ACC ~ Mark 1 v1 - 5
OVERVIEW:
The beginning of the gospel is intrinsically connected with the prophetic promises of Hebrew Scripture (ORIGEN). The two Testaments do not announce first one God and then another but the one true God who works through a developing history of revelation (IRENAEUS, CYRIL OF JERUSALEM). Marcion’s view that the two covenants are separable is directly countered by Mark’s beginning point (AUGUSTINE), in which the prophetic voices of Isaiah and Malachi blend (ORIGEN, JEROME). No prophet is greater than John (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM), the solitary messenger from the desert prophesied by Malachi (TERTULLIAN, EUSEBIUS), who was called to prepare the way for Christ (TERTULLIAN), whose voice blended judgment and mercy, repentance and faith (MAXIMUS OF TURIN). John’s baptism prepared the way for the baptism that would be more fully expressed in the future remission of sins that came with the death of the one he baptized (TERTULLIAN, JEROME). The power of John’s baptism was in accord with the justice of a just man, yet still of a mere man, although one who had received grace from the coming Lord (AUGUSTINE). The Lord incarnate did not shrink from identifying himself with sinners who need regeneration (CYPRIAN).
1:1a | The Beginning
PREPARING THE HEART
ORIGEN: The way of the Lord must be prepared within the heart; for great and spacious is the heart of man, as if it were a whole world. But see its greatness, not in bodily quantity, but in the power of the mind which enables it to encompass so great a knowledge of the truth. Prepare, therefore, in your hearts the way of the Lord, by a worthy manner of life. Keep straight the path of your life, so that the words of the Lord may enter in without hindrance. HOMILIES ON LUKE 21.5.7. [1]
[1] SSGF 1:75*; PG 13:1856.
THE BEGINNING POINT
AUGUSTINE: Note that Mark mentions nothing of the nativity or infancy or youth of the Lord. He has made his Gospel begin directly with the preaching of John. HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 2.6.18. [1]
[1] Cetedoc 0273, 2.6.18.113.20; NPNF 1 10:70-71; cf. NPNF 1 6:113.
1:1b | The Gospel
OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS BRIDGED
ORIGEN: The gospel is primarily concerned with Christ Jesus, who is the head of the whole body of those who are being saved. [1] Mark conveys this point when he says, “The beginning of the gospel concerning Christ Jesus.” … In its unfolding the gospel has a beginning, a continuing middle and an end. The beginning can be viewed either as the entire Old Testament, with John the Baptist being its summarizing type, or (because he stands at the juncture of the new with the old) the final stages of the old covenant. This runs counter to those [2] who would assign the two covenants to two different Gods. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 1.14. [3]
[1] Cf. Eph 4:15; Col 1:18.
[2] Such as Marcion.
[3] TLG 2042.005, 1.13.79.1-5, 80.1-6, 82.1-1.14.82.3; cf. AEG 1:279; ANF 9:304. Marcion’s view that the two covenants are separable is countered by Mark’s beginning point for the gospel. This comment on Mark occurs in Origen’s Commentary on John. For an explanation of why excerpts from commentaries on other Gospels have been included in this catena on Mark, see the heading “Discovering Patristic Comment on Mark” in the introduction.
THE RELATION OF GOSPEL AND LAW
ORIGEN: Those who deepen in the knowledge of Christianity do not treat the things written in the law with disrespect. … In saying: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in the prophet Isaiah,” Mark shows that the beginning of the gospel is intrinsically connected with the Old Testament. [1] AGAINST CELSUS 2.4. [2]
[1] The issue is whether Mark’s Gospel can be meaningfully read apart from the history of the people of Israel.
[2] TLG 2042.001, 2.4.15-17, 25-31; cf. ANF 4:431.
THE INAUGURATOR OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: With baptism the old covenant ends and the new begins. This is seen in the fact that the inaugurator of the New Testament is John the Baptist. “Among those born of women there is none greater than John.” [1] He is the crown of all the prophetic tradition: “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” [2] Of the gospel dispensation he was the firstfruits, for we read “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ” and after some words “John did baptize in the wilderness.” [3] THE CATECHETICAL LECTURES 3.6. [4]
[1] Lk 7:28.
[2] Mt 11:13.
[3] Mk 1:1, 4.
[4] TLG 2110.003, 3.6.1-6; LCC 4:93**. The Baptist is the crown of the prophetic tradition, and the baptism of repentance is the pivot of the coming age.
1:2 | My Messenger
THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING
IRENAEUS: How plainly does the beginning of the gospel focus upon the expectations of the holy prophets. At once it points out that the One whom they confessed as God and Lord, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who had also made promise to him, would send his messenger before his face. This was John, crying in the wilderness, in “the spirit and power of Elijah,” [1] ”Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” [2] For the prophets did not announce first one God and then another, [3] but one and the same God under complementary aspects, and with many various names. AGAINST HERESIES 3.10.5. [4]
[1] Lk 1:17.
[2] Mk 1:3.
[3] Again, countering the Marcionitic tendency to pit the God of the New Testament against the God of the Old.
[4] AHR 2:39; ANF 1:426**.
WHY JOHN WAS VIEWED AS AN ANGELIC MESSENGER
TERTULLIAN: Now he called him an “angel” [1] on account of the great consequence of the mighty deeds which he was to accomplish, comparable to those mighty deeds of Joshua the son of Nun about whom you have read. John served in the office of a prophet to announce God’s will, as the forerunner of the Anointed One. The Spirit, speaking in the voice of the Father, called John an “angel” in accord with the promise declared by Malachi: “Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me.” [2] It is not a novelty that the Holy Spirit would call those he has appointed ministers of his power “angels.” AN ANSWER TO THE JEWS 9. [3]
[1] Messenger.
[2] Mal 3:1; cf. Mt 11:10; Lk 7:27.
[3] Cetedoc 0033, 9.163; ANF 3:163**. John was the messenger or “angel” prophesied by Malachi.
HIS SUDDEN APPEARANCE
EUSEBIUS: He emerged from the desert clothed in a strange garment, refusing all ordinary social intercourse. He did not even share their common food. For it is written that from childhood John was in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel. Indeed, his clothing was made of camel’s hair! His food locusts and wild honey! [1] … It is understandable that they should have been alarmed when they saw a man with the hair of a Nazarite of God, [2] and a divine face, suddenly appearing from the lonely wilderness dressed in bizarre clothing, who after preaching to them, he disappeared again into the wilderness, without eating or drinking or mingling with the people? Must they not have suspected that he was a little more than human? For how could a human being go without food? And so they understood him to be a divine messenger, the very angel foretold by the prophet. PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 9.5. [3]
[1] Lk 1:80; Mt 3:4.
[2] A member of a group in Israel who demonstrated devotion to God through specific signs such as the growth of hair and abstention from alcoholic beverages (see Num 6:1-21). The apostle Paul observed a Nazarite vow for a specific length of time (see Acts 18:18; 21:22-26).
[3] TLG 2018.005, 9.5.10.7-11.4, 12.7; POG 2:162-63**. Such an ascetic, holy, solitary figure from the desert appeared to transcend natural occurrences.
THE AUTHORITY OF JOHN’S BAPTISM
AUGUSTINE: The efficacy of John’s baptism is attested by the holy way he lived as a person. His baptism was in accord with the justice of a just man, yet still a mere man, but one who had received extraordinary grace from the Lord, a grace so great that he was deemed worthy to precede the final Judge of history, and to point him out with his finger, and to fulfill the words of that prophecy: “The voice of one crying out in the desert, prepare the way for the Lord.” [1] TRACTATE ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 5.6.2. [2]
[1] Mt 3:3; Mk 1:3; Lk 3:4.
[2] Cetedoc 0278, 5.6.10; FC 78:113*.
1:3a | The Voice of One Crying
THE VOICE AND THE CRY IN JOHN’S PREACHING
MAXIMUS OF TURIN: Voice and crying go together: the voice preaches faith; the cry calls for repentance; the voice, comfort; the cry, danger; the voice sings mercy; the cry announces judgment. SERMON 6. [1]
[1] Cetedoc 0219a, 6.35. Justice and mercy were fused in John’s preaching.
1:3b | Prepare the Way of the Lord
THE SOURCES OF MARK’S PROPHETIC REFERENCE
ORIGEN: Mark took two prophecies spoken in different places by two prophets and conflated them into one, so as to declare: “As it is written in Isaiah the Prophet …” “The voice of one crying in the wilderness,” [1] which is indeed recorded immediately after the narrative about Hezekiah’s recovery from his sickness. [2] This is then conflated with “Behold I send my messenger to prepare the way before me,” from Malachi. [3] Both John and Mark compress in various ways the quotation from Isaiah, Mark by reading “His paths” for “the paths of our God” and by omitting “before me.” COMMENTARY ON JOHN 6.24. [4]
[1] Is 40:3.
[2] Cf. Is 38:10-20.
[3] Mal 3:1.
[4] TLG 2042.005, 6.24.129.6-8, 130.2-131.9; cf. AEG 1:279-80.
THE BLENDING OF PROPHETIC VOICES
JEROME: The quotation is made up from two prophets, Malachi and Isaiah. From the first part: “Behold I send my messenger to prepare the way before me,” occurs at the close of Malachi. [1] But the second part: “The voice of one crying,” etc., we read in Isaiah. [2] On what ground then has Mark in the very beginning of his book set the words: “As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, Behold I send my messenger,” when, as we have said, it is [in part] not written in Isaiah at all, but in Malachi, the last of the twelve prophets? Let ignorant presumption solve this nice question if it can. I will ask pardon for being in the wrong. … The apostle has not rendered his original word for word, but using a paraphrase, he has given the sense in different terms. [3] LETTER 57, TO PAMMACHIUS 9. [4]
[1] Mal 3:1.
[2] Is 40:3.
[3] Jerome writes this to defend his approach to translation: “I render sense for sense, not word for word.” Letter 57.5, NPNF 1 6:113. He is arguing that both classic and Christian writers have followed this procedure. He then turns to similar examples that show that Mark did not employ a literal approach (cf. Mk 2:25-26) on plucking heads of grain on the sabbath.
[4] Cetedoc 0620, 57.54.9.518.15; NPNF 2 6:116-17**. Mark did not feel compelled to reference these quotes in precise detail but freely conflated the salient sense of the two prophetic voices.
1:4 | The Baptism of Repentance for the Forgiveness of Sins
THE BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE
TERTULLIAN: John called for the baptism of repentance to prepare the way for the Lord. He himself led in that way by means of the sign and seal of repentance for all whom God was calling through grace to inherit the promise surely made to Abraham. … He called us to purge our minds of whatever impurity error had imparted, whatever contamination ignorance had engendered, which repentance would sweep and scour away, and cast out. So prepare the home of your heart by making it clean for the Holy Spirit. ON REPENTANCE 2. [1]
[1] Cetedoc 0010, 2.14; ANF 3:658*.
MAKING READY FOR ANOTHER
TERTULLIAN: Those who sought the baptism of repentance [1] were dealt with as if candidates preparing for the baptismal remission and sanctification that were soon to follow in the ministry of Christ. When John preached baptism for “the remission of sins,” [2] the declaration was made with reference to a future remission. If so, John’s call to repentance is to lead the way, and actual remission is to follow. This is what is meant by “preparing the way.” [3] But one who prepares does not himself perfect, but rather makes ready for another to perfect. ON BAPTISM 10. [4]
[1] Acts 19:4.
[2] Mk 1:4.
[3] Lk 1:76.
[4] Cetedoc 0008, 10.32; ANF 3:674**. John’s baptism prepared for the baptism that is perfected in the one whom John baptized. John’s baptism of repentance is looking toward the remission of sins, while baptism by the Holy Spirit indeed subsequently effects that remission.
THE BAPTIZER AND THE BAPTIZED
CYPRIAN: The Lord was baptized by his servant. The holy One who was destined to grant remission of sins did not himself disdain to submit his body [1] to be cleansed with the water of regeneration. [2] THE GOOD OF PATIENCE 6. [3]
[1] His body, being undefiled, needed no cleansing.
[2] Baptism implied the need for a purification before entering into the presence of the holy. Needing no purification, he nonetheless submitted himself to this radical identification with sinners. Cf. Mt 3:13-17; Lk 3:21-23.
[3] Cetedoc 0048, 6.112; FC 36:268**.
PREPARING FOR PARDON
CHRYSOSTOM: Since the Victim had not been offered, nor had the Holy Spirit yet descended, of what kind was this remission of sins? … Fittingly therefore, when he had said that he came “preaching the baptism of repentance,” he adds, “for the remission of sins”; as if to say: he persuaded them to repent of their sins, so that later they might more easily receive pardon through believing in Christ. For unless brought to it by repentance, they would not seek for pardon. His baptism therefore served no other end than as a preparation for belief in Christ. THE GOSPEL OF ST. MATTHEW, HOMILY 10.2. [1]
[1] SSGF 1:74; cf. TLG 2062.152, 57.185.57-61.
1:5 | They Were Baptized in the River Jordan
THE FUTURE REMISSION OF SINS
JEROME: The baptism of John did not so much consist in the forgiveness of sins as in being a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, that is, for a future remission, which was to follow through the sanctification [1] of Christ. THE DIALOGUE AGAINST THE LUCIFERIANS 7. [2]
[1] The setting apart of Christ on the cross for his vocation as Redeemer; cf. 1 Cor 1:30.
[2] Cetedoc 0608, 7.170.30; NPNF 2 6:323. John’s baptism promised and anticipated a future, full remission of sins.
TYPES OF BAPTISM
GREGORY NAZIANZEN: Let us here treat briefly of the different kinds of baptism. Moses baptized, but in water, in the cloud and in the sea; but this he did figuratively. John also baptized, not indeed in the rite of the Jews, not solely in water, but also for the remission of sins; yet not in an entirely spiritual manner, for he had not added: “in the spirit.” Jesus baptized, but in the Spirit; and this is perfection. There is also a fourth baptism, which is wrought by martyrdom and blood, in which Christ himself was also baptized, which is far more venerable than the others, in as much as it is not soiled by repeated contagion. There is yet a fifth, but more laborious, by tears; with which David each night bedewed his bed, washing his couch with tears. ORATION 39, ON THE HOLY LIGHTS. [1]
[1] TLG 2022.047, 36.353.37-356.7; SSGF 1:74-75; cf. Ps 6:7.