story. After the introductory scenes of baptism and the temptations, the ministry of Jesus begins in Galilee after the arrest of John. Jesus does not compete with the Baptist. After he found out that John had been arrested. (Mark does not tell us by whom and why. He will tell about it later.) Now, he gives his reader the minimum of necessary information.

After Jesus learned that John has been jailed, he begins the proclamation of the gospel of God, the good news of God, in Galilee. It is a synthetic sentence, the fundamental kerygma. Four verbs, two affirmations and two imperatives. The first: ‘The time has come.’ Second: "The kingdom of God is near." These are the affirmations; the time (the kairos in Greek) indicates the good opportunity. We are here… this is the propitious moment… do not miss this opportunity of the presence of the kingdom of God—typically Semitic expression to indicate the reign of God.

The fact that God is king, He is the almighty Lord. ‘It's here’—not in the sense that it is close, that it is not far away. If he has become a neighbor, it means that the reign of God has arrived, that it is here, in the person of Jesus. Jesus is the kingdom of God. This is the good opportunity. God who reigns is present in his person.

Therefore, two imperatives. First, be converted. Second, believe in the gospel. Change your mindset – μετανοεῖτε = ‘metanoeite’ = change your way of thinking, and trust this good news. It is the good news of the intervention of God, a universal, sovereign God, who is present here and now. Trust and welcome this opportunity. So begins the ministry of Jesus. This is how Mark sums it up admirably.